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Dieting and Chiropractic

A Couple Shopping And Making Healthy Food Choices.

IT ALL BEGINS WITH SHOPPING HEALTHY.

One of the most feared words in the English language is the word diet. This is unfortunate because a proper diet is essential for a healthy living. A healthy diet is much more than one of the many fad diets a person forces upon themselves every now and then to lose extra weight. This dieting approach is rarely successful and often results in poor eating habits accompanied with weight gain. A proper diet is a long term, healthy eating plan that will provide your body the vitamins, nutrition and energy you need to live well and feel good each and every day. Everyone knows the foods they should limit or avoid altogether. Junk food, candy, salty food, fried foods and highly caffeinated beverages are just not good for your body. Obviously, you are going to have some of these items occasionally, and that's fine; moderation and balance is always the key. By limiting the unhealthy parts of the diet and increasing the intake of the things that are good for you, such as water, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish and poultry, you will be healthier for the long term. Developing better eating habits and diet is absolutely essential to a healthy lifestyle and long life.

Believe it or not, the first step to improving your diet starts with how you shop. When you enter the grocery store, you are bombarded and influenced by advertising everywhere you look. The advertising is designed to seduce you into buying a product whether it is good for you or not. You are literally surrounded by thousands of these cleverly advertised unhealthy food products. Most people do not realize that most grocery stores dedicate more shelf space to soda and packaged snack food items than they do for fruits and vegetables. The next time you go shopping, take a look around and notice where all the healthy items in the store are located. You will quickly notice that the healthy items are located around the perimeter of the store.

This is where they have all the fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, milk, eggs and all the other natural health oriented items. Now that is convenient. On your next shopping trip save yourself some time and buy healthier food by making a circle run when you shop. When you start moving up and down the corral of isles you will find bags, boxes and cans which are all made with some sort of processing, which equals not good for you. Start thinking outside the box. In this case, the aisles, and you will see how easy it is to buy foods that lead to good habits of eating right.

Eating properly also includes the amounts of food you eat and the timing of your meals. Portion sizes are very important in the implementation of a proper diet. It is as simple to figure out as making a fist with your hand. Your clenched fist should be about the right portion size for most people. At each meal, you should have a fist sized portion of protein, carbohydrates and vegetables. Most people do not consider portion sizes when eating and are simply consuming too much food at one time. This is the fastest way to becoming overweight and unhealthy. In addition to portion control, meal timing is very important. If you eat six small meals during the day instead of three larger meals, you will have more energy, lose weight and feel great. This gives your body more time to digest the food you eat instead of storing it as fat; something it does when you consume too much food at one sitting. Eating small meals throughout the day also helps prevent cravings and binge eating. Binge eating can include eating sugary foods that contain empty calories as well as fattening foods that can ruin and eliminate the benefit of any healthy eating routine. Eating six smaller meals provides your body the energy it needs throughout the day and removes that stuffy, lay around feeling you get after eating a big meal. Eating this way also keeps your metabolism at its highest so you are able to burn more fat. Below you will find several sets of healthy tips to implementing a proper diet that just may satisfy your nutritional needs.

Healthy Diet

Dieting is sometimes confused with starving yourself, which it certainly should not be. To maintain a healthy lifestyle, we need to consume a diet that puts nutrition in the spotlight. Below, you will find a list of dietary principles, that once implemented can provide proper nutrition for your body.

A Mom and Daughter Preparing A Healthy Meal

HEALTHY EATING STARTS AT HOME

• Never completely eliminate any food type from your diet. Instead, you
    should include all types of food, according to their required ratio as per
    the USDA's my plate standard. This combination will help keep your
    metabolism level maximized.

• Always include a combination of lean protein, complex carbohydrates
and good fats to your diet, while limiting saturated fats, starch and sugar.

• Try to keep and eat your foods as close to their raw all natural form as
possible. Go as organic as possible in order to maintain the nutritional
content.

• Lower your consumption of extra processed and refined food and junk
   food. Keep in mind, junk food is awful for you and often has the least or
   no nutritional value, as it is packed with preservatives and empty
   calories.

• Avoid all sodas and replace juices with raw fruits. Juices and sodas are
laden with sugar and are not healthy despite what the clever packaging
may imply.

• Eat raw fruits and vegetables. An excellent source of vitamins, enzymes
and fiber.

The Essentials of Meal Planning

Concerned Woman Making Sure Her Meal Plan Is Accurate.

CONCERNED WOMAN PLANNING
A WELL BALANCED MEAL

Planning and preparing a list are critical aspects of shopping for healthy dietary foods. Planning allows you to know what you are buying ahead of time, reducing the unhealthy impulse buy of the many end cap items. It also prevents you from having to make those quick one or two item stops to the store that waste time and money. The best benefit of proper planning is that it organizes your eating habits into a schedule. Follow the meal planning tips below and you can turn yourself into an efficient healthy shopper.

• First, determine five to seven healthy breakfast and lunch meals you like. These two meals are the most abused in the American diet. Now that you have planned these meals, you will now have a healthy breakfast and lunch ready to go everyday. These can be rotated so you do not get bored with the foods you have picked. No one likes to eat the same thing everyday, so get creative with your meal choices.

• Always keep healthy snacks readily available in your car, purse or desk. Small snacks throughout the day, eliminate the desire for a big meal at the end of the day.

• Keep a running list on your fridge as you use items to make your meals. This will make the grocery list easier and keep you stocked up on the things you know you need. When you realize you are out of something, write it down right away so you are prepared when you go to the grocery store.

• Keep in mind you can always bulk buy certain items and products which may save you money in the long run. Usually, when you buy bulk at a health food store, you receive a discount. Some great suggestions for bulk buying include; long storing winter vegetables in the fall, like onions, garlic, winter squash and potatoes, which can last six to eight months. Whole grains can last up to one year if stored in a cool and dry container. Beans can last up to two years stored in a cool and dry container. You can also join a food buying club or work with a group of friends and share by splitting the items up.

• Cook extra meals to store when a meal or a non-rushed day lends the opportunity. Dishes can be frozen and reheated on days when there just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day. Dishes that freeze well include lasagna, muffins, waffles, small breads, pizza shells, soups, burritos, pot pies and casseroles.

• Keep a list of easy to make healthy dinners on hand that you and your family enjoy. With these types of meals, the ingredients are almost always readily available and they require minimal preparation time and effort.

Healthy Eating Habits

Developing consistent healthy eating habits is the cornerstone of providing your body with proper nutrition.

• Rather than consuming two to three bigger meals each day, try to eat six smaller meals. A good formula for this method is to eat a moderate breakfast, lunch and dinner along with two daytime snacks and one pre bedtime snack. This will keep you with a full feeling and make it much less likely that you will succumb to binge eating.

• It is all about portion control. Eating smaller portions is always best. Do not forget; your fist is an excellent guide in determining the right size portion.

• Never skip meals! Inevitably, when you skip a meal, it will lead to a bad eating choice. If you are going to be out for long time, remember you still have those healthy snacks in your car, purse or desk. Try to make wise choices when dining out and avoid the fast food joint. Keep in mind that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Skipping breakfast causes your body to go into starvation mode and store extra fats. Skipping any meal almost always leads to a bigger meal later.

• Drink lots and lots of water each and every day. You should shoot for consuming at least eight to ten glasses during your active day. The more you drink the better.

Healthy Cooking and Preparation

Cookware and Utensils: All your kitchen cookware should be made of stainless steel, good quality enamel or glass. Clay cookware is also an acceptable option. You should always try to avoid aluminum, copper and non-stick Teflon coated cookware. The elements in these utensils and pans can absorb into the food and are extremely unhealthy for your body.

Maximize Digestibility and Nutritional Value: Employing proper soaking methods is vitally important. Certain foods should be soaked and sprouted to neutralize naturally occurring anti-nutrients such as phytic acid, enzyme inhibitors and tannins. Soaking also helps predigest the proteins, complex carbohydrates and fats. It essentially makes the food easier to digest, preserves nutrient content and makes it less likely to cause any food sensitivities in the body.

Raw Nuts: You should place raw nuts in a bowl, adding one tablespoon of sea salt and cover with water. After leaving them at room temperature for twelve hours, drain out the water. Now you can place the nuts on a cookie sheet and dry on low heat in the oven or dehydrator.

Raw Beans and Lentils: Soak the desired amount of raw beans or lentils in an equal amount of water in a covered container and let them sit at room temperature for at least twelve hours. When it is time to cook, pour off the soaking water and replace with fresh water. If there are still bubbles on top of the new fresh water, repeat the rinsing process. Now your ready to cook as desired by adding water or stock.

Vegetables: When cooking your vegetables, they should always be steamed to retain nutritional content. Steam your veggies for a few minutes then add butter or ghee, seasonings, and they are ready to serve. You can also sauté your veggies in butter, olive oil, coconut oil and then serve. Raw vegetables with a homemade dressing are also a healthy alternative. Never boil vegetables unless this is required to eat them.

Whole Grains: Soak desired amount of grain in an equal amount of water in a covered container and let them sit at room temperature for at least twelve hours. When you are ready to use them, add the necessary amount of water or stock and cook. If preparing grain berries to grind your own sprouted grain, follow the same instructions as above, let the berries sit in a strainer for twenty four hours, and use the drying instructions for the nuts. If the berry doesn't crunch between your teeth, then they are not dry enough. This process can take anywhere from twelve to thirty six hours.

In conclusion, do not let life get in the way of life. These days, it can be quite difficult to live a healthy lifestyle and maintain a well-balanced diet. After all, we're always on the go. Work, kid's soccer games, meetings, running errands, paying bills and doctor visits, can all get in the way and become an excuse for unhealthy eating. No matter how busy we are, it is essential that we get the proper nutrition in our diets. Eating right isn't as hard as some people would have you believe. If you are stuck in the habit of making everything from a box, you have resources available that can help you change. There are cooking shows on TV that can help you learn how to easily cook up simple healthy meals, using mostly fresh ingredients. There are tons of online recipe sites that you can use for free to get new ideas of what to cook and how to prepare it. Give it a try and do it for the health of it!

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