Good Eating Habits by Danijela Crevar

I don’t like diets. And I think many of you would agree with me that diets are not pleasurable and enjoyable. Being on a diet, we are limiting ourselves from great nutrition and good taste.

Of course, there are exceptions when the diets are must. If there is a healthy condition and the diet is recommended by a doctor, then stick to it. In the situation of obese and overweight persons, the diet is a must. In order to loose weight, there is no other way around. In competitive sports, athletes will diet to get their body stage ready or to enter certain weight category.

If you are not overweight, if you do not have any medical or healthy condition and you are not competitive athlete, then I assume you do not need to be on diet.

Not being on a diet, does mean taking care of what and how much you eat. To keep the look you have, you need to develop good and healthy eating habits. That’s right – good eating habits. This is what I would like to talk about. Good eating habits means longer, healthier and more balanced life, energetic and fit body, sharp and youthful mind and spirit. Healthy eating habits will help you maintain an appropriate weight and improve your overall well being.

Now when we know what healthy eating habits can do for us, the question is – how do we develop and improve our habits?

Habit – What does this word mean?

It is the same action or behavior which we repeat automatically over and over again. Habits can be good or bad, work for us or against us.

What kind of habits do you have, when it comes to eating?

Developing the new habits takes time – 3 to 4 weeks for some people and 3 to 4 months for the others. Keep consciously repeating good habits and it will become normal for you.

Let me give you some basics on how to improve healthy eating habits:

1) Skipping the breakfast; this is not really the best you can do for your well being. The breakfast is the most important meal. To stop skipping the breakfast and start developing new good habit of having the breakfast, try to do this:

- Write on a piece of paper the goal – “I am having breakfast each morning, right after I wake up.”

- Keep this piece of paper right beside your bed, so this will be the first thing you are going to see and it will remind you what you should do.

- Choose a food for breakfast which you will like and enjoy eating.

- Keep repeating this and do not give up, until it becomes normal for you.

2) Listen to your appetite. Listen to your body. Do not overfeed or starve yourself. Give your body the best nutrition you can.

3) Eat 4-5 times per day, breaking the food into small meals. Have regular main meals as breakfast, lunch and dinner. And add two snacks in between in a form of fruits. Do not try to eat everything at one meal.

4) Eat more food rich in carbohydrates instead of treats. Great source of carbohydrate foods are: fruits, whole grains, vegetables, nuts. Good carbohydrates are rich in fiber. The fiber makes your stomach full, before you consume too many calories.

5) Reduce intake of fried foods. This way you will be able to reduce your risk of heart attack and being overweight. Low fat food will help you reach your fitness health goals faster.

6) Do not skip meals. Skipping meals during the day and eating one big meal at night will provide an energy overload. The body can metabolize certain amount of food at one time. The energy that body does not use will become fat.

7) Do not replace water with coffee, soda and tea. Limit the intake of these beverages, because they contain varying level of caffeine.

8) Plan your meals ahead of time. Make right choices of healthy food for the right reasons. Planning your meals ahead of time is very important to stay on right food. When you do the grocery shopping have a list of food and stick with it.

9) Do not over salt food. A key to healthy eating is choosing foods lower in salt.

10) Cook and prepare food by yourself. If you do not like cooking, find the way to start enjoying and develop this as a new habit. Start with your favorite recipes.

11) Enjoy what you eat and pay attention on how you eat. Take your time when it comes to meal, eat at a comfortable pace, and let yourself to enjoy the food you eat.

12) Use food to feed your body, not your emotions. It is very important, that you control yourself and not let emotions take control over you, your body or health.

There you have it. Basics in healthy eating. These eating habits worked for me on my way to build better body, mind and health. I sincerely hope, that it can work miracles for your body, mind and health, too.

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