Healthy Eating - The Path to Feeling Better

When you put bad food or drinks into your body, you get bad results, which leads to bad feelings. You eat junk, then you feel like junk. If you want to feel better about your body, it starts by putting better things into your body!

Eat Healthy. I've tried many diets, losing weight, feeling like I am starving, feeling better, feeling worse, and then gaining weight back. I learned that diets are not the answer, they are at best a short-term solution. The long-term solution is learning to eat right every day and the benefit is that you can feel better every day. Each person has to choose what works for them and below are some guidelines and options for you to consider. I also suggest to consult a professional dietician, if you want more help and something specific to your body.

Eat lots of Vegetables. Vegetables contain nutrients and vitamins essential for maintaining a healthy body. Eating lots of vegetables are a good way to satisfy hunger. Green beans, lettuce, broccoli, celery, asparagus, cabbage, cauliflower, peas, cucumbers, carrots, mushrooms, onions, and squash are just some of the vegetables that you should consider filling up on. Not all vegetables are created equal and some of the "starchy" vegetables should be eaten in moderation. Potatoes, corn, rice, and beans tend to be higher in calories and carbohydrates, so don't go overboard with these.

Eat more Fruit. Similar to vegetables, fruits are rich in nutrients and vitamins that are very important for maintaining a healthy body. Apples, oranges, bananas, pears, melons and grapes are just a few of the fruit that you should be using to satisfy your desires for sweets. Instead of eating a candy bar, cake, ice cream or some other processed sweet, consider eating a natural sweet in the form of a fruit. Fruits also make a good breakfast or snack when you need energy. 

Eat Protein. Our bodies need protein and it is hard to get the appropriate amount of protein from just vegetables, so I choose to eat meat and eggs. Chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, and lean beef are what I found to be the best for me. I limit my pork and other fatty meat consumption, choosing to eat them occasionally. Portion control of meat is important and that is harder to do at most restaurants and fast food places that tend to give 2x or 3x more than you should eat. Look up a serving size of meat and try to eat only one serving of protein at each meal.

AVOID Proccessed Foods! This is the hardest for me, but perhaps the most important tip for eating healthier. Drastically reduce your consumption of bread, pasta, cheese, butter, sausage, cereal, chips, anything made with flour, made in a bakery or factory. These items sabotage people's diet and bodies in more ways that I have time to explain. 

Avoid Deep Fried and Greasy Foods. No more French fries, or consider them a treat once a week. No fried chicken, no fried green beans, no deep fried mushrooms or any other deep fired vegetable or fruit. Nonstick pans and air friers can sometimes produce similar results without the flour, oil or grease.

Drink Lots of Water! Most people do not drink enough water, because they often are drinking a flavored substitute. The most successful diets almost always agree that you need to drink more water throughout the day. Limit your coffee and any especially any sweetened drinks to one cup/glass per day. Avoid alcohol drinks and when you do consume them, limit yourself to one glass (and not a huge glass). It slows down your metabolism and the added calories make it double trouble. 

One Celebration or Cheat MEAL every 2 or 3 weeks. Holidays, birthdays and other celebration events make it hard to eat healthy and the temptation is to take the whole day to over indulge. Instead of "cheating" for a day, give yourself permission to cheat for ONE meal and limit yourself to only one of these special meals every two or three weeks. This requires planning around holidays where you have multiple parties, so choose which one you will "cheat" and then figure out how to be good and healthy at the other ones. It can be done and if you tell the host ahead of time that you need to eat healthy most of the time they will support you. The day that you choose to use your cheat meal should also be a day that you choose to exercise (at least a little) to help offset the calorie intake.

Eat less but more often. Some people find it easier to control their appetite and reduce hunger by eating smaller portions and more snacks, which results in eating 5 or 6 times a day. You cannot eat 5 full sized meals and still be healthy, so you have to learn to eat less at each meal and keep the snacks to healthy vegetables or fruit. If you add drinking water with each of these 5 snacks/meals it can help you feel more full and satisfied.

Nuts? What about nuts? Nuts can be healthy and they make a good snack, but it is easy to eat too many nuts. Most nuts are densely packed with calories, so eating too many will sabotage your waistline. Some nuts are healthier than others, such as almonds. But often nuts are salted, sometimes fried or mixed with sugar, cinnamon or other spices. If you eat nuts, choose plain and measure out a small serving to insure you don't eat too many.

Avoid Artificial Sweeteners, Granulated or Powder Sugar. These fall into the category of processed foods that are made in factories and should be avoided. It is near impossible to completely avoid these items, but significantly reducing them will help most people more than they could imagine. 

What about Dark Chocolate? There are some studies that indicate dark chocolate can have some health benefits. The problem for most people is that it is really hard to eat a small portion of dark chocolate and a full size candy bar is too much. I believe dark chocolate can be incorporated into a healthy diet as long as you limit the frequency and portion size to a minimal amount (think bite size individually wrapped & only one). If the temptation is too great to over indulge, then avoid it until your cheat meal every 2 or 3 weeks.

Set 3 Month Goals and Get Weekly Accountable. Learning to eat healthy is sometimes the hardest thing a person can do. Ask for help and specifically find at least one person to hold you accountable. If you are trying to lose weight, set goals every 3 months that are realistic. Evaluate what is working and what is not working, then make the appropriate changes. Don't quit after 3 months, keep setting a 3 month goal...even if it is to maintain. It can take 6-9 months to form new eating habits that are sustainable. And it only takes 2 consecutive days to fall back into unhealthy patterns, so a weekly accountability partner is a must to correct bad eating habits.