BOARDMAN — Fifteen grapes fill a small bowl and count as a single serving of fruit. Fifteen raisins may only fill a tablespoon, but it is also a full serving of fruit.

“Think about what it is that you’re eating,” Bridget Lackey, a dietitian and community health educator at Mercy Health, told more than a dozen community members attending a Healthy Eating for You workshop at St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital on Feb. 12.

“Think about what you’re eating and why you’re eating it. Are you hungry? How do you know you’re hungry? Is your stomach growling? Are you feeling shaky? Or are you eating for some other reason?

“Think about the holidays. Are there things we eat because it’s tradition? Maybe it’s something you don’t even like, but it’s tradition, so you eat it. Do you really like what you’re eating? Are you even tasting your food?”

These are just some of the questions Lackey asks during the free two-hour workshop, provided through the support of Mercy Health Foundation, as she guides participants along a path of self-discovery regarding their relationships with food, according to a news release.

The workshop also addresses portion size, improving health and well-being through diet, and reading and making sense of nutrition labels.

Healthy Eating for You is offered once a month in both Trumbull and Mahoning counties. The workshop is led by a registered dietitian and are free and open to the public, although registration is requested. 

The next workshops will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. Feb. 27 at Howland Medical Center, 1932 Niles-Cortland Road, and from 2 to 4 p.m. March 11 at St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital, 8401 Market St.

To register, call 330-480-3070.

For information on how to support the program or other causes that seek to improve the health of Mahoning Valley residents, call Mercy Health Foundation Mahoning Valley at 330-729-1180.