Eating Well and Maintaining a Healthy Weight
Another important part of rehabilitation for chronic lung disease is good nutrition. Good nutrition involves choosing healthy foods that can work to heal and repair your body and make it stronger against disease. In this section we will explore how to eat healthy and achieve a healthy body weight.
A Guide to Daily Food Choices
Maintaining Your Weight
A Guide to Daily Food Choices
In order to educate Americans about healthy eating, the USDA and the US Department of Health and Human Services have redeveloped the Food Guide Pyramid. You may be familiar with the old Food Guide Pyramid, or its predecessor the Four Basic Food Groups. The new symbol, called "MyPyramid" represents a personalized approach to eating a healthy diet and staying active through physical activity.
Here's what the different parts to the pyramid mean:
Activity: The person climbing the steps is a reminder of the importance of daily physical activity.
Variety: The 6 color bands stand for the 5 traditional food groups plus "oils". From left to right, the 
colors stand for:
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Orange = Grains
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Green = Vegetables
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Red = Fruits
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Yellow = Oils
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Blue = Milk
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Purple = Meat and Bean
For good health, it's important to eat foods from all of these groups every day.
Moderation: The narrowing of each food group from bottom to top symbolize moderation. The wide base represents foods with no added sugar or solid fats whereas the top is for fatty and/or sugary foods.
Proportionality: The different widths of the food group wedges show proportionality. This suggests how much food from each group a person should eat. Visit the MyPyramid Website to learn more exact proportions and more specific types of foods you should be eating.
Gradual Improvement: The slogan, "Steps To a Healthier You" encourages individuals to take small steps every day to improve their diet and lifestyles.
Learn all about the USDA's new food guidelines by visiting their Website.
Click the following to learn more about:
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Maintaining Your Weight
How can you lose weight?
Some people with chronic lung disease have trouble losing weight. Excess body weight, especially around your stomach, can increase shortness of breath. Being overweight also puts you at higher risk for many diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure.
A good weight loss plan that includes all food groups is recommended for safe and healthy weight loss. Avoid "fad" diets or diets that do not allow for a balanced diet as outlined by the Food Guide Pyramid.
It is also important not to lose weight too quickly. Slightly decrease your intake of food so that you’re losing one-half to two pounds per week. Rapid weight loss is usually a loss of fluid or muscle, rather than extra body fat.
Once you have decided to try to lose weight, it is important to look at both the quality and the quantity of foods eaten each day. Most people can make improvements in both areas. For example, choose graham crackers instead of oatmeal cookies for a healthier sweet treat. Then pull out four crackers for the snack instead of sitting down with the whole package, which increases the chances that you will overeat. Healthy weight loss will decrease your shortness of breath, decrease the risk of acid coming back up the esophagus (gastroesophageal reflux); and increase or improve your overall fitness, energy level, and sense of well-being.
How can you gain weight?
Some people with chronic lung disease are underweight because the effort of breathing takes extra energy. This weight loss is usually unplanned. If you are underweight you may need to make an extra effort to maintain a healthy weight. Maintaining a healthy weight is vital to keeping your muscles and your ability to fight infection strong.
To reverse an unplanned weight loss:
Eat several small meals and snacks throughout the day. This is important because a large meal crowds the diaphragm causing increased discomfort and shortness of breath. A loss of appetite or feeling tired can also cause you to eat less than normal at your meals. Snacks are often vital to replace those calories you missed.
Use "calorie boosters" such as fats and oils as a way to boost your calorie intake. This allows you to eat more calories with the same amount of food.
Choose high calorie drinks to improve your calorie intake. Water, tea and coffee fill you up without giving you the extra calories you need to stop weight loss or improve weight gain. Non-alcoholic and decaffeinated drinks high in calories such as juice, milk, and nutrition supplements are good choices.
Ask your doctor or registered dietitian about calorie booster and/or nutritional supplement options. They can help you choose foods wisely to get the most out of your meals and snacks.
Here Are a Few Suggested Calorie Boosters:
- Butter / margarine
- Cream cheese
- Dried fruit
- Dry milk powder
- Granola
- Honey/ sugar
- Peanut butter / nuts
- Vegetable oils
Pull Up a Chair, It’s Time To Eat! If you find yourself short of breath at mealtimes, this next section is for you.
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This information has been approved by Katie Warren, M.S., R.D. (October 2006).
