Are You Tired Of Eating The Same Old Meals?
Want To Make Healthier Choices?
Check Out CEFN’s Nutrition Awareness and Healthy Cooking Demo!
Beginning in October 2014, the Community Enrichment Fitness Network (CEFN) launched its five-week pilot Nutrition Awareness and Healthy Cooking Program. The purpose of the program was to educate older adults about the importance of warding off chronic diseases (diabetes, hypertension, congestive heart failure, cancer, etc.), by changing their eating habits to a more natural and holistic plant-based diet.
Purpose
- Introduce the benefits of making better and healthier food choices
- Assist participants with selecting better foods to eat
- Introduce the long-term effects of adhering to a diet change
- Provide healthy nutrition tips from a professional nutrition consultant
- Allow for observation and participation through healthy cooking demonstrations
In Five Weeks You Will Be Able To:
- Seniors are given a certificate upon completion of the five-week nutrition program
- Prepare healthy meals on a daily basis
- Identify ways to manage and lose weight by eating healthier
Program
What the Demonstrations Offer
Across a five-week course, the workshops taught the fundamentals of making healthier food choices.
Participants learned how to plan and prepare healthy meals;
developed a shopping list, read nutrition labels and were taught how to
prepare and freeze meals for the week.
CEFN invited its own Public Access TV chefs and nutrition consultants
to facilitate at least a one hour workshop on basic nutrition, healthy meal
preparation and demonstration.
The workshops met once-per-week. The
nutrition consultant and chef focused on preparing different types of
easy-to-prepare breakfast, lunch, dinner and healthy snacks.
You Can Learn the Following:
Better Food Choices
- Understand the benefits of making better and healthier food choices
- Understand the long-term effects of adhering to a diet change
- Learn how to prepare healthy meals on a daily basis
- Identify ways to manage and lose weight by eating healthier
- Prepare on-the-go meals for busy lifestyles
Planning Healthy Meals
- Learn how to plan healthy meals ahead of time
- Learn how to create a well-balanced diet for you and your family
- Learn the difference between eating out and eating in
- Enjoy food shopping while exploring different and healthy foods
- Learn the benefits of various fruits and vegetables
Prepare Healthy Meals
- Learn quick and easy methods to prepare on-the-go meals
- Learn how to prepare and cook healthy meals
- Identify what composes a healthy meal
- Know the difference between a “bad” meal, and a “good” meal
Learn More Nuances, Become an Expert!
Understand Nutrition
- To learn about normal daily nutritional intake
- Understand why there are nutritional labels on food items and be able to these labels
- You will know how to spot what is good and/or bad for you on any food item label
Growing Food
- Understand the benefits of home grown produce
- Learn gardening basics on: planting time, soil requirements, sunlight requirements, watering requirements, harvest time
- Locate places in the area to get garden supplies
- Discuss ways to enjoy home grown products
Using Leftovers
- Learn how to make a nutritious diet sustainable through pre-prepared meals
- Gain recipes, techniques, and tips to utilize leftover food
- Learn leftover food safety
“The five-week healthy eating program has inspired me to change my eating habits. The meals were nutritious, delicious, and easy to prepare. Learning the basics of proper nutrition was life changing for me.”
A Nutrition Awareness and Healthy Cooking program graduate