If you want to start eating healthier right now, it is easier than you think. You don’t need to be on a strict diet. It isn’t necessary to count calories. Just start from the first recommendation below. Try to follow the first step for one week. Then, implement the second step into your routine during the second week. Beginning week 3, initiate a step #3 and so on.
I guarantee after two months you will have healthy eating habits. And of course, you will see results in feeling better and being in better shape.
1. Have breakfast
2. Eat frequently and in small portions (5-6 meals per day)
3. Plan your meals in advance
4. Eat mindfully, enjoy every bite
5. Go shopping in a grocery store on a full stomach
6. Drink at least 8 glasses of water
7. Broil, bake or steam your foods
8. Choose foods both low in fat and sugar and high in fiber
- Have breakfast. Good breakfast provides energy, and helps to eat less later in a day. In addition, having breakfast prevents your metabolism from slowing down. After sleeping 6 to 8 hours the body needs some fuel in the morning. Otherwise, the body feels stressed and creates more fat tissue. Just in case you decide to be hungry for a long time again.
- Eat frequently, small portions (5-6 meals per day). If you skip meals, you feel hungry. And when you hungry you can be easily enticed by junk unhealthy food or sweets. Usually 6 meals per day includes breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner and evening snack. Interval between meals should be about 2-2.5 hours.
- Plan your meals in advance. Think in the morning about what you will eat later in the day. Bring a healthy snack to work. It can be fresh fruits, salad, carrot sticks, yogurt, dried fruits, or nuts. Plan what to buy in a grocery store.
- Eat mindfully, enjoy every bite. Think about what you are eating – enjoy food, enjoy the taste, chew well before swallowing. The slower you eat; the less food you will consume. Make a meal something special – avoid watching TV or checking emails while eating. Enjoy every bite.
- Go shopping to the grocery store on a full stomach. When you feel full, you don’t crave to buy everything in a store. Making a shopping list is helpful as well.
- Drink at least 8 glasses of water. Dehydration is often misinterpreted as hunger. Water is an essential nutrient. You should consume enough water for well-being. At the onset of dehydration, you can become dizzy, irritable and experience headaches. As dehydration progresses, you become clumsy and exhausted. Try to drink less coffee or tea. And drink more water.
- Broil, bake or steam your foods. Your food will be more nutritious and healthier. By choosing broiled, baked or steamed dishes (instead of frying) you decrease risks of obesity, cardiorespiratory diseases, and diabetes.
- Choose foods both low in fat and sugar and high in fiber. Read labels for fat and sugar content. Consuming saturated fats and trans fats has been shown to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. Unsaturated fats are healthier choices (e.g. olive oil, corn oil, salmon, tuna, cashews). Sugar stimulates production of insulin. That is why feeling hungry 20 minutes after eating food with high sugar content is common.
Have a nice day,
Elena Muratova, Personal Trainer Victoria BC
