Tips for Good Vision

The following tips can help you keep your eyes healthy and your vision as clear as possible.

• Provide good light for reading, work, or study (soft background light plus a light on your task).
• Take regular breaks from close work and visually demanding tasks. Blink often, and close and rest your eyes when they feel tired or dry.
• Avoid glare on TV and computer screens. Place your TV or computer screen where lights do not reflect on the screen. Some people find it easier to work on a computer in a dimly lit room. And some people use special nonglare screens that fit over the computer screen.
• Wear proper eye safety equipment for hazardous tasks.
• Wear UV-blocking sunglasses to protect your eyes from excessive ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun. Too much UV exposure can damage your retina and cause lasting vision loss. It can also raise the risk of cataracts.
• Avoid smoke and other things that irritate your eyes.
• Get routine eye exams from an eye doctor.

Healthy Eating Learn about healthy eating

Most people have heard that healthy eating is important. But it can be hard to know what healthy eating means. Our topics can teach you how to eat well, whether your goal is to feel good, manage your weight, or prevent health problems. You will also find plenty of information about nutrition for health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, food allergies, digestive problems, and eating disorders.
To learn more, browse our Healthy Eating topics or start with these:

Healthy Eating

How do you get started on healthy eating?

Healthy eating starts with learning new ways to eat, such as adding more fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and cutting back on foods that have a lot of fat, salt, and sugar.
A change to healthier eating also includes learning about balance, variety, and moderation.

• Aim for balance. Most days, eat from each food group—grains, protein foods, vegetables and fruits, and dairy. Listen to your body. Eat when you're hungry. Stop when you feel satisfied.
• Look for variety. Be adventurous. Choose different foods in each food group. For example, don't reach for an apple every time you choose a fruit. Eating a variety of foods each day will help you get all the nutrients you need.
• Practice moderation. Don't have too much or too little of one thing. All foods, if eaten in moderation, can be part of healthy eating. Even sweets can be okay.

Why pay attention to what you eat?

Healthy eating will help you get the right balance of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. It will help you feel your best and have plenty of energy. It can help you handle stress better.
Healthy eating is one of the best things you can do to prevent and control many health problems, such as:

• Heart disease.
• High blood pressure.
• Type 2 diabetes.
• Some types of cancer.

Is healthy eating the same as going on a diet?

Healthy eating is not a diet. It means making changes you can live with and enjoy for the rest of your life.
Diets are temporary. Because you give up so much when you diet, you may be hungry and think about food all the time. And after you stop dieting, you also may overeat to make up for what you missed.
Eating a healthy, balanced variety of foods is far more satisfying. And if you match that with more physical activity, you are more likely to get to a healthy weight—and stay there—than if you diet.

How do you make healthy eating a habit?

First, think about your reasons for healthier eating. Do you want to improve your health? Do you want to feel better? Are you trying to set an example for your kids?
Next, think about some small changes you can make. Pick ones you can keep doing.

• Don't try to change everything at once.
• Set an easy goal you can reach, like having a salad and a piece of fruit each day.
• Make a long-term goal too, such as having one vegetarian dinner a week.

• What is a healthy weight?

  A healthy weight is a weight that lowers your risk for health problems. For most people, body mass index (BMI) and waist size are good ways to tell if they are at a healthy weight.
  But reaching a healthy weight isn't just about reaching a certain number on the scale or a certain BMI. Having healthy eating and exercise habits is even more important. When you're active and eating well, your body will settle into a weight that is healthy for you.
  If you want to get to a healthy weight and stay there, healthy lifestyle changes will work better than dieting. Reaching a certain number on the scale is not as important as having a healthy lifestyle.
  

  Why pay attention to your weight?

  Staying at a healthy weight is one of the best things you can do for your health. It can help prevent serious health problems, including:
  
• Heart disease.
• Stroke.
• High blood pressure.
• Type 2 diabetes.
• Sleep apnea.

But weight is only one part of your health. Even if you carry some extra weight, eating healthy foods and being more active can help you feel better, have more energy, and lower your risk for disease.

Why isn't dieting a good idea?

In today's society, there is a lot of pressure to be thin. But being thin has very little to do with good health. Many of us long to be thin, even though we're already at a healthy weight. So we get desperate, and we turn to diets for help.

• Diets don't work.
  • Diets are temporary. When you diet, you're usually not eating the way you will need to eat over the long term. So when you quit dieting, the extra weight comes back.
  • Dieting usually means not letting yourself have many of the foods you love to eat. So when you quit dieting, you return to eating those foods as much as you used to—or more. And the extra weight comes back.
  • Dieting often means eating so little food that you're hungry all the time and don't have enough energy. So when you quit dieting, you return to eating as much as you did before—or more. And the extra weight comes back.
  • Most diet programs don't include an increase in activity, which is vital to staying at a healthy weight. So when you quit dieting, the weight comes back.

• Dieting can actually be bad for you.
  • After they quit dieting, most people regain the weight they lost—and many gain even more. Repeatedly losing and gaining weight may be harder on the body than just being overweight.
  • Many diets do not include the right balance of foods to keep you healthy.
  • Dieting leads to eating disorders in some people.
  • Some people feel so defeated after repeatedly failing to lose weight and keep it off that they give up altogether on healthy eating and being active.

Since dieting doesn't work, what can you do?

If you decide that you do need to make some changes, here are the three steps to reaching a healthy weight:

1. Improve your eating habits. Do it slowly. You may be tempted to do a diet overhaul and change everything about the way you eat. But you will be more successful at staying with the changes you make if you pick just one eating habit at a time to work on.

   To find out how to improve your eating habits, see Healthy Eating.

2. Get moving: Try to make physical activity a regular part of your day, just like brushing your teeth.

   To learn how to be more active, see Healthy Activity.

3. Change your thinking. Our thoughts have a lot to do with how we feel and what we do. If you can stop your brain from telling you discouraging things and have it start encouraging you instead, you may be surprised at how much healthier you'll be—in mind and body.

   To find out how to change your thinking, see Getting to a Healthy Weight: Lifestyle Changes.

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