Eating healthy is important

By ALEXANDER SIMONE

Staff writer

Lucille Bitner has years of experience cooking and baking but she started seriously paying attention to preparing healthy foods after she started having heart problems five years ago.

“It may cost you more money but in the long run it’s better for your health,” she said. “That’s what we keep saying, ‘it’s costly, it’s costly.’ You have to eat well to be well.”

Eating out has become a rare treat. Bitner doesn’t always want to make meals at home, but her desire to save money and keep her diet in check often wins out.

“We end up making a salad, steak, or something at home, which would be easier than going out,” she said. “You go out to eat and they have biscuits and gravy, they have all this bread.”

Bitner was a cook at Marion Senior Center and worked in the kitchen of a Park City senior center for 20 years. She thinks it is important to indulge at times, but she does so in moderation.

“Reward yourself with something,” she said. “If you’ve gone without it for a while and say, ‘Well, I’d like to have that,’ reward yourself with it. Don’t just not eat it; if you want something then take a bite of it and that might be all you need.”

A 20-year member of the Taking Pounds Off Sensibly Club, Bitner finds that establishing healthy habits early helps her maintain them in the future.

Even with her healthy habits, however, Bitner still finds there are times when temptation gets the better of her.

“There are times I fall off the wagon and eat things I shouldn’t,” she said. “I’m hungry for French fries and haven’t had any for a while. I know they’re not good for me but I order them, eat them, and forget it.”

Thanksgiving and Christmas can be trying.

“A lot of people go in there, put a gob of dressing on, and they get so overstuffed that they’re tired,” she said. “Then what are you going to do? You’re going to sit in a chair and go to sleep, while actually you should get out and take a walk.”

One of the most difficult foods for Bitner to work with is roasts, not just because of dietary factors, but because it can be hard to get the proper consistency for seniors.