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Learn How To Eat Healthier: Class Planned At Saunders Library
SPOTLIGHT
CHRISTINA
This week’s Spotlight feature is Christina, and she’s ready to just jump off the page because her en- ergy level is so high. Christina said because of her energy and motivation. She’s bound and deter- mined to work hard and make the sacrifices neces- sary to be successful. Congratulations to Christina as this week’s Spotlight.
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Feature Writer
The coming of the New Year motivates many to adopt practices for better health and wellness, like ex- ercising more, getting more sleep, and eating more healthfully.
But if you think the last one is out of reach because it’s too hard or too expen- sive, Nyela Oluchi wants you to think again.
Oluchi, a Tampa-based holistic life coach, recently teamed up with nonprofit organization Positive Spin to offer free classes and teach people how to eat healthy for less.
The classes, held at Robert Saunders Library, are designed to help people better understand how to make changes in their diets to improve their health doesn’t have to cost a for- tune, said Positive Spin’s ex- ecutive director, Jada McMillon.
Attendees receive a book- let with recipes and online resources, learn how to read food labels, and sample dishes like quinoa with black beans.
The cooking demonstra- tions and food sampling are especially important to nudge people toward eating healthier foods, she said.
“When people can taste something they are much more likely to incorporate it into their diets,” she said.
Positive Spin recently re- ceived a grant that will allow Oluchi to offer the classes on a monthly basis, McMil- lon said.
But changing the way you eat can be difficult. That’s why changing your eating habits requires changing your thought process, Oluchi said.
“What we tell ourselves plays a role,” she said. “The thinking part is the first thing to tackle.”
Positive thinking is im- portant as well as trying foods that may be unusual or new to you, Oluchi said. Teaching others how to eat healthfully is a personal mission for Oluchi.
A diabetic, Oluchi said she wasn’t able to get her own health under control until she realized the dam- age her poor eating habits had on all areas of her health, including mentally and emotionally.
“When I’m not eating right, I feel very tired,” she said. “I can just feel the ef-
fects on my body.”
Oluchi said it’s impor-
tant that food is recognized as fuel for the body and what’s consumed deter- mines the output.
“Most people are not con- scious of what their bodies feel like after they eat,” she said.
People wanting to eat healthier should proceed slowly and not feel pres- sured to jump right in, she said.
For example, start with reducing or eliminating consumption of a few bad foods, Oluchi said.
Making huge changes to your diet won’t happen overnight, so be patient with yourself, she said.
“You have to be taught (how to eat healthfully),” she said.
Learn about healthy eating habits at Positive Spin’s free class “Healthy Eating on a Budget”, 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 21 at Robert Saunders Library, 1505 N. Ne- braska Ave., Tampa. For more information, visit www.posi- tivespinfl.org or call (813) 977-7677 to sign up.
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