10 Tips for Healthy Eating
Now is a great time to focus your attention on the importance of making smart food choices by practicing cleaner eating habits through common sense and just a little bit of guidance. Not only will you reach your weight goals, you will also have a healthier digestive system, increased energy levels, better moods, plus clearer and younger looking skin! In addition to that you will raise your metabolism increasing the ability to fight off colds and the flu as well as decreasing the risk of many health related diseases! Most importantly, YOU WILL FEEL AMAZING!
Here are 10 tips to guide you with healthy eating so you can live your best and most energized life! The quicker you implement these guidelines, the quicker you will see incredible results! Post them on your fridge to remind you of some good choices to attain and maintain an ideal healthy weight and body fat percentage! As cliché as it sounds, YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT!
1. Eat breakfast everyday!!! This is hands down the most important tip I can share with you! By eating a healthy and balanced breakfast you will give yourself the fuel that you need to start your day off right with energy, mental focus and the elimination of starvation mode. What is starvation mode you ask? It kicks in when you have a long period of time that goes by and you don’t get any caloric energy in the form of food. Your body is smart and was designed to survive and not to be beautiful, so it sends a signal to store extra fat in case there is another long period of time that goes by without eating so you have fuel reserves for energy in the form of fat. Where do you store it you ask? Well, ladies keep the fat on the bum, the hips and the thighs and men generally around the midsection. From the time you go to bed until the time you wake up is most likely the longest period of time with no food intake. Breakfast simply means to BREAK the FAST so please ensure this is one habit you not only do everyday, but also focus on making it a healthy balanced meal to give you the fuel and energy that your body and brain needs!
2. Eat live enzymes!Make sure you focus on eating foods that are alive. Enzymes are large biological molecules responsible for the thousands of metabolic processes that sustain your life. Foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables that have live enzyme activity and are nutritionally rich will add energy and vitality to your body! Foods that are biologically dead, such as processed snacks with high sugar content, do not provide any nutritional benefits other than extra calories and actually steal valuable chromium and B-Complex vitamins to metabolize them. I highly advise you to shop at your neighbourhood organic food market that purchases locally grown products which contain more nutrients and live enzymes due to a shorter travel time and distance. They also contain fewer pesticides than produce which is purchased from foreign countries that has to travel from afar to make it to your grocery store. On top of that, this will contribute to a greener environment by saving on transportation fuels and supports your community!
3. Consume high-fibre foods daily: In order to maintain digestive wellness, it is essential to eat foods that have a high source of fibre. This includes whole grains such as oats, spelt, barley, rye, buckwheat, millet and brown rice. You can also eat legumes like beans, lentils and split peas plus many other healthy fruits and vegetables that you can add to your nutrition plan. Fibre rich whole grains work to increase your metabolism, because they take longer to digest and absorb, plus they contribute to a feeling of fullness. Personally, I throw a couple of teaspoons of psyllium seed husk onto my oatmeal in the morning for added fibre and proper digestion. Literally, this will support you in flushing out the crap in your body and formulate a clean, efficient and effective digestive system.
4. Diet starts with DIE!Generally speaking dieting is deprivation. Many people view diets as their last chance to lose weight or a quick fix and an instant solution. This is the trap that sooooooo many fad diet programs on the market prey emotionally on potential new weight loss clients with. Be AWARE! Do your research on the long-term effects of each program. They destroy your metabolism if the process is done too quickly and with too little calories! Focus instead on a healthy personalized nutrition plan that is balanced between proteins, carbohydrates and good fats, which will guide you in losing no more than 2-3 lbs per week for sustained long-term results. This will increase your metabolism and keep the weight off providing you stick to the plan and learn how to eat properly. Eventually it will become second nature and habitual. Remember, slow and steady weight loss wins the race and add years to your life!
5. Make water your best friend: H20 is the most important ingredient in healthy eating and any serious weight loss plan! It is very important for good health and wellness because it makes up about 80% of your blood and brain as well as 50-70% of your body mass. By consuming a minimum of 2-3 litres per day, you will stay hydrated, think better, speed up the process of losing weight and detoxify your body and organs. In addition to that you keep your skin clear maintaining its elasticity making you look younger, healthier and more vibrant. I suggest for you to take a sip or two of water every 20-30 minutes throughout the daylight hours, instead of chugging a large amount and this will prevent you from constantly visiting the washroom . Alkaline water is your best choice if you have the option that balances out your PH levels from being too acidic. Make sure that you are choosing the best possible water available to drink daily and by consuming 8 to 10 pure glasses a day, you'll have energy and vitality like never before.
6. Don’t fear the fat: It is essential to eat an adequate supply of healthy dietary good fats! Throughout all of the cell membranes in your entire body, fat is one of the main components. If you eat a sufficient amount of healthy natural fats, your cellular processes will function normally. If you do not, your cellular process will be severely impaired and your body will need to work harder to operate correctly or form degenerative diseases. This is also especially true if you are consuming large amounts of heavily processed, man-made, chemically altered fats which are found in most processed foods. Healthy fats are excellent for optimal hormonal production, muscle building and fat burning! Monounsaturated fats from foods like olive oil, almonds or avocados to name a few, plus polyunsaturated fats coming from tofu, flaxseed and fatty fish like salmon or tuna are known as the ‘good fats’ which are excellent for your heart, cholesterol and general overall health.
7. Are vitamins and supplements necessary? Well, I believe that many of the lower quality products on the market are a complete waste of money, do not contribute to optimal health and lead to expensive urine seeing that a lot of them are not fully absorbed by the body. You certainly get what you pay for, so ensure that you are putting 5 STAR rated products into your body if you are going to spend money in this area. Having a healthy and balanced nutrition plan consisting of a large variety of unprocessed foods such as fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, low-fat dairy products, grains, nuts and seeds will provide you all of the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants we need for perfect health. It’s better to get what your system needs through real food, since all the nutrients in the food often work together to enhance absorption. Of course if you don’t have the discipline to eat well, then maybe they are better than nothing. In addition to a multi vitamin, many healthcare practitioners recommend omega-3s, extra calcium, vitamin C and vitamin D, to ensure you are getting enough of each every day. All of these have strong health benefits, that decrease the risk of cancer or heart disease plus contribute to a better mood which we all need at times!
8. Eat after you work out: The other most important meal of the day, outside of breakfast, is right after any resistance training or cardiovascular activity! This is when your body is in a catabolic state where your muscle glycogen is depleted and elevated cortisol levels are beginning to break down muscle tissues. The solution is choosing a meal with quickly digestible carbohydrates to replenish muscle glycogen and quickly digestible protein to provide amino acids for muscle repair. If a meal isn’t available, then I highly suggest a good quality protein shake to ensure your muscles are receiving the protein and amino acids required to repair and grow. Feel free to consume a banana as well to get your blood sugars back to a normal state quickly. Bananas are great for our muscles that are depleted of carbohydrates and electrolytes such as potassium. This will get your muscles firing properly again, preventing cramping and will give you a much needed boost for recovery and energy.
9. Eat 3 meals and 2-3 snacks per day: By spacing your meals about 3-4 hours apart you will provide your body with the nutrients and caloric energy it needs to thrive every day! This will also decrease the starvation mode signal to store fat which was aforementioned earlier. Smaller, more frequent meals contribute to regulating blood sugars, controlling cravings and curbing your hunger. A suggestion is to have the meals balanced with 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 30% good fats in order to maintain a healthy body weight. Calorie requirements are determined by age, sex, physical activity levels and of course, weight loss goals. Most adults need about 1,500-2,200 calories for weight loss, unless they're very active. When maintaining an optimal weight, females require 2000 calories on average and males about 2700 calories. Ultimately what is most important is the quality of the calories you ingest and ensure the portion sizes are under control.
10. Fast-Food for thought: Many clients ask me what they should do when they are going out for fast or convenience food. Obviously, I would suggest not to do it at all, focus on making your own healthy meals and bring them with you if you can, however I must admit I enjoy the occasional burger too! In the case you are forced into one of these fast-food establishments, I would strongly suggest to stay away from soda, fries, hash browns, breaded fish or chicken sandwiches, nuggets or anything absolutely soaked in DEADLY trans fats from industrial hydrogenated vegetable oil! Most fast food restaurants have green menus these days as the world is becoming more health conscious and obesity rates are at an all time high. There are usually better options like healthy salads or wraps that you should lean towards along with a bottle of water. If you are going to have a cheat meal once or twice a week, then this would be a good time to do it.
So that concludes my 10 tips on Healthy Eating so you too can live in your Joyzone! Thanks for your attention and I hope you received some value and knowledge from my guidance. For me personally, these are tips that I implement myself as I learned about nutrition through practical application while competing in physique competitions as a fitness model competitor. I wasn’t always in great shape and lost 36 lbs myself after having spinal surgery so please remember that I am a normal person just like you that chooses to take action to live a better and healthier life. You can too!!
I challenge you to make a commitment to attaining a healthy weight and sticking to it! I didn’t get incredible results until I focused on my own nutrition plan, so I kindly advise you do the same. I ate for six and a half days clean and then had one fun cheat meal per week until I got into my desired shape and hit my weight goal and more importantly, my healthy body fat percentage. This is when I finally began to see some serious definition and a killer six pack! You can do it too! Eating right makes up about 60-70% of your results so it is key that it is taken seriously. Until you eat properly you will never see the results you seek.
On a final note, always make sure to research the products you take thoroughly and consult your physician before starting a new nutrition plan that includes vitamins and supplements. Another great alternative and excellent investment is hiring a registered nutritionist to create a customized plan that not only works for your body type, schedule and budget, but most importantly one that you will stick to.
Healthy regards,
James Erdt
PORT BODY BLISS
Inspiring Joy, Abundance and Healthy Active Living!
