Beginning a daily healthy eating plan is becoming more popular these days, than it was a few years ago. As we hear more attention brought to the problem of young children becoming obese, and getting diabetes, and the huge health risks associated with being overweight, more people are trying to lose weight and get healthy.
Starting another diet however, is something most people do not look forward to. Many times it is not the first attempt at losing weight. Quite often it is an ongoing cycle of weight loss and regaining over and over. If you have been through this cycle of dieting a few times, it is definitely time for a lifestyle change.
Dieting over and over, is not only frustrating, it is also not good for your health. As you get older it becomes harder to keep getting the weight off. The problem with a diet is, it's probably an eating plan you do not intend on staying with for the long term. That is usually, a recipe for failure.
I know, back in my dieting days, I couldn't wait to lose a few pounds so I could go back to my regular eating. Needless to say I was on the never ending diet cycle. I finally decided, after fifteen years of the yo yo diet syndrome, that I was tired of it, and got on a plan of eating healthy, and have never looked back.
To start your new daily health eating plan, you need to remove the word diet from your mind. This is not a diet, this is your new healthy lifestyle, that will make you look good, feel good, and can add many healthy years to your life.
To start your new healthy lifestyle, don't pick a day to start like you do with a diet. That just causes stress. Start your new plan today. Remember, you're dieting days are over. Start making little changes every day toward your new lifestyle. There's no stress here, just work at your own pace, as long as you're making a little change every day.
Maybe give up that can of soda that is full of sugar, for a low sugar sports drink, or water, even if it's only a few days out of the week. It's a start. Tomorrow you might give up that calorie buster breakfast for a bowl of healthy cereal with fresh fruit on top, and low fat milk.
For lunch give up that greasy fast food meal one or two days a week, for a chef salad with balsamic vinegar for dressing, a piece of fresh fruit, and water with lemon, or a low calorie beverage.
For dinner a couple of days a week, replace a calorie loaded meal, with a light but filling meal like chicken breast, without the skin, a vegetable, and a small baked potato.
Be careful with the flavorings, like butter, salad dressings, oils, and sauces like gravy. They can often have more calories than the meal itself.
Did you know a baked potato has 60 calories, but that same potato made into French fries has 600 calories.
The healthy meal plan above could save you one thousand calories or more in one day, depending on your normal eating habits. That would be fifty two thousand calories a year you could potentially save, or fourteen pounds of fat, just from doing this one day a week.
Learn to read food labels before buying. You may be shocked at the calories, sodium and carbohydrates in something you thought was healthy. The numbers on the label, are multiplied by the number of servings stated to be in the container. So if the label says 300 calories, but it tells you there are four servings in there, that item has twelve hundred calories.
Make a list of healthy foods to eat. Take it with you when you go shopping. Try to stick to your list as much as you can, but as I mentioned, do it slowly. Make a list of the 10 healthiest foods, which in my opinion are fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, beans, legumes, poultry, fish, some dairy like milk for calcium, garlic (has great antioxidants), and water (yes water, a must for weight loss and general health)
Eating healthy does not mean going hungry. It is simply a plan of getting the foods that have caused the weight gain, (flour, sugar, salt, and oils) out of your life, and getting healthy again. I think you will find, that after a few weeks of making the change, it will start to become an addiction.
You begin to find new ways to make great meals that are healthy and delicious. When you go to the grocery store it becomes fun to find healthy items to put in your cart. It becomes fun to sit down to a filling healthy meal, and walk away from the table feeling good. Once you get to this point you will know what I mean.
Beginning this daily healthy eating plan can be one of the best things you will ever do for you. And when you start to look and feel better, you will know it is the right path to be on.
