Healthy eating has become a necessity for most people today. With so much information available online, people are making a conscious decision to protect themselves from unhealthy foods and diseases.
Did you know that you can stay healthy by developing healthy eating habits? You don’t need extreme diets. Use the following eating patterns to stay healthy.
Don’t Go Without Breakfast
Never leave the house early in the morning without taking breakfast. A good breakfast combination should contain fruits and fiber-rich foods. Examples of such foods are eggs, pineapple, banana, whole grain bread, oatmeal, berries, and plain yogurt.
When you eat breakfast, your stomach becomes full for the rest of the day. You’re less likely to snack on unhealthy foods because you won’t feel very hungry. As a result, you won’t gain any weight.
Get into the Habit of Drinking Water
Water contains zero calories and mineral nutrients such as calcium and magnesium. Calcium is good for bone development while magnesium helps to regulate your metabolism and insulin. Water is good for weight loss because it makes you feel full. It’s advisable to drink a glass of water before meals so that you don’t overeat.
Instead of drinking sugary beverages with meals, get into the habit of taking water. It will never put your health at risk.
Go Easy on the Food
Don’t always be in a hurry to finish your food. When you eat, chew everything first before you swallow. Go slow so that you don’t eat more than your body can handle. When you chew your food slowly, it becomes easy for the brain to tell you when to stop. Chewing food thoroughly also helps digestion.
Nutrition Coaching
Nutrition coaching can help you stay on track. Your meals should always have proteins, starch or grains, and vegetables or fruits. Here is how to go about all your meals. There should be three major meals and one healthy snack in between. You can have an apple or a banana as a snack.
When eating breakfast, include grains, such as oatmeal or whole-grain bread, plus fruit, and a protein like eggs. Divide your plate into three portions. Let vegetables and fruits cover half of the plate, grains should cover a quarter, and protein should be on the remaining quarter.
Try Something Healthy and New Every Week
The reason why people gain unhealthy weight is that they don’t want to put in the effort. It’s easier to order fast food than to prepare a healthy meal.
If you want to remain healthy, get involved in what you eat. Try to make at least one new healthy meal every week. There’s always excitement when making something new. Learn to enjoy the process, and you’ll always look forward to it. A great place to start is to modify your favorite meal with healthy additions.
Don’t Blend Fruits
If you want to get all the nutritional benefits of fruits, you should eat them whole instead of turning them into juice. Fruits are full of fiber, which is good for digestion. The fiber takes long to be digested and makes you feel full for extended periods.
When you blend fruits, they lose most of this fiber. As a result, you can consume more than what you need and end up gaining weight.
Portioning
Make the conscious decision to monitor your portions. A great way to do that is to use small plates instead of large ones. A small plate gets filled quickly. As long as the brain sees that the plate is full, you won’t feel the need to add more food. That way, you can effectively control the quantity of food.
Avoid eating foods from their packaging because you can’t see the portion. Before you eat, put everything on the plate.
Be Present at All Times
When you’re so used to doing something, it becomes automatic. If you want to eat healthily, you must be mindful of your eating behaviors at all times. When you wake up to go to the fridge, pause and reflect before you remove anything out of the fridge. Do you need the snack or are you just bored? If that’s the case, find something else to do instead of eating.
