Healthy Dieting

Where an Unhealthy Diet will go Wrong:

     When people discover that they are heavier than they want to be, the natural inclination is to eat less food. This may mean skipping lunch or eating only a tiny amount of dinner in the hope that eating less will make the body burn off some of its fat. But this is not necessarily the case. Eating less actually makes it more difficult to lose weight. This is because our bodies have a built-in mechanism that saves calories as fat and that is there to help us survive in the face of low food intake or starvation - something we inherited from out ancestors millions of years ago.

     When researchers compare overweight and thin people, they find that these people eat roughly the same number of calories. What makes overweight people different is the amount of fat that they eat. Thin people tend to eat less fat and more complex carbohydrates.

     Losing weight is not something one can do overnight. A carefully planned and healthy weight loss program requires common sense and certain guidelines. Unfortunately, there's a lot of misinformation floating around and lots of desperate people are easily fooled and ripped off.

A Balanced Diet is the Key:

     The national research council recommends eating five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Fruits and vegetables are the ideal diet foods for several reasons. They're relatively low in fat and calories, yet are often high in fiber and rich in essential vitamins and minerals.

     Carbohydrates are high-octane fuel. They provide energy for movement and help raise internal body metabolism. They're also satisfying. The key is not adding high-fat toppings to your carbohydrates.

To get you started on a healthy food diet here are a few general guidelines to healthy eating:

* Eat a variety of foods - don't limit yourself to just a few
* Eat a lot of vegetables, grains, and fruits - these provide you with essential nutrients
* Avoid eating meats. And if you really must eat some meat, select lean cuts of meat. If possible, choose white meat such as chicken and fish over red meat.
* Avoid high fat foods such as butter and margarine - or select low fat butter and margarine.
* Achieve and maintain a healthy body weight with regular exercises.
* Limit the amount of alcohol, salt, and caffeine in your diet.

     Healthy eating doesn't mean you have to follow a strict diet, or give up foods you love. You just need to balance the amount of eat type of foods you eat to obtain all the necessary nutrients. It's a good idea to limit the fattening foods such as fast food, or pizzas and sweets, but you don't necessarily have to completely avoid them.

     It's always best to eat out less, and cook at home more. This way, you can prepare healthy, delicious meals at home, and at the same time, save money and your diet.

Good Foods

Veggies
     Leafy greens (including lettuces, collards, chard, etc), squashes, peppers, celery, etc. Any vegetable is good and you can eat a lot of them. Be careful and limit or completely cut out starchy veggies such as potatoes. Limit ones such as carrots and beets, as well because they have lots of sugar (just use your judgement...if you can eat one serving of these...fine...if you find yourself bingeing on them, stop eating them for awhile).

Meats
     Most meats are good. Beef, lamb, chicken, eggs and sometimes pork are good meats. These meats are good for you if you select leaner cuts and don't eat them in excess. As well avoid using sugary sauces on them such as BBQ sauce and ketchup.

Nuts
     All nuts are good. This is because they are packed with protein and fats that are good for you. However, do steer clear of roasted nuts, especially p-nuts, as they can be rancid, which means your body can't use the fat properly (and they also produces free-radicals in your body that speed up aging).

Fruits
     Limit fruit intake, especially when first starting your diet as they are full of sugar. After awhile you can increase to one or two per day.

Seasonings
     Spices are great. Sauces, however, tend to be loaded with sugar and/or flour, so keep it simple.

BAD Foods

Refined products: This includes anything with white flour, refined sugar, and hydrogenated oil, anything that's pre-packaged! To be really serious about being healthy and losing weight, you can generally use this rule: shop around the perimeters of the grocery store. This is where most of the fresh veggies and fruits and meats and nuts are. Anything in a package is probably going to make things harder for you.

Sweets: Sugar turns into fat. Our bodies were not built to handle sugar in the form its most commonly found today.

Food allergies: If you have a food or foods that you eat a lot of or find yourself craving or bingeing on, you're most likely allergic to it. This means your body can't process it correctly. If eliminate this food for a few months and slowly bringing it back into your diet, this will be beneficial to you.

Related Links

Healthy Weight Loss
Healthy Exercise
Healthy Attitude
Realistic Approach
Supplements
Weight-loss Programs