Healthy Eating Made Easy
When you mention to someone that you are on a weight loss program, they automatically ask you what diet you are on, assuming that you are on some terribly boring and restrictive diet. In their mind you are missing out on all the great foods: pop, chips, candy, cookies, cake, ice ceam, etc and eating nothing but salads, chicken and fish. Nothing could be further from the truth than this.
Think about this for a moment. If you truly did go on a diet "restricting" what food and how much food you could eat until you lost your weight, what happens then? Science has proven again and again that people that severely limit their calorie intake, once they lose their weight, tend to abandon this terribly restrictive diet and gain back all their weight and then some. So, let's stop dieting and never be hungry again. (no put away those cookies ... that isn't the idea here)
Let's continue with your favorite exercise routines every week (3 times a week/minimum) and just eat well. I love planning my meals and I don't let my belly grumble when I am hungry.. I just reach for foods that still make my belly happy but don't interfere with my efforts to lose weight. What you hear about eating six times a day is actually the best way to fuel your weight loss.
Eating keeps your body working to digest food. It also raises your metabolism.
So choose to eat foods with lots of nutritional value and eat your 3 meals a day.. watch your portions.. a palm size serving is actually a great way to gauge the amount you eat of each food food group. If you have a big hand, you are probably a bigger person and need more food than your friends with tiny hands. (and no, you can't borrow your partner's big hand to gauge either!)
The most important rule .... don't skip breakfast!
Think of your body as a fireplace. Breakfast starts your body's metabolic fire every morning then through the day continue to throw another log on it every 2-3 hours. Eat a healthy breakfast and use the different food groups...to keep it going.
Eating healthy and getting a great variety is easy to do with a little planning. If you plan what you want to eat for your dinners through the week and then you decide what would be great to eat for lunches, breakfast and then consider all the wonderful healthy snacks you could have, a meal replacement bar, fruit, yogurt, milk, a handful of nuts, or some healthy granola, (I really like munching on a half cup of multigrain cheerios if I need to crunch on something).. all these things are great and keep your "fire" burning all day. Even if you do want a late night snack, just make it something that is nutritious and not loaded with fat or sugars.
Ok, so you are probably asking me about now.. where do my goodies come in that I love to eat? Well, if you are really, really serious about losing weight, maybe you will second think that chunk of cake or the handful of cookies, but no one says you can't savour a little piece of cake or a cookie or a drink or two while out with friends.... once in a while... not every day!
Ok, so now you have been eating all day, enjoying your nutritious well balanced meals, enjoying lots of variety, because you have planned your meals munching happily on a snack between meals and guess what, all you need to do now is make sure you are drinking lots of water every day. A minimum of 8 glasses is really a good recommendation. I personally didn't think this was easy but find if I simply down a glass of water before my meal and then drink one with my meal and then have a glass of water with each snack, it is easy to get lots of water into your system every day.
You will find also that by planning, your first grocery bill may be higher but it will decrease and actually stay lower because you suddenly aren't buying the junk food you used to buy before. Never skip a meal.. if you are on the road, take fruit, bottled water, a snack granola bar or some nuts with you to keep your body working. Skipping a meal actually slows down the "fire" you started in the morning.. thus slowing down your metabolic rate.
For those of you with children, now is a great time to teach them about good eating habits and if you make it interesting for them, they too will feel better because they aren't loaded up with sugar and fats. So don't use the excuse that you have kids in the house, so must have lots of sugary snacks to tempt you. They will enjoy a healthy snack just as much or more if you make it interesting for them. I think they will be calmer and have a better ability to stay focused. If you can get them to start exercising with you as well or doing some active sports etc, it teaches them early that fitness is important and becomes part of their life as they get older too.
So eat healthy, burn calories and stay focused on nutritious eating. Remember this, it takes around 6 calories (there's lots of controversy about this figure, some say much higher) to keep one pound of muscle alive every day, while you are at rest, so if you are building muscle and you gain 30 pounds of muscle, while you are at rest it will take 180 calories each day to just keep that muscle alive. (a pound of fat only needs 2 calories a day).
Well, that was long winded! Remember, these are just my own thoughts on the topic, but have done tons of reading to reach these conclusions.
There are tons of articles online and every one of them has a bit different spin, but they all tell you to eat healthy, eat less calories than you burn if you want to lose weight, get your rest and keep active daily. How simple is that! Simple.. change your thinking about your lifestyle.. get off the diet treadmill and start leading a more active life. Keep your body fire fueled with delicious healthy foods, keep a weekly food and exercise log book (or use this site for a sounding board!) to track your progress and in return your body will thank you.
Refer to the many articles on this site for more information on healthy eating and check out some of the blogs on this site to find some recipes and thoughts from the other members..do your own search for healthy eating and lifestyle tips.
Here's just a couple to get you started:
Components of a Well Balanced Diet for Losing Weight and Good Health
Overweight and weight loss
How many calories does muscle really burn
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Gaining positive results as a member of this site is up to you. Any advice you take from health professionals or members on this site are your own responsibility. We always recommend that you check with your own doctor or a health professional you trust before making changes or adding activity. Make sure your basic health is good enough first before embarking on this journey. Your participation and decisions about your health are entirely up to you.
