Food is a huge part of being healthy. Get it right and you will thrive. Get it wrong and your body and health will soon suffer. Unfortunately, cheap, low grade, ready prepared food is easy to come by. Tempting and convenient as your favourite ‘take-out’, super-market sandwich or ready meal might be, it’s time to get back to basics.
If you missed the previous nutrition blog, Restore Your Body with Food – Nutrition Tips part 1 please click here. Here I discussed 6 simple tips that you can implement today. If you read that and thought about applying some of it to your life, re-read and take action. Your body will thank you!
Remember, get food right and your health will thrive
Here are 6 more tips to digest!
Once again, if you are diabetic, pregnant, have an eating disorder or a health condition, please consult your doctor or a nutritionist before trying any of these tips.
1 Sign up for a Local Organic Veg Box, or even Grow Your Own! This is great for supporting your local economy, is healthier and less mass produced than organic food you can get in the supermarkets. And studies have shown that veg boxes work out cheaper too. You can even add lots of organic dry foods, dairy products and eggs to your order. Another option is to get involved with a local food co-op. Also, if you have a little extra space, or even just a few pots, you can buy organic vegetable seeds online and start to create your own vegetable and herb garden. You will begin to eat more with the seasons and can guarantee the freshness and quality. Basically eat more local fresh food. Vegetables and/or salad should form the bulk of your lunch and dinner.
2 Reduce Carbohydrates – Especially all forms of sugar and artificial sugar (found in diet drinks, gum and low fat foods). Cutting down on sugar includes all forms of fruit (aim to permanently eliminate fruit juice). Complex carbohydrates should also be reduced as these also have an effect on your insulin levels. This includes wheat (bread, pasta, pizza) and starchy vegetables (potatoes, corn). Even the healthier grains such as a rice, oats and quinoa should be kept to a small size on your plate/bowl. This is a tough one because these are foods that make you feel full and are often easy to eat without much chewing. It just takes some adjusting…try loading up with fibre and nutrient rich vegetables and salad ingredients. (See previous blog about ways to cut down sugar and a recipe for a delicious healthy treat).
3 Reduce Alcohol Consumption – Take at least 5 days a week off drinking. And if you do drink, drink light. Alcohol is heavy work for the liver, effects brain and heart health and weakens your immune system. And the calories are empty so useless for your fitness training. A big part of the problem is the mixers that go with alcohol – Fruit juice and fizzy drinks should make they’re way to your zero list. Apart from a wasted morning the next day, (you could be training on a sunday morning) another problem is the likelihood that you accompany the evening with unhealthy snacks. For a healthy and delicious alternative to alcohol, research how to make your own kombucha tea.
4 Reduce Caffeine – Tea and coffee contain caffeine. You get an instant, false hit of energy. This is fine occasionally, but how often are you relying on caffeine to get you through the day? For a challenge and a change, try starting your day with a herbal tea, or a glass of hot water with lemon. Then try a routine of gentle exercises, followed with 5 minutes of deep breathing and you’ll be ready for the day…naturally. This might take some adjusting but get up a little earlier and give it a go. Sometimes you just need to break your patterns…and then you are free from the limitation of them.
5 Reduce ‘Take-aways’ (take-outs) and Visits to Restaurants. A restaurant prioritises taste over health and for this the meals are often laden with sugar, salt and unhealthy vegetable oils. (This is exaggerated with fast food often with the extra problem of health damaging flavour enhancers). This combination makes the food taste good but your body will suffer…especially in the long run. As a wise yogi once said, 2 inches of tongue can destroy 5 to 6 feet of body! So if you do eat out, make it a luxury every now and then. Take time to make your own delicious food…go online and look up how to make a healthy version of your favourite take-away dish. You can probably make a great version at home without a food hangover the next day! Remember if a recipe calls for sugar, you can usually half the amount and will still taste great. Better still add some Luo Han Guo instead.
6 Try Intermittent Fasting. How often to you give your digestion a long rest. Years ago I used to eat snacks between meals and never skip breakfast (my digestion must have been permanently exhausted). Now I regularly skip breakfast and give my digestion a good 16 – 18 hours rest, before enjoying a healthy lunch. Initially this is tough as your favorite food is sat right there in your kitchen and you believe you’re hungry. This is an example of how easy it is to be addicted to patterns…thinking you absolutely must eat breakfast as soon as you get up. Truth is you probably have several weeks before you must eat, so surely you can make a few extra hours. Basically you are looking to challenge your habits and give yourself the opportunity to try something different. Make a commitment to enjoy a 16 – 18 hour fast one or two days a week.
So here are 6 more lifestyle ideas that you can apply right away. Start today and it won’t be long before you’ll be enjoying more energy, improved health, better sleep and you will even sense an improvement in your fitness. And go easy on yourself, changes and results can take months.
Think long term and enjoy the journey…it’s your time to thrive!
Please keep in touch with how these changes affect you.
Take care
Danny
