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Healthy Eating Habit
One of the keys to staying healthy, is developing a healthy eating habit. This will necessitate good nutrition, a balanced diet and consuming meals at regular intervals.
whatever your current eating habits, it's never too late to take positive steps toward eating more healthily and ensuring your dietary nutrition needs in the process.
Developing a healthy eating habit isn't difficult and doesn't require any significant effort on your part. By increasing your awareness as to the various healthy foods and their nutritional roles, you can start taking better care of yourself immediately. Here are four healthy eating strategies to get you started.
It is amazing how many countless hours some women spend attending to their most pressing priorities, yet give very little attention to their eating habits and nutrition.
If you can relate to grabbing a bag of chips at lunch time or even reaching for that chocolate bar to give you that much-needed boost, then you don't need me to tell you that you have a very un-healthy eating habit.
Likewise, if you're devoting your time to cooking and ensuring your children's nutrition needs are being met, while you pick at their left overs instead of sitting down to a meal of your own, you're also engaging in an un-healthy eating habit.
Not only are you running the risk of piling on the pounds from 'picking' or inappropriate 'snacking', you'll most likely lose track of the amounts you have eaten and will probably still feel un-satisfied. This is because Your brain will have received a message that your stomache is still hungry, even though you might well have consumed far more calories than you would, had you sat down to a eat a proper meal.
Get into the healthy habit of sitting down with your children at meal times, instead of pre-occupying yourself with how or what they're eating.
This is good practice for them and for you too. Children learn from the examples you set, so there will be less resistence to eating a variety of healthy meals mum prepares and share with them. If you work, pre-prepare a healthy lunch you can eat at work.
Many women will skip breakfast, either because they are rushing to get the kids out to school in the mornings or through rushing out to work or even because they just don't have the appetite to eat.
I know - I've been there! Breakfast however, is the most important meal of the day and a meal you should most definitely not skip. If you eat breakfast, you are far less likely to want to snack on un-healthy foods such as crisps, pastries or chocolate bars. These foods will serve to give you a short-lived sugar rush before deflating you and making you feel lethargic.
I got around my lack of appetite in the mornings by opting for light and refreshing option - i.e. try slicing a banana with a few strawberries (or any other fruit that takes your fancy), throwing in a few unsalted cashew nuts and a good dollop of low fat natural yoghurt. This takes no more than 2 minutes and provides you with protein, carbohydrate, vitamins and minerals you'll need to start the day. So you see - the healthy habit of breakfasting is really not that difficult and will set you up for the day.
Healthy snacks is as much a part of your diet, nutrition and healthy eating habit. You do not have to wait until meal times to eat. Snack when you feel the need.
It will provide your body with much needed energy and stave off hunger pangs in between meals. If you wait until you're feeling more than peckish, you run the risk of reaching for the first morsel at hand.
It is better to plan in advance, the healthy foods you'll snack on. One of my favourite healthy snack recipe is (half or one) brown pitta bread filled with a thin layer of houmous spread and some sliced tomatoes. You'll find this snack is nutritious, very low in calories while at the same time being a filling option. As well as filling a hunger gap, snacks are an excellent way of ensuring adequate nutrition in your diet.
For instance, if you prefer to have only two slices of brown bread for breakfast, get into the healthy habit of snacking on fruit or raw vegetables such as carrots, celery, cucumber sticks or even a healthy fruit smoothie, to help you achieve your five-a-day. The healthy eating habit of snacking can actually help you supplement your diet with healthy nutritious foods you might otherwise miss out on.
Your healthy eating habit should also focus on the kinds of fluids you're consuming. Do drink plenty of water, which is always the most preferred option (8 glasses per day).
Water helps flush your system of toxins and keep your body and your skin hydrated. If you prefer hot drinks, try keeping these to a minimum and opt instead for a cup of herbal or green tea.
One of the key requirements in any healthy eating is the need to incorporate fibre into your diet. Fibre is commonly found in plant origin foods such as beans, nuts, lentils, fruit, vegetables and whole grain foods such as cereals, brown bread etc.,
Some of the many benefits of a healthy eating habit is consuming fibre-rich foods, which are filling, will keep you satisfied for longer as well as regulating your digestive system and bowel functioning.
You can learn more about the health benefits and types of fibre-rich foods by Clicking Here.
Introducing more fibre into your diet is a very simple process. Try replacing white bread and rolls, white rice, cakes and pastries made from refined white flour, with whole grain alternatives.
In the fruit, vegetables department, increase the amounts you're presently consuming. Additional ways of ensuring you get your five-a-day quota, are fresh fruit and vegetable juices.
Eat more lentils and beans in place of red meats. These simple guidelines will ensure more than adequate nutrition in your diet and will get you well on the way to a more permanent healthy eating habit.
Your healthy eating should not be a drudge. Nor do you need to rush into massive changes to the way you're currently eating, unless of course you are more than happy with doing so.
To be successful, you'll need to feel happy about how you're eating, what you're eating and the pace at which you introduce change. You can set yourself small goals to include a fibre rich food choice into each and every meal. For instance, by ending each meal with a fruit, or just by replacing all white bread with whole grain brown bread for three days out of each week.
Once you have achieved this goal, you can then set a further one of eating whole grain for the entire week. Incorporating small changes at a time into your diet, gives you time to adjust to these changes. Just keep expanding on your goals all the time.
Before long you'll have grown accustomed to your healthy eating habit and it will even feel odd when ever you don't eat that way.
Healthy Recipes
"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going". (Jim Rohn)
The information on this site is purely of educational value and is not intended to replace your seeking medical advice. You must consult your doctor over all your health concerns.
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