Simple Living with Wanda Urbanska

Wanda's Diary Entries

Monday, December 12, 2005

I read in the newspaper over the weekend that the keys to a healthy lifestyle at any age are relatively simple: 30 minutes of exercise, five days a week; five servings of fruits and vegetables in your diet daily; and eight hours of sleep for an adult (ten for children under 10).

So I said to Frank and Henry yesterday, let’s keep a food consumption diary today. (Henry groaned, because I’m already pushing a regular, life diary. “How many diaries do you want me to keep?” he groused.)

Despite his protests, we recorded our servings (though I must admit that I did most of the writing):

Breakfast: a serving of strawberries (1)
Lunch: apples slices, carrots and baby tomatoes (I counted that as two servings due to small portion size) (2)
Dinner: corn, green beans, celery (again, I counted this as two due to small portion size) (2)

So with this in mind, eating consciously, we accumulated five portions of vegetables for the day. Amazingly, the newspaper article reported that only 3 percent of Americans follow these simple yet vital keys to good health. And I must admit, some days, I fail to do so myself. Which brings us back to the premise of our program: live consciously and realize that it’s the small things that make up the big picture of good health and a good life. Nothing’s too small to make a difference!