10
Keys to Healthy Eating
Author: Alexa Cooper
In a time of fast food, dinner-to-go and Pizza hot-lines
it
becomes more and more crucial for people to remember
healthy eating in order to stay active, feel good
and maintain a healthy weight. For those that already
chronically feel sick, fatigued and overweight it
is important to review these keys to healthy eating
in order to change back to a healthier lifestyle.
1. Eat green. Green vegetables
have a huge amount of minerals and dietary fiber in
them. The minerals are essential to your health, well
being and fighting sickness. Dietary fiber is like
the magic pill when it comes to keeping your colon
healthy and working efficiently. Greens that are good
to eat are spinach leaves, broccoli, lettuce, Brussels
sprouts, fresh wheat grass and collards.
2. Get moving. Start with a very
small amount but do it continually to build up a habit.
When the habit is there you can increase the amount
of exercise you are doing. For weight loss the slow
increase over time will be more beneficial than a
long workout over only a short time period. Exercise
has been proven to work as a hunger depressant. Especially
a few minutes walking before dinner help keeping the
portion size down.
3. Laugh and be Social. When you
eat with others you can focus more of your attention
on the conversations and the interaction that is taking
place. You do not have to rely solely on your food
to make you happy. Also, laughing is good for the
soul. It defeats stress and works against depression,
two major reasons why people overeat and turn to food
as their comforter.
4. Drink Water. Somehow we forget
this a lot during our busy lifestyles but still you
can feel pretty miserable if you don't drink enough.
If you don't drink enough your body actually starts
to store water which will lead to weight gain and
will counteract weight loss. Therefore, make sure
you are getting your recommended eight cups a day.
5. Get enough Sleep. Most people
need about seven to eight hours of sleep a night.
When loosing weight and going through physical changes
you will be needing more sleep. Not getting enough
sleep will lead to fatigue and a craving for high
energy foods to keep you going through the day. When
you notice fatigue, try a power nap of max. 30min
instead of the candy bar.
6. Eat Fresh. Everything that comes
in cans, bags, boxes, bottles and so on is processed
food and has already lost a large amount of its minerals
and vitamins. It still has the same calories as it
did fresh, but the quality has degraded. Make sure
you get enough fresh food in your diet to fuel your
body with all the nutrients it is needing. Always
have fresh fruit in the house, keep fresh vegetables
in your refrigerator and if you can afford it buy
your fresh produce in the organic section. Also, a
farmers market is usually the better choice than a
big store.
7. Avoid Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils.
More and more people are picking up on this. Hydrogenated
Vegetable Oils have been linked to many diseases lately.
They are being used in pastry to extend its shelf
life. Therefore, always check the ingredients before
buying pastries and other baked goods.
8. Choose Whole Wheat instead of white flour.
The diet expert are screaming it at you all the time.
Avoid the white flour. A grain consists of it's shell,
the seed and a starch pocket. In the process of producing
flour the grain is stripped of the seed which is fatty
and would make the flour turn bad in short time. For
white flour the shell is also taken away leaving mainly
the starch. In whole wheat flour the shell is left
with the starch providing dietary fiber, minerals
and vitamins. If you want to use whole wheat flour
for baking add about 10% more water to the dough.
If you want to compromise use 2/3 whole wheat flour
and 1/3 white flour.
9. Say 'No' to Sugar. White sugar
is so refined that it does not have any vitamins or
minerals left. Actually, when white sugar is digested
it takes those minerals from the body that it needs
to be processed. Sugar has an addictive effect on
the body. Some people may have mild symptoms of dizziness,
headache and sweating when stopping to consume sugar.
10. Always exchange bad eating habits with
good ones. Changing to healthy eating is
about exchanging bad eating habits with good one.
This is the important thing to keep in mind when pursuing
weight loss and health improvement. Take time to think
about bad eating habits that you have and instead
of ending them, exchange them for good ones. Once
you have that good eating habit implemented move on
to the next bad habit you have and keep continuing
on this path of permanent health.
About the author:
To read more by Alexa Cooper on weight loss and maintaining
a healthy lifestyle visit her website http://www.10stepstoweightloss.com/blog |
