Are you eating healthy? If you're like most Americans, you probably think your diet needs some improvement, but overall not bad.
So why is America getting fatter by the day? Because many people are repeatedly tiny errors in their diet that lead to large weight gains.
Weight gain seems inevitable. In fact, ask yourself this question: will be heavier 10 years from now than you are today?
The harsh reality is that most of us will be substantially heavier than in 10 years. We will consider aging, hectic schedules and life in motion. All these things certainly help bad habits and weight gain, but with some minor changes, your diet can be substantially improved — without changing your lifestyle.
1. dump: Soda
Pop is a Triple Whammy. Not only is it devoid of almost all the nutritional values, is almost entirely made of sugar and one can contains more than 10% of daily calories required by a 140-pound woman.
In a nutshell, your body has no choice but to store all unnecessary sugar in places you don't want to be stored-such as hips, and back.
Drink 1 can of soda per day adds the equivalent of 15 pounds to your weight each year. You must run nearly 275 miles to burn calories "Coca Cola".
Skip the diet soda too. Recent studies have linked to weight gain, despite his claim of "diet".
2. forget fast food:
It is also real meat? Fast food is high in calories, high in salt content and served in portions that are best suited to a truck full of firefighters that a bank associated with the Subscriber.
The number one problem with fast food is the portion size. A meal of medium sized Big Mac contains over 1300 calories, or 90% of the daily calorie requirement for a 140-pound woman.
Unfortunately, most fast food restaurants don't offer a healthy alternative acceptable. Most McDonald's salads with dressing room have over 500 calories and are outrageously high saturated fat content.
The best option is to skip all the fast food, but subway and other sandwich shops offer healthy options. Just remember that a 6-inch sub is usually one serving.
3. Skip The Hype, read the label:
Almost food you will come across is a kind of sports health claim-low-sugar, low-fat, zero carbohydrates. Heck even some candy bars, chips and sodas are now proudly displaying healthy messages.
Unfortunately, these messages are usually little more than marketing hype and half can only say that the truth-for example, low carb could mean high fat content.
The only way to find out if a product is really healthy is to read the label. Although it can be a bit intimidating at first, label reading is a habit easy to pick up, and you will be reading them as a dime store novel in no time.
As a starting point: look at the saturated fat (any is too), grams of sugar (keep it less than 10), and total calories.
4. Add a salad:
Most people don't get enough water in their diet. Fortunately, salad is almost entirely made up of water. In addition, the high water content makes salad "a filling food" which means that it makes you feel full without filling it full of calories. Surprisingly, this is why you will always find top salad bar at all you can eat buffet.
5. eat whole wheat:
Eat whole wheat: some time ago, our culture has decided white bread was the best thing since, well, bread slices. Unfortunately, white bread (often labeled enriched wheat on the label) is entirely devoid of nutritional value. You might as well be wrapping the Turkey in cotton candy. "Enriched" could as well say stripped of any nutritional value.
Whole wheat, on the other hand is nothing short of a wonder food. It is rich in fibre, high contents of vitamins, help reduce bad cholesterol and reduces the risk of heart disease.
Brown rice, whole wheat pasta, oatmeal and 100% whole wheat bread are examples of large whole wheat products. Order to get 80% of your carbohydrates from whole foods.
6. water, water and more water: drink 8 glasses of water a day.
Water is a miracle of health. Fills you, lets you avoid overeating, keeps clean your complexion and increases your metabolism (to help you burn extra calories).
If you still need more reasons to drink this water-drinking water promotes brain function. Even a 2% drop in water levels in the blood can leave you sluggish, slow thinking and less aware that your better hydrated counter.
Water is truly a miracle worker, so drink-target 8 X 8 rule: drink eight ounces of eight times per day. Feel free to add any non-caffeinated beverage for totals of water every day.
7. eat 5 times a day:
Eat 5 meals a day ensures that you are rarely hungry, and if you are hungry, next meal is always around the corner.
Several studies have shown that if people spread their calories out over 5 meals per day are more likely to lose/maintain their weight than people who eat only 3 times a day.
Simply put, the reason for this is that your body needs calories approximately every 3 hours-if it receives too many at once you store them. If you receive too few, your body sends you signals to find fast-food outlets. This is often referred to as "hypoglycemia", and the effect is usually poor snacking choices.
8. protein power:
Eat 20 grams of protein at every meal. A high protein diet is a great way to build a fit, healthy body. Proteins take more energy (and calories) to digest than carbohydrates and fats. In addition, protein promotes lean muscle mass, which increases the metabolism and increases your body's ability to burn calories.
American is a carb nation-centric. Though most nutritional experts require only 40% of daily calories come from carbohydrates, but most Americans almost double that total.
Boneless chicken breast, skinless, fish and egg is the easiest way to add healthy protein to your diet.
9. go fishing:
Eating seafood or fish at least twice a week. Seafood is high in protein and high in Omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to fight cancer, heart disease and arthritis. Health benefits of fish outweigh the recent concerns about clearly mercury content. So, unless you're pregnant, eating.
10. keep a diary:
Keeping a food diary can keep you on track with your diet goals lead to long-term healthy habits and helps you analyze your progress.