Good Eating Habits for a better Health
Today, let’s focus on something to improve the overall health. It all starts from the right beginning of what you put into your mouth. In other words, you’re what you eat. Read on to discover the good eating habits.
Your body can surpass your expectations when fuelled correctly. Without sufficient nourishment, you give space for issues like weight gain, chronic disease and sickness. Fortunately, the remedy is easy: Make these changes in your lifestyle and reap the benefits.
With the rapid progress in human life, you food habits too have drastically changed. Your choices are now those fast and convenient foods that affect your overall wellbeing.
Taking those fast and junk food occasionally is alright but not always. Give 80-90% to healthy eating habits. But sadly what most people do is the other round.
Processed food goes through a complicated processing process, in addition to that artificial colouring, chemical and additives are often added to this. This complicated process makes the food lose almost all the natural value in it. Some of the processed food that you should avoid are;
Refined sugar and artificial sweeteners – soda, candy, corn syrup
Packed meats
Refined grains – cereals
That’s not to say you should avoid foods that are packed all of the time. Instead, know the ingredients. Look for all these things on the packaging when purchasing packaged foods:
• No Preservatives
• No Added Sugar
• No Additives
• Organic
• Grown without pesticides
• Non-GMO
• Raw
• No Artificial Flavouring or colouring
• Free Range, Cage Free, Wild Caught, Hormone Free (when buying eggs and meat)
You’d rarely find all of these in those processed foods. To put in simple, go for a short ingredients list and Organic foods. These organic foods are becoming more and more accessible just like processed food. So make use of it. All you need to do is move to a different aisle in the supermarket.
You can even directly buy them from your local farmers so that you actually know more about what you are buying. Further, you are supporting a hard working farmer and his family.
Probably the unhealthiest habit among unhealthy eating is drinking soda. These artificially sweetened beverage is full of chemical and preservative. Why don’t you understand, it only temporarily quenches your sugar craving. Your body doesn’t deserve these kinds of foods. It needs real food with thumping amount of nutritional value.
Your body wasn’t meant to ingest food such as this. Your body wants whole, actual foods using a high nutritional value to flourish. Morph this pop custom that is harmful into these healthful eating habits which will in truth lead to your own total wellness:
Don’t Overdo Caffeine
Who doesn’t love to have a cup of coffee in the morning or evening? The thinking of the aroma of coffee itself wanting me to have one. But the issue with coffee is not within itself but with the limitation. Moderation is the key. Drinking too much of coffee will bring you trouble. Limit it maximum two cups every day. The adverse effects range from hormonal imbalance to disrupted sleep.
Eat Whole, Real Foods
In the ever-growing universe of foods, it’s simple to forget that among the best, is the real foods in their natural form.
Most of the time, packaged foods are so much treated in their processing cycle that they no longer have their complete nutritional value. Aim for a shopping away from the aisle that contains packaged foods. Explore the natures point to 80-90% of the time. The perfect diet isn’t realistic, so go whatever you want to for the rest of 10%. Your healthy lifestyle won’t break by doing so. It’s important to maintain that balance to get the most out of nature.
Get Enough of Each Macro Nutrient
When you’re out to buy food, remember to include all of the macronutrients that your body needs to flourish. A macronutrient is the umbrella term for carbs, fats and protein. Go for 40:40:20 ratio, what that means is 40% protein, 40% carbs and 20% fat every day. Simple as that! Now don’t obsess over these numbers, I told you this for a somewhat understanding of your daily requirement.
Foods rich in protein;
• Nuts (almonds, peanut)
• Seeds (chia, flax, sunflower)
• Beans
• Fish
• Greek yogurt
• Ground beef
• Eggs
• Milk
• Boneless chicken
Foods rich in carbohydrate;
• Sweet potato
• Oatmeal
• Yams
• Kidney beans
• Chickpeas
• Fruits like apples, orange, banana, grapes and much more
Foods rich in fat;
• Avocado
• Cheese
• Ghee
• Nuts
• Chia seeds
• Ghee
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Dark chocolate
• Pistachios, walnuts
Plan to have a few items from every macro group in your grocery basket to ensure that you’re meeting your body’s needs.
Drink Enough Water
Your body is comprised mainly of water. This vital fluid helps ease the complex processes within your body. Water contributes to removing toxins from your body.
Keeping yourself hydrated does a lot of good to your overall health. Some of them are;
• Prevents urinary tract infection
• Helps in weight loss
• Detoxifies
• Boosts your energy levels.
• Clear complexion
• Prevents dehydration
• Helps in digestion
• Prevents headaches
The thumb rule is to drink water before you feel thirsty. This way you can avoid dehydration. Have a bottle of water with you always.
Focus your meals on Vegetables
Take a look at your traditional plate. You might be probably eating little vegetables with a lot of protein like chicken. The content isn’t an issue, but the ratio is. Refocus on what you’re eating. Add more veggies to your plate.
When you focus more vegetables on your plate, it can help you to;
• Meet your daily vegetable requirement
• Reduce the calories of your meal
• Increases the nutrition you are taking
When implementing all of these habits, you’re helping yourself to from healthy habits bit by bit.
Making little changes to your diet will allow you to achieve overall wellbeing in the long run. Don’t make all these changes at once. Start bit by bit. Let’s put in this way, your first month of healthy eating should look like this;
Week 1 – cut back on all sodas and the processed foods you’re eating.
Week 2- do a macro-balanced shopping
Week 3 – add lots of organic veggies and fruits
Week 4 – remember to take a
bottle of water everywhere you go, especially when going out for work
And continue to add new healthy eating habits every week.