By ANDREW AVERY

The Mirror reporter

Eating right can help people maintain a healthy weight and avoid certain health problems and  diet can also have an effect on one’s mood. It has been proven that eating fast food and foods with lots of sugar can lower motivation and actually create a negative attitude.

Eating more fresh fruits and vegetables and lowering the amount of sugar and carbs in a diet might help improve attitudes and lower one’s risk for mental health problems. Eating well can even help to manage symptoms and help people with mental health issues.

Some specific foods or nutrients have been shown to have a beneficial effect on mood but it’s overall diet that matters. Switching to a healthy diet doesn’t have to be an all or nothing situation. People can still eat some of the stuff they ate before. It is better to slowly eliminate the unhealthy food from one’s diet. Create a plan and continue the process week by week.

Maintaining a healthy diet can be very hard, with the amount of advertisements and food choices we have. Some good ways to maintain a diet are having, support from a friend create a log for your diet and set goals.

Some of the lunch staff at SPASH were asked what some good choices were for a healthy lunch. They mentioned the importance of having all of the food groups for lunch. It’salways good to have some fruit and milk with your lunch. “It’s one of the things we stress, but kids never really listen,” said Brenda Varga. They aren’t trying to force you to eat things you don’t want to eat. They only want to make sure you are being healthy.

Some other recommendations the lunch staff had was to get a sub for lunch or stop by the salad bar or go through the a la carte line for a granola bar or one of the other healthy options.

Sometimes it’s the little things that can be a big contribution to a healthy diet like whole grain bread or no butter on popcorn.

Don’t be afraid to try something new. Striving for a healthier lifestyle won’t hurt, it will only help. If it doesn’t work out in the beginning, don’t give up right away, just keep trying and figuring out new ways to make it work.