After another fast food meal, many of us vow to start adhering to the principles of healthy eating from Monday.
And this process seems extremely painful, difficult and tasteless, so it is postponed again and again.
Meanwhile, healthy nutrition is not so difficult if you start acting right now.
For example, after reading this article, supported by expert opinions.
We've put together working tips from nutritionists and nutrition experts around the world
in one place so that the phrase "delicious and healthy food"
doesn't cause anyone else to shiver in the knees.
Let's try to take a step towards healthy eating together?
1. Follow the diet
The main task of proper nutrition is to build a diet in which the body receives enough vitamins and trace elements. It is important to clarify that this is not a diet, but useful eating habits, the formation of which may take some time. First of all, it is important to assess how far your diet is far from those foods and dishes that are advised to eat with a proper and balanced diet, and then try to follow a new approach and adhere to it.
Nutrition experts at the Harvard School of Public Health have compiled a simple and detailed food pyramid. According to it, the human diet should consist of half fruits and vegetables, as well as protein and cereals. Also, experts advise to abandon red meat and choose turkey or chicken meat.
Many nutrition experts advise not to be limited to three meals, but to eat small portions, but more often.
At the same time, it is important to monitor at what time you eat a particular food. The general principle is this: complex carbohydrates, protein and sweet (if you still really want to) - in the morning; complex carbohydrates, fiber and protein - in the afternoon; for dinner - protein and fiber.
2. Start breakfast
Breakfast is the most important and necessary meal, and this has been proven by many studies. Breakfast energizes, awakens the body and simply improves mood. Many people claim that in the morning they simply do not want to eat and the maximum that fits into them is a cup of coffee. There are several tricks. Try to have dinner about 4 hours before bedtime - so by morning there are more chances to get hungry. In the morning you can get up a little early, perhaps you didn't want to eat just because sleep wins and you jump up with your eyes slightly open? It also makes sense to cook breakfast for your family, maybe in the process of cooking the appetite will wake up and you.
What can I eat for breakfast?
For example, several experts in the field of healthy eating told what they usually eat in the morning - you can take an example from them. Their morning diet includes eggs, beans, omelets, fruit smoothies, just fresh fruits and berries or with regular yogurt without additives, long-cooked oatmeal, peanut butter, chia seeds, hard cheese and vegetables.
3. Limit salt intake
Doctors and nutrition experts have long been sounding the alarm: excessive salt intake leads to an increase in blood pressure and heart disease. The daily daily intake of salt is only 6 grams, while it is added in large quantities to sausages, fast food, many canned food, pickles and marinades, sauces, olives and much more.
What can you do right now?Try to reduce the use of such products or choose food with a reduced salt content. When cooking at home, it is easy to replace salt with fragrant seasonings and spices, garlic, lemon juice. Perhaps at first you will be a little unusual, but in many ways our addiction to salt is just a habit.
4. Experiment
Some people think that healthy food is a continuous restrictions and prohibitions, and healthy food is mostly fresh, boring or even tasteless. This is not so, healthy dishes can be tasty, and easy to prepare, and inexpensive, if you know how to cook them.
Blogswith recipes will help in this - even thelaziest person in the world will not resist before these juicy and "tasty" pictures and will definitely gather something to cook. No one makes you immediately give up the usual food. For example, the pasta beloved by many (if it is from durum wheat) is not at all so harmful to the figure and health. Otherwise, how to explain, that every Italian is 80% pasta and on average lives happily up to 80 years? Add vegetable salad, fish or turkey, and season the pasta with pesto sauce - and here is a delicious and healthy lunch or dinner ready!
Look for new flavor combinations and products that you passed by, make delicious and healthy sauces at home that will add brightness to fresh dishes, experiment with cooking methods. For example, not everyone will like steamed vegetables, but almost everyone likes grilled vegetables. Yes, it is easier to buy a ready-made semi-finished product and eat it in 10 minutes, but isn't health worth it, to at least from time to time to cook yourself delicious and healthy dishes?
5. Do not forget about snacks
In order not to overeat during the main meals, it is better to arrange snacks during the day. Nutritionist Sarah Keoadvisesto snack as soon as you are hungry enough for this. Do not stuff yourself with food by force - if you want to chew something, the body itself will tell.
Stock up on fruits, nuts, cottage cheese, breads (they are now sold a huge variety for every taste and color) - in stores the assortment is huge. Low-fat kefir or natural yogurt, vegetables are also suitable (they can be cleaned in advance, cut and taken with you).
6. Remember the freezer
Seasonal food is great, but not in all countries vegetables and fruits grow all year round.Freezing comes to the rescue: you should forget the horror stories about how many vitamins the products lose at the same time, and load your freezer to the fullest. Modern shock freezing, which manufacturers use, retains most of the vitamins, and at home to prepare vegetables and fruits for the winter will not be difficult. The only thing, experts advise not to subject vegetables and meat to re-freezing, if they have already managed to thaw.
It can be already chopped greens, chopped vegetables (preferably not too watery - like sweet peppers and cauliflower), berries and meat. It is convenient to package the prepared vegetables in small packages, and then immediately add them during cooking - so you can save time on cooking.
7. Pay attention to what you drink
We will not start a song about 2 liters of water a day, but we remind you that after all it is water that is most useful for the body and you need to drink as much as you want. Tea, coffee or milk will also do, but with juices and soda you should be much more careful. They contain too much sugar, besides, they do not really quench your thirst. You can cook homemade lemonades or fruit water, pour it into beautiful bottles and carry it with you.
As for alcohol, healthy nutrition does not mean a strict ban on all types of alcoholic beverages. For example, scientists have repeatedly argued that a small amount of alcohol has a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system. As in any questions regarding harm and benefit, the main thing here is moderation.
8. Don't be too yourself
Perhaps this is one of the most important points: do not rush to extremes, scold yourself for accidentally eating a cake simply because it contains fatty cream and sugar, be too picky about yourself and worry about it once again.Guilt and neurosis have not yet made anyone healthier.If you adhere to the above points, consciously choose what you eat, then the tendency to healthy nutrition is already there, and there is nothing wrong with allowing yourself junk food from time to time. Just don't forget moderation again.
If you decide to switch to a healthy diet in order to lose weight in the future, you should not expect instant results. Of course, the stronger the contrast with your past eating habits, the more you will feel changes in your body, but they will not come instantly, and for the sake of good physical shape you will have to work hard in the gym.
Do you agree with the advice? Tell us in the comments about how you switched to healthy nutrition and what helped you with this.
