Everybody knows that, 'You are what you eat" or "You will soon become what you eat". Eating a healthy and well balanced diet is essential if you want to try and get a little healthier. If you really are what you eat, you need to eat better.
Everybody should be aiming to eat a whole lot healthier and do their bit to cut down on the obesity epidemic that is still growing and the rest of the people should be encouraging them to do it.
How many calories are you allowed per day? This differs and is dependent on many factors but, as a rule of thumb women should aim at 2,000 calories a day (8,400 kilojoules). Males are allowed around 500 more calories a day at around 2,500 calories (10,500 kilojoules).
It is not too hard to see that far too many people are going way over on their calorie intake. They are consuming way too many calories and need to cut back. Eat less, pay less. You would think that the current economic crisis would lead to people cutting back on their food purchases and saving as much as they could, resulting in a self imposed diet. Yet the opposite of this is happening.
You need to eat a wide range of healthy foods to ensure that you are getting a well balanced and nutritional diet.
Throw out the white bread and welcome the wholemeal type into your household. Whenever possible choose the whole grain variety of pasta and other foods. Cut down on potatoes and whenever possible serve them in their jackets (No need to peel). Simply wash them thoroughly and roast them or even boil them in their skins. Why? Because a lot of fibre is in the actual skins of the potatoes. This will help to make you feel full and eat less.
Remember its' five portions of fruit and vegetables. A glass of pure unsweetened fruit juice counts as one portion. So it doesn't all have to be on your plate.
Fish is a great source of protein and contains many vitamins. I believe that these are a brain food! In times gone by it has been discovered that settlers around water were either cleverer or became cleverer over time and it is believed that their staple diet of fish had a lot to do with this. So eat your fish. Oily fish contains Omega-3 fats which are believed to help prevent heart disease. Fresh and frozen are best. Canned and smoked are not quite as good as they can contain salt in high proportions.
If you regularly eat a lot of fish you would do well to choose a wide a variety as possible. Include both oily and non-oily.
It goes without saying that you need to cut down on saturated fats and sugar. Saturated fats lead to high cholesterol in the blood which in turn increases your chances of heart disease. Saturated fats can be found in many products such as pies, sausages, cakes, biscuits, cream and butter to name a few.
Unsaturated foods such as oily fish and vegetable oils are a lot healthier.
Sugar comes in many shapes and sizes and is, 'Lurking' in many foods. Alcoholic drinks, cakes, sugary cereals even a lot of so called 'Healthy' fruit juices contain an alarming amount of sugar! Stop consuming them there are more than enough sugars present in fruit and milk without adding sugar to a product.
Salt is another product to cut down on. You may believe that you are not having any salt but, just like adding sugar to products to sweeten, 'The Deal' salt is also present in a lot of products such as cereals, soups, breads as well as many other food products. It is known that salt can raise your blood pressure which in turn puts you at a higher risk of heart disease or even having a stroke. Check labels you will be surprised. Adults are recommended to consume around 6 grams a day.
Water plays an important part of any diet and you should be drinking at least 2 litres a day. It is good for you, it flushes toxins out of your body and hydrates you. It also helps keep you feeling full.
Keep active, move around, walk, cycle get motivated, get fit!
Get up and get fit. Make a few changes to your lifestyle and enjoy the benefits. Visit my blog to get more ideas, help and advice http://www.dietnslim.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Suzie_Bang/2182660
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