As part of National Nutrition Month, the American Dietetic Association provides lots of information on their site, including an interactive quiz and games.  I also wanted to share some tips provided by Lisa Jones, MA, RD, LDN. She's a dietician with the American Dietetic Association, with 14 years of experience.  She recommends:

• If portions are confusing, try drawing them. Sketch an 8-inch plate, cut it in half, and then cut the left side in half again. The right side should be veggies, and the left side should be a protein serving the size of your palm with a starch like rice or pasta.
• Stop staring at food labels, just check the ingredient list. "If it's not in the first five ingredients there's probably not enough of it to make a difference." The healthy stuff, that is.
• For help understanding how to personalize the food pyramid, visit MyPyramid.gov and use the Menu Planner tool.

How much thought do you really put into your food before putting it on your plate? These resources are available to support your efforts during National Nutrition Month & beyond. 

After 18 years of marriage and weight struggles, it wasn’t until returning from a vacation last year that the Motons took their health seriously. “We looked at our pictures and we did not like what we saw,” said Jackie Trapps-Moton, 46.

Joe Moton, at his heaviest weighed 420 pounds. and Jackie weighed in at 276 pounds.  Here's their story.

Q: What was the most difficult change you made when deciding to lose weight?
Jackie: The biggest thing we learned was how to cook things differently.  Traditionally, everything we ate was fried.  But now we bake, grill, broil - we don’t fry anything. 

Q: Joe, as a man were you hesitant about dieting?
A: I’m the most non-dieting person you’d ever meet.  I saw it as something women do. But, I had to get real about food.  There was a problem.

Q: What are some cultural issues African Americans deal with when losing weight?
Joe: We think it’s too expensive to eat healthy, when that’s far from true. 
Jackie:  We tend to think the food is not going to taste good.  But I was surprised that everything I made from alli (the diet plan) tasted great and it looked healthy.

During our hour long conversation, the Motons touched on everything from having to pull one another back from the fridge to learning how to be content from eating rather than over eating.  Both have committed to an exercise regimen and it shows.  Jackie lost 54 pounds and Joe has gone from a 52 inch to a 42 inch waist.  And, the couple says they’re not going back. 

“What it really came down to is we wanted to change the outcome of our lives, we want to live for our grandchildren,” Joe said.

In the interest of full disclosure (you knew we'd say this)... The Moton's weight loss results and experiences may not be typical of all users.

Just to introduce myself, I'm Cynthia Levy, the newest writer to the blog.  One of my first tasks for the site was to sit down and talk about health issues with Dr. Valentine Burroughs, of Saint Francis Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware. 

It's a fact that nearly 70 percent of African American adults are either overweight or obese and 13 percent have diabetes. So, the statistics are laid out, but how can they be changed?

While there is no magic bullet to weight loss, Dr. Burroughs has a few ideas on how African Americans can begin to address some of the habits that lead to unhealthy living.

1. Because African Americans tend to perceive weight loss differently, Dr. Burroughs said it's best to measure yourself using BMI (body mass index), which takes into account height and build. Doctors prefer this method, and it can be used by everyone.
2. Common myths about dieting in the African American community are it can't be achieved and is difficult to do. Instead, Dr. Burroughs believes dieting is negotiable. By keeping food diaries and exercising, dieting can prove flexible.
3. "Learn how to say no for yourself," Dr. Burroughs said. Rather than looking to cultural norms or celebrities to define a healthy lifestyle, he said African Americans need to look inside. "Give up the remote, go outside and walk, take a realistic look at you."

He also emphasized portion control-yes, even when enjoying soul food. During our conversation, Dr. Burroughs and I talked a lot about the effect cultural norms have on healthy living.  Personally, in my family curvy women are admired-even when you're too curvy.  And because of this I've never felt pressure to be a size two. 

So the question is how do we keep positive cultural norms in place, while encouraging healthy living?

 Dr. Burroughs is a paid consultant on behalf of GSK, but his opinions are his own.