Diet Tips for a Healthy Lifestyle

So, you say you’re a relatively healthy individual that gets out for the recommended 2-3 hours of physical activity every week.  However, are you still having some difficulty keeping those unwanted pounds off?

Then perhaps it’s time to take a serious look at your diet.  After all, exercise and diet are like crimson and clover, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, macaroni and cheese…they need to go together to be truly effective.  Since this is undoubtedly true, here are some diet tips that will fully support and enhance your healthy, active lifestyle.

• Eat more five ingredient meals/entrees – Two or three times a week, challenge yourself to create dinners from just five natural ingredients. In other words, no processed foods that include things like potassium benzoate, butylated hydroxyanisole, and yellow dye #6.  In fact, here’s a five-ingredient cook book to get you started: http://www.cookinglight.com/food/quick-healthy/5-ingredient-healthy-recipes 
• Eat more plant-based proteins – Research has revealed that foods rich in plant-based proteins protect against heart and kidney disease. Seeds and nuts make the perfect snacks and, in keeping with the trend of this post, contain no artificial ingredients, unless you get salted nuts, which should be avoided, especially for those with high blood pressure.  Other sources of plant-based proteins include beans, peas, and quinoa.
• Eat with your off hand – If your right hand is the dominate one, then eat meals while keeping your fork in your left hand and vice versa if you’re left handed. “But why, oh wise author?”  (OK, the “wise” is a bit of a stretch…I can dream, can’t I?)  When you utilize your off-hand in an attempt to shovel food into your face, you will do so much more slowly than if you do so with your dominate hand.  Therefore, you will eat more slowly and then, hopefully, realize you are comfortably full before you reach the “completely stuffed” stage.
• Eat more colors – Reds, blues, yellows, browns, purples, and greens…”natural” foods comprised of these colors should be passing your lips on a regular basis. Like nuts, keep a supply of blue, straw, rasp, and black berries readily available to snack on.  Then add a liberal amount of red, green, and yellow peppers and you’re well on your way to a wonderfully healthy diet.
• Eat breakfast – In other words, do not skip breakfast in some vain attempt to lose weight. Study after study reveals that people who regularly eat a healthy breakfast are less likely to be overweight.  Obviously, the previously stated tips apply here.  Do not head to the local fast food joint and gorge on breakfast sandwiches week after week and then get upset when your weight goes in the wrong direction.  Oatmeal, fruit and whole grain toast would constitute a healthy breakfast in this instance.
• Eat foods from your healthy recipes club – Of course, you’ve got to create a healthy recipes club with your friends first, in a manner similar to a book club, or, better yet, combine the two. Nothing goes better than healthy food and healthy conversation about The Handmaid’s Tale or The Great Alone.  It’s also a great way to explore new, healthy foods that you would not otherwise sample.
• Eat (didn’t want to ruin my streak) more water – I suppose if it was in frozen form then “eat” could apply here. Rather than quench your thirst with sugary juices, sports drinks, soda or energy drinks, just grab a bottle of good, ole h2O.  If you’re looking for some flavor, simply squeeze in some lemon or lime juice (or both) or let some pineapple chunks soak in a refrigerated jug of water for a few hours or allow mint leaves to steep in your water or use frozen clementine slices as ice cubes.  The possibilities are endless, just avoid drinking too many calories in the form of sugar-added liquids.

Well, that’s this week’s post, folks.  Remember, just because you get out and walk several hours a week doesn’t mean you can come home and binge eat a box of Godiva chocolates as your reward.  Look at it this way, on average, just three pieces of Godiva chocolate have 200 calories.  To burn that off you’d have to walk about two miles!