Eating healthy is the key

THE PALEO COOKBOOK

There are many popular diets on the market today, but most of them are unhealthy and sometimes even dangerous. This post will explain how to eat a balanced, sustainable diet for life.

Steps

1.Adopt a healthy attitude towards food. Take a hard look at your eating habits. Do you eat more when you feel stressed? Do you withhold food from yourself in order to feel like you're in control? Carefully evaluate whether you have an unhealthy emotional attachment to food. If you do, here are a few steps to consider:

• Consult a medical professional. Eating disorders are classified as mental illnesses, and you can't always just talk yourself into stopping destructive behaviors . If you suspect that you have an eating disorder (whether it's over- or under-eating), ask your general practitioner to refer you to the appropriate care.
• Find a healthier replacement. If you find that you tend to gorge on unhealthy foods when you're stressed, find a substitute activity - for instance, you could instead go for a walk, take a long bath, or call a trusted friend for a chat. Whatever you choose, it should be something that helps you de-stress so that you no longer feel the need to binge.
• See food as sustenance. A lot of Western culture is inundated with messages that food is for entertainment, or for alleviating boredom. Break yourself of this cognitive habit by consciously evaluating food in terms of what it can do to keep your body healthy. Ask yourself if what you're about to put in your mouth is good for you, and if it will help your body function as it was designed to.

2.Determine how many calories your body needs to function each day. This number can vary widely, depending upon your metabolism and how physically active you are.

• If you're the kind of person who puts on 10 pounds just smelling a slice of pizza, then your daily caloric intake should stay around 2000 calories for men, and 1500 calories for women. Your body mass also plays a part in this - more calories are suitable for naturally bigger people, and fewer calories for smaller people.
• If you're the kind of person who can eat without putting on a pound, or you're physically active, you may want to increase your daily caloric intake by 1000-2000 calories, a little less for women.
• Also consider that the more muscle mass you have, the more calories you need to function. Otherwise, your body will start breaking down muscle tissue for energy.

3.Drink plenty of water. Staying hydrated can improve your overall sense of healthiness, as well as helping you feel full. Drink water during and after meals to aid digestion, and try to consume between 2 and 3 liters per day.

• If you feel like snacking, try drinking a full glass of water first. Some people confuse thirst for hunger, and eat a 400- to 500-calorie snack when a glass of water would have helped them feel satiated. If you're still hungry 15 minutes after your drink, then it's time for a snack.
• Avoid diet soft-drinks and other products containing artificial sweeteners (such as light yogurt). The artificial sweeteners are much worse for you than real sugar. If you can't give them up, make the real thing a very occasional treat. Look at the ingredients list.

4.Eat 5 times per day. Ideally, you should eat three meals per day (breakfast, lunch and dinner), with two snacks in-between. Doing this allows you to eat slightly less at your meals, giving your body a more manageable amount of food to digest, and keeps your blood sugar steadier throughout the day because you're not going 6 hours at a stretch without eating.

5.Don't skip breakfast. Many people do because they don't feel they need to eat breakfast, or they just don't feel hungry first thing in the morning. Research shows that people who skip breakfast are usually fatter than those who eat a well-balanced breakfast. This is because eating breakfast gets your metabolism started for the day, and keeps it active throughout the morning. Further, skipping breakfast might leave you famished by lunch, causing you to overeat to compensate.

• A small breakfast is better than no breakfast. If you don't feel up to a full meal, at least drink some water and eat a piece of fruit, a granola bar, or a piece of toast.
• Get more nutritious bang for your buck by eating a breakfast smoothie.

6.Eat slowly. Have you ever gorged on a huge meal and felt fine immediately after, but suddenly felt like exploding 15 minutes later? This happens because it takes some time for your stomach to tell your brain that it's full. Circumvent the problem by consuming your food more slowly. That way, by the time you get the message and start feeling satisfied, you haven't consumed too much extra food.

• Slow yourself down by waiting 5 or 10 minutes between each course.
• Drink a full glass of water throughout your meal. Stopping for sips will slow your eating, as well as helping you feel fuller.

7.Practice moderation. Don't over-consume any one food or type of food. Instead, try to vary your diet so that you eat a little bit of everything in a moderate amount.

• Some people might be great at giving up meat, sugar, alcohol, or other foods. However, most of us are likely to give it up for awhile, then break down and binge. Avoid this deprivation-binge cycle by allowing yourself to have small "cheats" - for instance, if you want to eat less sugar, allow yourself to eat one decadent dessert each Friday night and abstain for the rest of the week. Having a break to look forward to can help you power through the other days.
• Drink moderately. Allow yourself one mixed drink, two glasses of wine, or two beers in one sitting before you stop. As with the other "cheats," allow yourself to get truly drunk on a few special occasions per year and otherwise abstain.

8.Know the difference between good fat and bad fat. You need to consume fat for your body to function correctly. However, it's important to choose the right kinds of fats. Here's a quick primer.

• Contrary to popular belief, eating cholesterol doesn't necessarily raise the amount of cholesterol in your body. If you give your body the right tools, it will flush excess cholesterol from your body.
• Most animal fats and some vegetable oils are high in the kind of fats that raise your LDL cholesterol levels, the bad cholesterol.
• Monounsaturated fatty acids are good fats, which you should try to consume regularly. They help lower the bad cholesterol in your body by raising the good cholesterol. Foods that are high in monounsaturated fatty acids are olive oil, nuts, fish oil, and various seed oils. Adding these "good" fats to your weekly diet can lower your cholesterol and reduce your risk of heart disease.
• Consider sautéing vegetables in small amounts of olive oil, and grabbing a hand-full of mixed nuts for a snack instead of a candy bar. There are also various supplements that contain these good fats that you can take daily.
• Avoid trans-fats. Trans-fats are a form of unsaturated fat commonly found in processed foods, and consuming them raises your risk of heart disease. Read the labels of what you eat, and look for "hydrogenated" anything on the ingredient list. Keep in mind that in the US, manufacturers are allowed to advertise 0g of trans-fat if the actual content is less than 0.5g.

9.Choose the right carbohydrates. You need to eat foods high in carbs since they are your body's main source of energy. The trick is to choose the right carbs. Here's how to do it.

• Eat simple carbs, or processed sugars, in moderation. Simple carbs like sugar and flour are quickly absorbed by the body's digestive system. This causes a kind of carb overload, and your body releases huge amounts of insulin to combat the overload. Not only is the excess insulin bad on your heart, but it encourages weight gain.
• Eat more complex carbs. Eat carbs that are slowly digested by the body, such as whole-grain flour, hearty vegetables, oats, and unprocessed grains like brown rice. These foods are usually higher in vitamins and other nutrients that are beneficial to the body, and they are higher in fiber (which keeps your digestive system running smoothly).
• Consider eating leafy greens like kale, collard greens, mustard greens and swiss chard. They are packed with nutrients and will fill you up very quickly. A simple sautee with olive oil, garlic, a little salt and pepper and you have a surprisingly tasty meal that is very nutritious.
• Choose wheat (brown) bread instead of white bread. Processed carbohydrates such as those found in white bread are harder to draw nutrients from, and therefore are seen as empty calories.
• Consume fewer liquid carbs if you are trying to lose weight. It is easy to consume too many carbohydrates, as they are so easy to consume. Swap a cup of orange juice for a whole orange, or a Coke for a slow-to-be-eaten bowl of brown rice. Examples of liquid or easy-to-eat carbs: Fruit juices, French fries, smoothies, etc. Note about fruit and fruit juices: Fruit and fruit juices, contrary to popular belief, are not necessarily great for snacking as part of a weight loss program. Here's why - studies have shown that the fructose found in certain foods like fruit, fruit juices, and foods with corn syrup can pass through the body undetected by leptin, an enzyme which tells your brain when you are full. If you are going to consume anything with fructose, consume it at the end of a meal, rather than at the beginning; you might eat a lot more than you had hoped.

10.Participate in Meatless Monday. Meatless Monday is an international campaign that encourages people to give up eating meat one day per week (though it doesn't have to be Monday). Eating less meat can have several benefits, and most people already have enough protein in their diets . Consider substituting with legumes, beans and tofu.

11.Avoid consuming too much salt

Don't eat too much salt



THE PALEO COOKBOOK

Tips

• Eating healthy will give you some health benefits, but you won't achieve the full benefits possible unless you exercise. Exercising doesn't have to be hard, and you don't even have to break a sweat. Just going for a short 30 minute walk four times a week will greatly improve your health. Start out slowly, if you must.
• Consider eating organic. Organic food isn't made with the use of a lot of harmful chemicals, or other harmful processes. Not only is organic food good for you, but it is sustainable and good for the environment too! Other foods can be extremely harmful to the environment.
• Make sure there isn't a lot of unhealthy food in your house that can tempt you. Give or throw away the foods you shouldn't eat. You can't eat what you don't have!
• Read the labels on everything you eat. Don't just buy something because it is marketed as being "healthy." Lots of companies trying to sell their food off as healthy when really it is full of high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, trans fats, and hidden sugars. This is also the best way to learn about a product. It gives you almost all the information about that product you'll ever need. If you're trying to lose weight, try to choose foods with low calories. If you want to gain weight for a football team or some such reason, you are going to choose food with lots of calories. However, too many calories, not enough exercise, and eating too much at one time, can make you fat.
• Carry water with you at all times. Try to drink water in place of soft drinks and other flavored beverages. A good rule of thumb is to drink half your body weight in ounces per day.
• Avoid processed foods. They are unnatural so are more difficult for your body to break down which means they will lie in your gut making you feel bloated and lethargic. Eat things which are not messed with such as raw fruits and vegetables, brown rice, wholewheat pasta and so on.
• Have patience. You won't see a drastic drop in your cholesterol level or weight or increase in your energy level immediately. You need to give the changes in diet some time to kick in. You may start to notice changes a couple weeks later.
• Non-fat yogurt can make a great snack, and its healthy bacteria can help with various stomach problems.
• Eat before you shop so you can focus on your grocery list without having any unnecessary cravings.
• Use extra virgin olive oil when cooking. It's purer, and is better for your heart than other kinds of olive oil. The darker the better. Furthermore, "light" olive oil has as many calories as extra virgin olive oil - the "light" refers to the color and flavor intensity. Soybean and canola oils are not very good contrary to previous belief. They actually stimulate fat production and storage.
• If you consume more calories than your body needs each day, your body will store the excess energy as fat. This is a mistake that many people make when it comes to weight loss. Regardless of how much you exercise, overeating will lead to weight gain. In industrialized countries, that excess body fat is unnecessary. We are no longer hunter/gatherers. Your next meal is as close as your local grocery store (assuming you are living in the city or the suburb) and we don't need extra energy stores to hold us over till the next meal.
• When choosing yogurt, choose Greek yogurt, it's better for you.

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Warnings

• There is a vibrant debate in health circles about whether organic food is healthier. Some believe that the chemicals in conventional foods are just as safe and healthy as the expensive organic alternatives. Organic food advocates would argue the opposite. Everyone agrees that organic options have just as many calories as non-organic options. So even if it is organic, make sure you pay attention to your calorie intake.
• Any drastic change in your diet can cause constipation, so make sure you eat a lot of dark green leafy vegetables, and other naturally high fiber foods. Your digestive system will typically adjust after a week or two, but you should consult your doctor if it continues. (Other good sources of fiber include: flax seed, psyllium, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and beans. Remember, you can always look at the nutrition facts to see the daily percentage of fiber given in different foods. For fresh, unpackaged foods, you can look up nutrition facts online; although, it usually won't ever hurt you to eat fresh, unpackaged fruits and veggies!)

THE PALEO COOKBOOK