As Joanne wrote in her article, it is important to eat breakfast, I am going to tell you why it is important to eat properly and how much to eat every day.
Why is it important to eat properly every day? Well, you don’t want to eat a lot, but also not too little. For all of us, there is a certain amount of food our stomach can take in one meal. You don’t want to eat too little because you won’t have the energy to go to school or work. Eating too much isn’t good either, because you will be so full that doing your daily routine stuff, like going to school and working will be hard. My mom always quotes for us this Swahili saying, “Shibe mwana malevya, Njaa mwana malegeza” meaning “when you are too full, is like you are drunk (alcohol), when you are hungry, you are weak”
How do we know what is enough for us to eat? My mom again with her quotes told me this, “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and for dinner eat like a beggar”. She then explains to me that:
- We can feast (eat a lot…but not too much) for our breakfast as we need all the energy for the day activities, like work or school.
- For lunch, we need to eat like princes (remember princes are smaller than kings, so eat smaller amount than what you ate for breakfast).
- For dinner, we are supposed to eat like those who do not have a lot of food as after that we are just going to sleep, unless you are working in the night.
This will help to balance how much we eat. Also if your stomach feels full you can stop eating because it would not be good to pile up your stomach.
I know most of us reverse the order. We skip breakfast as Joanne mentioned in her blog, or if we take breakfast, “we eat like beggars”. Most of us maybe eating lunch like princes (Bravo!), and sadly eat dinner like kings. Anyways, the choice is yours, but now that you know what is recommended.
How much can we eat? Well according to the Canadian food guide:
- Children between ages 4-8 should have
- 5 servings of vegetables and fruit
- 4 servings of grain products
- 2 servings of dairy, and
- 1 serving of meat and alternatives every day.
- Children between ages 9-13 should have
- 6 servings of vegetables and fruits
- 6 servings of grain products
- 3 – 4 servings of dairy products, and
- 1 – 2 severing’s of meat and alternative
- Teens (girls; boys) between ages 14-18 should have
- 7 – 8 servings of vegetables and fruits
- 6 – 7 servings of grain products
- 3 – 4 servings of dairy products, and
- 2 – 3 servings of meat and alternatives every day.
For parents (Adults) between ages 19 -50 and 51+, please refer to the guide found here. Surprisingly, this guide does not say how much alcohol adults should take. I think it should include this to make alcohol drinking safe.
The brain works best when you eat healthy foods. Without the healthy foods we would be light headed and dizzy. It is also important to get enough exercise every day. We should try to get 90 minutes of exercise. I know it has been hard to get the exercise we need since the winter was so cold, but when the warmer weather comes, we can go outside and get the fresh air we need.
Thank you for reading and I hope you will consider eating like a King, a Prince and a Beggar in the right order.
Angela-Acaye.