Becoming A Healthy Eater

Being a healthy eater requires you to become both educated and smart about what healthy eating actually is. Being food smart isn't about learning to calculate grams or fat, nor is it about studying labels and counting calories.

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Healthy eating is all about balanced and moderate eating, consisting of healthy meals at least three times per day. Healthy eaters eat many different types of foods, not limiting themselves to one specific food type or food group.

Eating healthy requires quite a bit of leeway. You might eat too much or not enough, consume

foods that are sometimes more or less nutritious. However, you should always fuel your body and your brain regularly with enough food to keep both your mind and body strong and alert.

A healthy eater is a good problem solver. Healthy eaters have learned to take care of themselves

and their eating with sound judgement and making wise decisions. Healthy eaters are always aware of what they eat, and know the effect that it will have on their bodies.

When someone is unable to take control of their eating, they are also likely to get out of control

with other aspects of life as well. They could end up spending too much, talking too much, even

going to bed later and later.

You should always remember that restricting food in any way is always a bad thing. Healthy eating is a way of life, something that you can do to enhance your body or your lifestyle. If you've

thought about making your life better, healthy eating is just the place to start. You'll make life easier for yourself, those around you, and even your family.

As you may know, not fueling up with the right nutrients can affect how well your body performs and your overall fitness benefits. Even though healthy eating is important, there are myths that hinder your performance if you listen to them.

Below, you'll find some myth busters on healthy eating:

• Working out on an empty stomach. If you hear a rumbling noise in your stomach, the rumbling is trying to tell you something. Without listening to them, you are forcing your body to run without any fuel. Before you exercise or do any physical activity, always eat a light snack such as an apple.

• Relying on energy bars and drinks.Although they are fine every once in a while, theydon't deliver the antioxidants you need to prevent cancer. Fruits and vegetables are your best bets, as they are loaded in vitamins, minerals, fluid and fiber.

• Skipping breakfast. Skipping breakfast is never a good idea, as breakfast starts the day. Your body needs fuel as soon as possible, and without it, you'll be hungry throughout the day.

• Low carb diets. Your body needs carbohydrates for your muscles and the storing of energy.

• Eating what you want. Eating healthy and exercising doesn't give you an all access pass to eat anything you want. Everyone needs the same nutrients whether they exercise or not, as well as fruits and vegetables.

• Not enough calories Although losing weight involves calories, losing it too quickly is never safe. What you should do, is aim for 1 - 2 pounds a week. Always make sure that you are getting enough calories to keep your body operating smoothly. If you start dropping weight too fast, eat a bit more food.

• Skip soda and alcohol. Water, milk, and juice is the best to drink for active people. You should drink often, and not require on thirst to be an indicator. By the time you get thirsty, your body is already running a bit too low.

Changing how you eat is always a great step towards healthy eating and it will affect how your

body performs. The healthier you eat, you better you'll feel. No matter how old you may be, healthy eating is something you should strive for. Once you give it a chance, you'll see in no time at all just how much it can change your life - for the better.

Standard Dieting Doesn't Do It

Are you trying to lose weight? Did you experience some weight gain over the holiday season? Have you tried a diet pill for weight management and fat loss and seen no results? Or even worse, gained more weight than you lost to start with?

If you are failing at weight loss, whatever you have been trying, perhaps it’s not your fault. Do you have the information you need to make smart decisions about diets, exercise plans and supplements? There are many ways to lose weight. Do you want fast weight loss, fast fat loss and diets that work? You need to know what your options are.

Do you qualify and quantify your goals when it comes to weight loss? Most people don’t, which is why they set up unrealistic expectations for themselves and end up failing. Failing to plan is planning to fail, which is why information is a key factor.

Most people who want to lose weight say they would like to look better or feel better, and that losing weight would accomplish that for them. Yet, is that enough motivation to stick to a rigorous diet and exercise plan? Vanity is a good motivator, but understanding the long term dangers of being overweight may be what tips the scales in your favor, when it comes to establishing long term patterns and a healthier lifestyle, in general.

When setting goals, it is rare that someone thinks of changing their lifestyle or habits for the long term. We live in the moment and think that making temporary changes will accomplish immediate results and if we lapse back into bad behavior, we can always repeat what we did to win in the short run. Does the term yo-yo diet sound familiar? Did you know that most people who lose weight dieting alone, usually gain back more weight than they lost, within one year? That’s a sure fire plan for disaster!

It is up to you to understand the options available to you and to decide which of those options you can adopt long term, to become successful at achieving your goals. There is no silver bullet for weight loss I’m afraid, other than your own attitude. If you can make a decision to change your habits and commit to that change, you can succeed at accomplishing your goals. Small changes can yield big results, over time, if you let them.

Problem is, most people don’t let them. How often have you started a

diet or weight loss plan, or sworn off drinking, or started an exercise plan, just to fall short because you cheated yourself by having dessert, couldn’t resist that next glass of wine at dinner, or hit the gym too hard and pulled something or were too sore to continue?

That’s normal behavior, so why would you beat yourself up about it and quit? Nobody said it was going to be easy, nobody expects you to be perfect and nobody wants you to change your personality in order to accomplish your goals.

The truth of the matter is, you’re not likely to change your habits until you start seeing results, which means you need to either keep at it for a while, or you need a kick-start.

If you want to see fast results, then perhaps colon cleanse treatments, body wraps and supplements like acai berry products are a good way for you to kick start your new regimen. But you already know that your diet or weight loss plan and exercise routine will need to change if you want the results to last. But remember, the term “supplement” already tells you that, whatever it is, it won’t work on its own, though it can sometimes significantly increase your gains when used properly.

That is why it’s important for you to understand the 80-20 rule. Realize that you’re going to slide. You’re going to indulge yourself, you’re going to skip exercising and you’re going to feel guilty. That’s normal and that’s healthy. If you can do the right things and eat the right things, eighty percent of the time, the other twenty percent won’t bother your progress. If you can do better than 80-20, your gains, or losses, will be that much faster.

Controlling your weight means controlling your habits. That comes with making informed decisions about your lifestyle and knowing that you can succeed in maintaining changes to achieve your goals. Don’t run until you know how far and how long you can walk. Don’t lift weights until you know what kind of band resistance is right for you. Don’t start eating celery sticks if switching to more chicken and fish does what you want it to. If you like to drink beer, try switching to mixed drinks or wine.

Understand that weight is just a number. Understand how that number relates to how you look and feel. If you gain muscle mass, your weight will increase, at least temporarily, until your metabolism adjusts to your new routine and starts dissolving the fat. Is it more important that the number went down, or that you feel stronger and can go farther, or can climb the stairs without getting winded? Listen to your body, not to your scale.

So, remember, small changes can make a big difference over time and are pretty easy. Big changes are harder but make a bigger difference faster. You’re only human and you didn’t get the way you are, overnight. Change takes time, and it takes courage. But if you have the courage, and you take the time, you’ll have more time when you’re done, and you’ll enjoy that time more.