Confused by all the conflicting nutrition advice? These simple tips can show you how to plan, enjoy and stick to a healthy diet.
What is a healthy diet?
A healthy diet is not about strict restrictions, being unrealistically thin, or depriving yourself of the foods you love. With these simple tips, you can cut through the confusion and learn how to create—and stick to—a tasty, varied, and nutritious diet that’s as good for your mind as it is for your body.
Basics Of Healthy Nutrition
You don’t have to eliminate certain food categories from your diet, but rather choose the healthiest ones from each category.
Protein gives you the energy to get up and go—and keep going—while supporting mood and cognitive function. This doesn’t mean you have to eat more animal products—a variety of plant-based protein sources each day can ensure your body gets all the essential protein it needs.
Fat. Not all fat is created equal. Including more healthy fat in your diet can help improve your mood, improve your well-being, and even shrink your waistline.
Calcium. Regardless of your age or gender, it’s vital to include calcium-rich foods in your diet, limit those that deplete calcium, and get enough magnesium and vitamins D and K to help calcium do its job.
Carbohydrates. However, most should come from complex, unrefined carbohydrates (vegetables, whole grains, fruits) rather than sugars and refined carbohydrates. Limiting white bread, pastries, starches, and sugar can prevent rapid spikes in blood sugar, mood, and energy swings, and fat accumulation, especially around the waist.
Moderation: important for any healthy diet
What is moderation? When you ban certain foods, it’s natural to want more of them, and then feel like a failure when you give in to temptation. Start by reducing the portion size of unhealthy foods and not eating them as often. When you cut down on unhealthy foods, you may find that you have less of an appetite for them or consider them only occasional indulgences.
Think of smaller portions
Portion sizes have increased recently. When dining out, choose an appetizer instead of a main course, split a meal with a friend, and don’t order anything large. Your serving of meat, fish, or chicken should be the size of a deck of cards, and half a cup of mashed potatoes, rice, or pasta should be the size of a traditional light bulb. By serving meals on smaller plates or bowls, you can trick your brain into thinking it’s a larger portion. If you don’t feel satisfied at the end of the meal, add more leafy greens or finish the meal with fruit.
Take your time
It’s important to slow down and think of food as nourishment, rather than just something to swallow between meetings or on the way to the kids. It takes a few minutes for your brain to tell your body that it’s had enough, so eat slowly and stop eating before you feel full.
Eat with others whenever possible
Limit snacks at home. Instead, surround yourself with healthy choices, and when you’re ready to treat yourself to a special treat, go for it.
Control your emotional eating
It’s not just what you eat, it’s also when you eat it
A healthy breakfast
A healthy breakfast can jump-start your metabolism while eating small, healthy meals will keep you energized throughout the day.
Avoid eating late at night
Studies suggest that eating only when you’re most active and giving your digestive system a long break each day can help manage weight.
