Start Your Day with Breakfast
Breakfast not only give you energy and brain power, it helps lessen the likelihood of overeating during the day!
Go Easy on the Fats and Oils
Although there are good fats and oils such as olive, canola, peanut oils, avocados, fish, nuts and nut butters, you should still go easy on them to promote good health.
Six Meals a Day Will Keep the Weight Away
Hunger is the downfall of diets, and splitting meals into six allotments will help combat hunger between meals. Though, make sure your meals are well equipped with good proteins and fiber-rich foods.
Handle Appropriate Portion Sizes
Portion size is important to weight management. You can learn how to handle portions by employing a common sense approach, such as using the palm of your hand or your clenched fist for gauging the portion sizes of food.
Drink Your Weight Away with 10 Glasses of Water
Hydration is important to fitness, and drinking water helps flush salt and other toxins. Drink at least one glass of water with each of your six meals, four more throughout the day, and an additional glass per diuretic beverage.
Stay Full with Fruits and Vegetables
Make sure to have 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day. Fruits and vegetables are low in calories and packed with beneficial fibers, vitamins, and antioxidants. They fill up your stomach fast, so you feel full earlier.
Read Food Claims and Labels
Always read the nutrition label on the packaging because a product labeled with a fat-free claim does not mean that it is low in calories. Similarly, a product labeled as low-sugar or low-carb does not mean it is low in fat or calories.
Fuel Up with Carbs
Eat more fruits, vegetables, and complex grain products for a boost of energy. In addition to being convenient and loaded with vitamins and minerals, these foods are low in dietary fat and are good sources of complex carbohydrates.
Select Your Beverages Wisely
Drinking beverages such as soda, fruit juice, sports drinks, alcohol, specialty coffees and teas can add up to many “empty calories” which contribute little nutrition to our diets and increase weight gain. Since it is important to drink fluids throughout the day, select skim milk, fruit juices, and water.
Stick with Whole Wheat
Whole wheat offers more fiber, which helps reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, diverticulitis, and diabetes (to name a few). Set aside the white flour and bread, and reach for products that are made from oats, barley, buckwheat, bulgur, rye, brown rice, millet, and wheat.
Don’t Juice Up: Juice Less
A common myth is drinking fruit juices or eating low-fat fruit roll-ups eliminate sugar. The fact is that some fruit juices have more sugar than a soda. Reduction of sugar is important to good health; therefore, always check out the sugar content of anything you put in your mouth.
Make It Hot
Hot, spicy foods such as cayenne, curry, and chilies help trigger endorphins. Endorphins are like a natural morphine that helps ease pain and provide a sense of well-being. The next time you are feeling a little down or have some minor pain, try eating something spicy.
Combat Overeating with Water
Drink a glass of water before a meal, so that you feel fuller without actually having to stuff yourself. Have another glass of water while you are having the meal because it is another way to prevent overeating. Take sips after each morsel to help the food to settle faster.
Go For Fresh Fruit
Juice is often sweetened, but fresh fruits have natural sugars. You are taking in a lot of fiber when you eat fruit, and fruits are an excellent source of vitamins.
Steer Clear of Crash Diets
Crash diets are bad for your health, and they are not a solution to weight loss. It might seem as if you have lost a few pounds, but everything will bounce back with a vengeance the moment you give up on the crash diet.
Don’t Forget Dairy
Don’t skip on the dairy because your bones still need calcium to stay strong. Dairy foods and some dairy alternatives, such as enriched soy milk, provide protein as well as calcium.
Choose Whole, Fresh, Unprocessed Foods
Choosing whole, fresh, unprocessed foods enhances weight loss and boosts energy. Plus, processed foods contain extra sugar, sodium, and preservatives that add on calories.
All Food Groups are Included in “Team Diet”
Proteins, fats, sugar, and carbohydrates are essential components to energy. Instead, pick good proteins and fats, natural sugars, and complex carbohydrates to include in your diet.
Stick with One All-purpose Multivitamin
Vitamins are great! Though, taking more than one all-purpose multivitamin in a day can lead to safety issues such as iron poisoning or hypervitaminosis.
Burn Food Efficiently
Even though you picked the right foods and fats, you still need to exercise to burn off any remaining fat and calories to lose or maintain weight.
Track Your Food Intake
Logging food intake in a journal or Smartphone application will help you know what is working in your diet and what food group you need to increase.
Why did the chicken take off its skin?
Because, half of the fat from the chicken is in the skin! Plus, you knock off about 40 calories from the chicken by removing the skin.
Eat Fish at Least Once a Week
Fish is considered to be a superfood because it contains essential omega-3s, vitamin D, good fat, and selenium. Plus, fish helps keep the cardiovascular system and brain healthy.
Opt Out on Margarine
Margarine’s main ingredient is vegetable oil, and vegetable oil is made with genetically modified crops. Also, vegetable oil undergoes a hydrogenation process in order to turn into margarine.
Switch From Tea to Green Tea
The tea drinks that are often bottled contain sugar or high-fructose corn syrup. By switching to brewed green tea, you are helping your body out by increasing metabolism, regulating glucose levels, and reducing bad cholesterol.
You Snooze and Lose When You Go to Bed After Eating
You should not go to sleep after eating because the food is just sitting in your belly. The body digests food easier if it’s in the upright position, so you should wait two hours after eating before going to sleep.
Protect Your Heart with Apples
Apples are high in polyphenols, and this compound helps fight free radicals and toxins in our bodies. Apples also lower bad cholesterol.
Build Stronger Bones with Bananas
Bananas help with calcium absorption and other nutrients because bananas are rich in oligofructose.This type of fructose increases digestive enzymes in the colon that makes it easier to absorb calcium.
Fight Cancer with Broccoli
Broccoli has a compound called sulforaphane, and this compound helps with maintaining proper cell function and genetic communication with cells.
Boost Memory with Oily Fish
Oily fish such as salmon and sardines helps boost memory because it contains essential fatty acids like omega-3s. Eating oily fish can boost memory by 15 percent and prevent dementia.
Kill Bacteria with Garlic
Garlic is often called “nature’s antibiotic” because 80% of garlic is sulphur compounds such as allicin. These compounds kill bacteria, fungus, and microbes in the digestive tract.
Energize with Honey
Honey is an example of natural sugar, and it is a better option than an energy drink. A spoonful of honey helps increase blood sugar levels.
Decreasing Caffeine Intake
Caffeine does the opposite of the meditation effect. Caffeine increases anxiety and makes the body prone to stress, and the increase in anxiety means irritability and a short fuse.
Get the Best Out of Beans
The more you eat, the more you manage weight and lower the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Beans are rich in fiber, protein, vitamin B, and other essential vitamins and minerals. Also, beans helps us feel more full to prevent overeating.
Eat the Peel and Keep the Skin
Fruits and vegetables keep their protective chemicals and antioxidants in the skin. These same chemicals and antioxidants help keep us healthy. Don’t forget to wash these thoroughly before consumption.
Say No to Fried Foods
Eating fried foods adds on excess calories, cholesterol, and trans fat. Excessive cholesterol and trans fat increases the risk of coronary disease. Instead, opt for the baked, steamed, broiled, or poached choices.
Slow Down When Eating
Eating slower is a much healthier method because of satiety which is a feeling to make us stop eating. When we eat slow, the body sends a signal to the brain which creates that feeling of satiety.
Home-Cooked Meals Win
When you cook meals, you are in control. You can use better quality ingredients and determine the spices. Often, restaurant food is over-sauced and salted, and restaurant food can be full of fat and calories.
Knock out Insomnia with Lettuce
Yes, lettuce helps with insomnia because it contains a white fluid called lactucarium. This fluid has stress reducing and calming properties.
Feel Happy with Dark Chocolate
Dark chocolate has a chemical called PEA which is the same chemical that gives you that “falling in love” feeling. It also contains a small trace of caffeine, and the approximate caffeine amount is 27mg per 1.5 ounces of dark chocolate.
Ditch the Prescriptions for Ginger
Ginger is called an universal medicine for a reason. It is most know to cure digestive ailments, but it also helps with headaches, chest pains, colds, and rheumatism.
Clean Your Engine with Onions
Eat onions raw or cooked to clean your blood of clots. There are more than 150 chemicals found in the onion that raises HDL cholesterol and discourages blood clot formation.
Power up With Sea Vegetables
Sea vegetables such as seaweed and kelp contains about 10-20% more minerals than land plants because it lives in a saline solution. Oddly, the saline solution is similar to the womb.
Cure Ailments with Fasting
Fasting is known as an old fashion form of medicine. Fasting helps with the following: detoxification, digestive system, inflammatory diseases, fat breakdown, high blood pressure, weight loss, immunity, and addictions.
An Orange a Day Keeps the Doctor Away!
Oranges are filled with vitamin C and A, antioxidants, calcium, dietary fiber, and many other vitamins and minerals. There are many health benefits of oranges, such as relieves constipation, lowers blood pressure, prevents cancer, and purifies blood.
Be Prepared: Pack Healthy Snacks
In this busy world, it is beneficial to plan ahead and pack healthy snacks, such as veggie and fruit packs, trail mix, tree nuts, and seeds in order to avoid unhealthy convenient snacks that are found in vending machines and pastry shops.
Don’t Grocery Shop When Hungry
Seriously! This is the worse time to buy food because of the psychological reasons. Studies have shown that the brain is in “reward” mode when the body is hungry, and you are more likely to purchase items that have higher sugar and calorie contents.
Research Healthy Restaurant Choices
It is best to research restaurants that offer healthy choices, so you know your diet options. Many restaurants provide nutritional information about their food online or in pamphlet form in their establishment.
First Course is Salad
Starting lunch or dinner off with salad will help slow you down for the main course. It can also help you decrease calorie consumption during your meal. Though, make sure to avoid unhealthy ingredients in your salad like bacon and high-fat cheese.
Detox with Water
It is that simple: water flushes toxins and chemicals out of your body. When you flush these toxins out, your muscles stay energized, keeps your kidneys healthy, maintains consistent bowel movements, controls calories, and balances bodily fluids.
What’s in Season?
There are many benefits to buying produce in its season, such as strawberries in the summer. Due to the long shipping times, the in season crops have more nutrients because the imported crops require preservatives and irradiation which is a process of giving a burst of radiation to the produce, to kill germs.
Eat Less, and Enjoy More
A lot of people multitask when they eat, such as watch TV, do homework, or job tasks. When this happens, people forget about the joys of eating. Plus, people are more likely to overeat when they don’t pay attention to their food.
Make a Healthy Choice with Veggie Broth
There are many health benefits in vegetable broth over beef or chicken broth. First, a cup of veggie broth only has 15 calories. Next, veggie broth has the vitalizing ingredients that you would find in veggies.
Enjoy Farm Fresh Foods
A lot of the produce at the regular grocery stands contains chemicals and pesticides to preserve them in transportation. When you buy from local farmers, you get produce at its peak form.
Don’t Miss Out on Whole Fruit
Choose whole fruit instead of fruit juice. By choosing fruit juice, you are missing out on the most important parts of the fruit which are the pulp and skin. The skin of the fruit contains important nutrients while the pulp contains fiber.
Read the Food Labels
Try to get into the habit of reading the food labels, so you can compare and contrast different foods. This will help you make wise health choices and limit the fat, sugar, and cholesterol in your diet.
Stop Eating Before You Are Stuffed
There is an old motherly saying to finish all of the food on your plate because there are starving children. In reality, this is not a good habit for health and weight loss. Instead, eat until you are no longer hungry.
Eat Every 3-4 Hours
When you go for long periods without food (5+ hours), you are prone to gaining weight because glucose and a hormone insulin turns into fat. To avoid this, make sure to eat every 3-4 hours.
Check Dietician Credentials
It is important to do your homework by checking the credentials of a dietician because anyone can call themselves a dietician. Also, the credentials vary within dieticians and nutritionists.
Add Variety to Your Diet
Eating a single type of food can be fast and convenient, but you can’t get all of the essential minerals and vitamins from that single particular food. Mix it up, and add a variety of foods to your diet for optimal health.
Look Out for Restaurant Portion-Sized Food
In this super-sized society, it is common to see large sizes served and advertised in food establishments. The portion size we want for good health is the palm of our hands. Instead, you can order the small size, or you can eat part of it and box it for later.
Keep Desserts to a Minimum
It is great to celebrate and enjoy dessert, but it should be kept to a minimum. Desserts, such as a banana split, contain high amounts of sugar and fat that will sabotage diets.
Make Meals with Extra Virgin Olive Oil
There are many health benefits of using extra virgin olive oil. It lowers bad cholesterol levels, reduces hypertension (high-blood pressure), improves glycemic controls, and many more.
Crunch up with Carrots
This crunchy powerfood has many health benefits which includes improved eyesight because of the beta-carotene and vitamin A. Also, the beta-carotene has anti-aging affects which creates beautiful skin.
Support Your Immune System with Oranges
It is known that citrus fruits contain high-levels of vitamin C which is a vitamin that is important to maintaining a healthy immune system. Besides vitamin C, oranges are filled with antioxidants to help flush toxins.
Protect Your Prostate with Tomatoes
Tomatoes help ward off certain cancers, especially prostate cancer. This is because the tomato has a compound called lycopene. Lycopene is found in the red pigment of the tomato, and this could be the reason for its cancer fighting effect.
Reduce Stress with Walnuts
Walnuts cannot make that huge term paper or stack of bills go away, but walnuts can reduce stress. Walnuts contain an acid called alpha-linolenic, which is known to protect the heart in times of stress.
Digest Food Better with Yogurt
Yogurt contains active, good bacteria called probiotics. Probiotics help adjust the amount of microflora in the intestines, and it helps prevent digestive ailments such as ulcers, constipation, and colon cancer.
Pack Your Fridge with Snackable Vegetables
Vegetables are filled with essential vitamins and minerals to keep us energized throughout the day. Plus, veggies help prevent cardiovascular diseases and type-2 diabetes, so pack your fridge with ready-to-snack vegetables.
Add a Little Sunshine with Vitamin D
Vitamin D is often called the “sunshine vitamin” because it comes from the sun. If you are feeling gloomy during fall and winter seasons, it is most likely from vitamin D deficiency.
List Lean Cut Meats on Your Grocery List
Purchasing lean cut meats, such as lamb, sirloin steaks, and chicken, give you valuable proteins without the excess fat. When needed, you should trim off any visible fat and skin before cooking.
Substitute Your White Flour For Whole Wheat Flour
Basically, white flour is the wheat plant without the brown casing due to the process of refining, and the brown casing holds a lot of the important nutrients. One big difference between white and whole wheat flour is the fiber content, which whole-wheat has the most fiber.
Plan Meals as a Family
There are many benefits to planning meals as a family. Planning meals as a family allows for more family time, and it is cheaper than ordering food. Plus, it is a healthier option because the cook gets to control the ingredients and portion sizes.
Use Avocados as Healthy Fat Source
Avocados are high in monounsaturated fat, which is known to lower bad cholesterol. It is great to substitute mayonnaise, cream cheese, and butter in sandwiches with slices of avocado.
Boost Cancer-Fighting Enzymes with Cabbage
There are many cancer-fighting properties that inhibit tumor growth in cabbage which are lupeol, sinigrin, indole-3-carbinol (I3C), and sulforaphane. These properties have shown the same effects as chemotherapy.
Find Motivation with Spinach
Spinach is high in Vitamin K which promotes proper brain function and a healthy nervous system. Spinach also keeps harmful oxidation away from the brain.
Improve Concentration with Eggs
Eat some eggs before that big exam or long work day! Eggs contain choline in the yolk. Choline helps regulate the brain and nervous system, which in turn aids with concentration and memory.
Swap Soda for Water
Soda is filled with refined sugar and empty calories which could put on more pounds on the body and induces that “sugar crash” feeling. Water, on the other hand, flushes out toxins from body and lowers fasting glucose levels.
3,500 Calories = 1 Pound of Body Weight
When you are logging your daily food and calorie intake, keep this conversion in mind: 3,500 calories equals 1 pound of body weight. Keeping this in mind will help you gauge whether to increase or lower your calorie intake depending on your health goal.
Spice Up Your Meals
Try to incorporate hot spices such as cayenne, black pepper, and paprika in your foods. There are many health benefits to spicy foods such as improved mood, decreases insomnia, maintains cardiovascular system, and prevents cancer.
Enhance Muscle with Protein Bars
Forget the vending machine, and pack protein bars for snacks. One of the biggest advantage of protein bars is their convenience. Plus, these bars enhance lean muscle because of their high protein content.
Burn Calories by Drinking Ice Water
Supplement ice water with your workouts because drinking a glass of ice water burns 25 calories versus 16 calories per glass of room temperature water.
Switch to Low-Fat Dairy Products
Switching from whole milk products to low-fat decrease obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disorders. Low-fat milk has very little fat compared to whole milk products.
Avoid Eating Fruits After a Meal
Fruits contain simple sugars which is easily digested, but eating fruits after a meal will allow those simple sugars to get stuck in the digestive tract. This results in deterioration and bloating.
Never Smoke After a Meal
There are studies that show smoking after a meal is 10 times worse than normal smoking. Smoking after a meal increases irritable bowel syndrome and colitis.
Brighten Your Skin with Lemon
Add a little lemon to your favorite facial or body scrub. The citric acid found in lemon is an alpha hydroxy acid that helps dissolve dead skin on your body.
Lower Blood Pressure with Mushrooms
Mushrooms help lower blood pressure because of a compound found in them called lentinan. Mushrooms are also high in calcium and vitamin B, and they are low in fat and calories.
Calm Stress with Strawberries
When you are feeling stressed, ditch the chocolate bar and eat some strawberries. Strawberries have natural fructose, and natural fructose does not give you that immediate high that is followed by an immediate low.
Use Lemons and Herbs to Spice It Up
Replacing salt with lemon and herbs to flavor foods will help cut down on sodium intake. Food may seem bland without salt. It may take 2-3 weeks for our taste buds to adjust to less salty taste because we are accustomed to salty foods.
Pack Your Meals with Fiber
Whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and legumes are all examples of high-fiber food. Packing your meals with fiber will help you lose weight and prevent from overeating.
Reap the Benefits from Organic Food
Incorporate organic produce, dairy, and meat products into your diet to lessen the exposure to pesticides. There are studies that show overexposure to pesticides can contribute to neurological impairments.
Split Your Meal with a Friend
In this “super-sized” world, it is common for food establishments to serve large portions. By splitting a meal with a friend, you are demonstrating portion control and saving money.
Stay Smart and Smiling: Avoid Processed Foods
There are studies that show that processed foods are the worst IQ foods because they are filled with high-fructose corn syrup, aspartame, and other chemicals. Not only that, people are more prone to depression with a high processed food diet.
Stick to the 5 Ingredient Rule
Avoid food products that contain more than 5 ingredients. If it contains more than 5 ingredients, it is most likely high-processed. Some examples of food items that have 5 or less ingredients are popcorn, apple sauce, whole wheat pasta, and cheese.
Wait 20 to 30 Minutes for a Second Helping
It is best to wait 20-30 minutes between servings because that is the amount of time it takes for your brain to register that your body is full. Then, your second serving will most likely be small because you know that you are full.
Feel Guilt Free with Mustard
Mustard is fat-free with less than 5 calories per serving. Mustard can be used in a lot of things, such as sandwiches, salads, and marinades. It also comes in different flavors.
Indulge in Dark Chocolate Covered Bananas
Dark chocolate is packed with antioxidants and flavonoids, and bananas are rich in potassium and fiber. Together, they make a great pair.
Go Healthy and Choose Asian
Why is Asian food considered the healthiest in the world? It is because the main component is rice or noodles accompanied with soy, fish, beans, and nuts as protein sources. Meat and poultry are often used sparingly in these dishes.
Make Your Own Instead of Buying in Boxes
There are many benefits of making your own food, and the big reason is you know what is in your food. Plus, you are in control of your food, and it is easier to keep track of your calories.
Allow Yourself Cheat Meals or Snacks
The sense of deprivation is a big factor on why diets fail. Allowing yourself two cheat meals per week will decrease that sense of deprivation.
Keep Saturated Fat to a Minimum
A diet high in saturated fat could lead to obesity, high-blood pressure, cancer, and other heart disease. It is recommended to keep saturated fat no more than 7% of calorie intake.