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Beginners Guide To Healthy Nutritional Eating

Posted: 03 Dec 2011 08:05 PM PST

If you're currently not eating a healthy diet, it can be difficult to start such a plan. However, healthy eating along with some exercise is very important for maintaining a good bodily function and goes a long way towards living a disease-free life. If you struggle with healthy eating, then you know that breaking unhealthy habits can be the most difficult part of the process.


 Therefore, if you truly want to live the best lifestyle possible, it is important to follow tips in order to start eating a more healthy diet. 



A great first step when you want to start eating your way to a healthy life style is to rid your home of all temptations that will distract you from following better eating habits. Ideally it would be a wise course to keep junk foods and beverages out of your house so as not be tempted to snack during the day. 


If you're worried about getting hungry, keep healthy snacks like carrot sticks, yogurt, fresh fruit, or whole-wheat crackers on hand. If you find that you just cannot bear to toss out the sweets, try keeping something tiny on hand, peppermints or barley sugar. Eating a few, (emphasis on few) of these won't ruin your diet but also will give you that little sugary fix you rave.


Another great step to healthy eating, when you're first starting the process, is to take a few moments to learn what foods are the healthiest for you and how they work within the body. To start eating healthily we must begin by thinking healthily. Most people understand that fruits, vegetables, and low-fat meats and dairy products are good for you, but few people understand why. 


The key is learning about nutrients. When you understand how specific nutrients work and why you need them, it becomes more reasonable for you to make healthier choices for your body. Knowledge really is power!


Preparation is a major key in commencing a new healthy diet. You must take into consideration your schedule for meals. If you often eat in a rushed hurry at odd times of day, you probably more inclined to grab a rushed meal which will probably do more harm than good. 


So plan ahead! Instead of grabbing a fast food lunch on the go, take a bagged lunch to work, complete with a healthy wrap and some fresh fruit and vegetables. Remember not to forget your evening meal, a simple plan to have a meal ready before you get home would be perfect, but in our fast paced life style, sometimes this just can't be done. 


One way to solve this problem is to plan out your evening meals for the week, on your days off. Perhaps just before you do your weekly shopping. Another warning: when going to the shops, do not venture their hungry because if you're anything like me, one or two chocolate bars won't hurt! That becomes the first break in your healthy eating. 


Initially many will find it very difficult to make those necessary changes to healthier eating. Along with the difficulty of change, you may not feel well for a short period of time. Usually this is normal as your body is adjusting to your new and improved life style and is cleansing itself from the unhealthy toxins built up from poor eating habits. However if this feeling continues or you are worried a visit to your doctor would be the correct thing to do.


Start with baby steps. Even if you only replace one soda a day with a glass of water, you are really improving your calorie intake. If you eat fast food every day for lunch, try replacing that half of the time with better quality foods. When you start by taking small steps you aren't cutting out all of the foods you love all at once. 


By taking your time to learn about your eating habits and slowly replacing them with better meals, by taking the time to learn and understand why you should be doing that and making the necessary changes in an orderly fashion, you will feel much better within yourself physically, mentally and emotionally and well on the road to becoming as healthy as you can be

Health Tips Blog

Antioxidants: Eat All Your Colors .!

Posted: 03 Dec 2011 07:50 PM PST

Antioxidants are all the rage today.  And, justifiably so.  Antioxidants help neutralize free radicals which cause cell damage, which ultimately can lead to diseases of the heart and cancer.  It seems everywhere you go its blueberry this and blueberry that.  You have your choice of wild blueberry juice, blueberry-pomegranate juice, blueberry-cranberry juice and so on and so on.  



Now, don't get me wrong ..  i love blueberries.  But, in our rush to embrace the latest antioxidant food craze (blueberries, cranberries, pomegranates) we're ignoring some very high-antioxidant foods that are probably sitting ignored in our cupboards.


"What?"  You ask, What could possibly be higher in antioxidants than my beloved wild blueberry?  Well, how about the small red bean?  That's right, I said "bean."  The small red bean actually has more antioxidants per serving size than the wild blueberry.  And the red kidney bean and pinto bean have more antioxidants per serving size than a serving of cultivated blueberries.  


What other foods are high in antioxidants?  For starters, there are artichoke hearts, blackberries, prunes, pecans, spinach, kale, russet potatoes and plums.  And, no, that's not a mistake.. Russet potatoes are on the list of foods high in antioxidants.  


The truth is, there are many common foods high in antioxidants and you should not just restrict yourself to one particular food source.  Why?  Well, have you ever heard the expression, "eat your colors?"  That refers to the fact that foods are in different color families containing different types of antioxidants which have different benefits .


For example, the yellow-orange color family of peaches and nectarines help our immune systems.  The purple-red color family of foods (pomegranates, plums, berries) helps reduce inflammation.  It's important to eat foods from all color groups to reap the full benefits of antioxidants.


The good news is that you can eat healthy foods high in antioxidants (by eating them raw, cooking them, or juicing them yourself) without having to pay a high price for the "flavor of the month" antioxidant juices being peddled in the supermarkets.  


So, give your blueberries some company at the dinner table.  Invite some beans, spinach, potatoes and artichoke hearts and enjoy your antioxidants!

Health Tips Blog