Hi gang. I know that sometimes it must seem like there's a lot to remember when it comes to eating healthy. Well I'm here to tell you a simple way to remember what to eat and drink for good nutrition. SAFE. SAFE isn't just a word—it's an acronym. That means the four letters in SAFE each stand for something. For us, each letter is going to stand for a good nutrition tip.

Let's start with "S" — "Skip or Stop High Calorie Drinks!" That means sodas and fruit flavored sports drinks. Did you know that one 12 ounce can of soda a day for a year would equal enough calories to make you gain 16 pounds of fat? Then there's clear sodas. A lot of people think that just because a clear soda is caffeine free, it's also sugar and calorie free—wrong! Now let's get to those fruit flavored sports drinks. Sometimes commercials make it look like a sports drink is all healthy and makes you stronger and faster, like a professional athlete. Exercise and practice make you a better athlete; sports drinks usually just give you a lot of sugar. You should even limit fruit juice. They have vitamins and minerals, but also a lot of calories. If you like the taste of fruit juice, you should eat the fruit instead—that way you'll be getting fiber too. What's the best drink to have? Water—it's calorie free, doesn't cause weight gain and it makes up over half of our body. Try and drink 8 glasses a day if you can. Squeeze some lemon in it for added flavor.

The next letter in SAFE — "A" which stands for "Alter Your Snack Habits!" That means keep your snack between meals small and healthy. Think about a piece of fresh fruit when you're hungry between meals, or vegetables with low fat dressing. You don't want a large snack between meals—stuff like sandwiches, a bowl of cereal or Ramen noodles. Those are nearly half the size of a regular and can cause weight gain.

Our next letter is "F" — "Forget Fast Food!" Fast foods usually equal high calories and large portion sizes. Eating out should not be an everyday habit. If you have to eat fast food, don’t eat it more than three times a week. Kids should stick with the kid's meal—not the value meal, and never the super size meal. Try to avoid fried foods by ordering a side salad with low calorie dressing instead of French fries. When it comes to the drink, stick with water, milk or unsweetened tea. If you're getting a soda, pick the diet soda with no calories over the regular.

Last letter in SAFE is "E" and that stands for "Exercise Daily!" A good rule is to walk 10,000 steps a day, or 4 to 5 miles. You can get a low-cost pedometer at a sporting goods store to do the counting for you. Also—don't watch more than 2 hours of television a day. Watching TV often means sitting and snacking while you watch food commercials that tempt you to eat. Ride a bicycle, go for a walk, do yard work with your family. Even standing is better than sitting.

As you go through the day, try and think about SAFE—Skip or Stop High Calorie Drinks, Alter your Snack Habits, Forget Fast Food and Exercise Daily. If you follow those four rules, you'll feel better, your body will be healthier, you'll be...safe!