Watch theGrio Asks: How to diet properly

Dr. Michele C. Reed, owner of MS Family Medicine in New York City, offers advice on proper nutrition for a healthier lifestyle.

Dr. Michele C. Reed — board-certified family physician, certified personal trainer and the owner of MS Family Medicine in New York City — wants to make your health and wellness journey as easy as possible.

If you are trying to figure out how to begin your diet or, as Reed prefers to describe it, develop healthier eating habits:

1. Make sure to consult your primary care physician to make sure that everything is OK.

2. Remember this rule: coloring your plate.

“We know if we go to myplate.gov, we’re supposed to have a certain color, certain look to our plate,” says Reed. “Are we doing that? Are we having half of our plate with fruits and vegetables and the other half of our plate with proteins and grains?”

According to Reed, you should have at least: one and a half cups of fruit a day, two cups of vegetables a day, five ounces of grains and five ounces of proteins.

“And for those of you who might not be eating meat, I get this because I am a flexitarian,” reveals Reed. “So I go back and forth as far as what I eat. So when we’re talking about protein, it doesn’t always have to be meat. It can also be fish and even soybeans.“

Food fuels the body. You should never deprive your body of that.

“When we are thinking about being healthy versus unhealthy, do not starve yourself,” advises Reed. “When you get up in the morning, try and have something to eat, whether it’s fruit, whether it’s grains, as in cereal or even a slice of Ezekiel bread or multigrain bread.

“And instead of reaching for that coffee that has that caffeine,” continues Reed, “try to have a glass of water. Warm water helps to regulate and detox your body first thing in the morning.”

When it comes to nutritional intake, Reed says, keep in mind the goal you have for yourself: to have a healthier lifestyle, to be stronger and live longer.

“The other goal is to make sure that we are preventing you from developing diabetes, high blood pressure, having high cholesterol,” says Reed. Because as always, “food is our fuel and it’s the fuel to give us energy to do what we have to do.”

Another point is “you always have to exercise,” Reed continues. “If you’re an adult, I’m encouraging you to exercise, at least for 150 minutes a week. Children should be exercising at least 60 minutes every day.”

Check out the full video above for more from Dr. Michele C. Reed!

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