Make a Healthy Diet a Part of Your Lifestyle
By Paul Rothbart
No matter how busy and hectic your lifestyle is, a nutritious, balanced diet is essential to good health. Fast food may be convenient but it's not doing your body any favors. Fad diets are generally just that: fads. They come and go without offering a good plan for nutrition. The key is to make good eating a part of your lifestyle so it becomes automatic like breathing. Here are some tips to make healthy eating a permanent part of your life.
Avoid Crash Diets
If you need to lose weight, you would like to do it as quickly as possible. This is how the creators of crash diets draw people in. They make claims such as "lost 20 pounds in a week." The biggest problem with these diets is that they usually involve ridiculously low daily calorie intakes. This is not sustainable long-term and when you go off the diet, you rapidly gain back the weight that you lost.
It is far better to choose a diet where you lose 1-2 pounds a week. This is something you can sustain as long as you need to and your weight loss will likely be permanent, provided you don't begin to overeat once you reach your goal.
Keep Health Foods Handy
You will be less likely to stick to a healthy diet if your home is filled with processed junk food. Fill your stores with fresh vegetables and fruits and lean proteins. Whole grain cereals are great for breakfast and for snacks. Healthy juices and herbal teas are good beverage complements to plenty of water. If you open your cabinets and refrigerator to find only healthy foods, it will be easy to stick to a nutritious diet.
Choose the Diet That Works for You
As with most things, there is no absolute "best" diet. There are many ways to eat healthily and they don't all work for everybody. Your weight goals, losing, gaining, or maintaining will have an impact on your ideal diet as will your individual body chemistry and lifestyle. Experiment with different diets and record your results. Choose the one that works best for you and stick with it. This can provide benefits that last a long time.
Seek Professional Consultation
You don't have to go it alone. There are trained professionals who can make suggestions and find the right diet for your goals, body, and lifestyle. Your primary care physician can be very helpful and also refer you to specialists. A registered dietician can discuss your needs and help you put together a meal plan. As your situation changes, the dietitian can help you with dietary adjustments. A psychologist or counselor can help you break bad habits that negatively impact your nutrition. These people are there to help you. Seek them out.
A healthy diet may seem elusive for busy people who are surrounded by fast food options. Your body deserves better. Take the steps to help you incorporate a healthy diet into your lifestyle. Once it becomes a habit, eating healthy will be almost as easy as breathing.
To learn more about your health, wellness and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in St. George, Utah