What we Eat. What we Drink. What we Think.
Sometimes it's hard work to stay on track and we all lose our way a little bit.
Everything in the universe is a balance and the same balance exists in us.
We have to fuel our bodies, here's how you can start!
I hate how the word ‘diet’ sounds so restrictive as if you are punishing yourself. That is the wrong approach to being healthy. Becoming healthy and staying healthy may take some hard work and a strong will power, but it is very rewarding. A balanced diet combined with regular cardio and weight training can work wonders in many aspects of your life from relationships, to career, and overall happiness while reducing your healthcare costs.
✓ The best diet is the one you can actually keep, and it should be individualized to your personal preferences. Healthy eating pulls from all food groups – but in moderation.
“Non-organic produce may harbor nearly twice the cadmium, a toxic heavy metal found in many fertilizers that can build up long-term in your body, and has been linked to kidney damage and increase cancer risk. Be especially careful with your fruit, which was found to be 43% more likely than vegetables to carry pesticide residue. “
✓ Invest in a skill. Namely, cooking. That’s the key to a lean body and a fat wallet. Cooking your own food lets you control how many calories and what nutrients you’re eating. “Cross-utilization” is a great way to cook – that is, buying some simple, healthy staples and using them in as many meals as you can think up.
Results don’t happen overnight. It’s a marathon, not a quick sprint. Be in it for the distance to win it.
1. Exercise Boosts Brainpower
2. Movement Melts Away Stress
3. Exercise Gives You Energy
4. It’s Not That Hard to Find Time for Fitness
5. Fitness Can Help Build Relationships
6. Exercise Helps Ward Off Disease
7. Fitness Pumps Up Your Heart
8. Exercise Lets You Eat More
9. Exercise Boosts Performance
10. Weight Loss Is Not the Only Benefit
✓ Take stock of where you are in your life. What’s going well, and what would you like to improve? Try to stay focused on what really matters to you and what you really want. What are your most important goals in different domains in your life, such as health, work, and relationships?
✓ Consider the obstacles that make it difficult or impossible for you to achieve these goals. First, consider the factors over which you have little or no control – the environment in which you grew up; traumatic events from your past; your genetic inheritance; and certain physical or psychological disabilities. Extend compassion to yourself for these obstacles and the suffering they may have caused, recognizing that these are not things that you deserved but you can achieve what you do deserve.
✓ Next, consider those obstacles that you do have the capacity to address- like voluntary behaviors and the different choices you can make. Extend compassion to yourself for any mistakes you may have made in the past, recognizing that no one lives a life free of mistakes. But don’t let yourself off the hook too easily – ask yourself what led to these mistakes and what you can learn from them. The point isn’t to beat yourself up, but to gain valuable information that can help you as you move forward.
✓ Identify concrete, realistic steps you can take to bring you closer to meeting your goals. A commitment to a specific path, rather than an outcome that is outside of your control. For example, you could commit to the goal of eating at least five servings of vegetables every day, rather than resolving to lose a certain amount of weight. From the outset, keep in mind that it is almost inevitable that you will have days when you don’t stick to your commitment. If you go into it thinking that you will never slip up (and that if you do it will disastrous), you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.
✓ Energy requirements are related to age, gender, body size and level of activity. Therefore it is difficult to give recommendations for a general calorie intake. Energy requirements tend to increase up to the age of 15 -18 years, because children and youths are active and growing rapidly. On average, boys have slightly higher requirements than girls and this persists throughout adulthood.
The recommendations given for a daily calorie intake refer to an adult person with moderate activity. For women it should be around 2000 and for men 2500-2800 calories each day.
How to Manage Body Weight:
- Monitor food intake
- Monitor calories from alcohol
- Reduce or stop all intake of refined sugar-sweetened beverages
- Increase intake of whole grains, vegetables, and fruits
- Eat a nutrient-dense breakfast
- Prepare, serve, and eat smaller portions, especially foods high in calories
- Focus on the total number of calories consumed
- When eating out order a smaller option, share a meal, and check calories
- Limit screen time with television or electronic entertainment
- Drink lots of water
- Be physically active! Adults NEED 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity weekly
Choose water instead of other beverages: Generally, you will save money and reduce calories. This tip can also help with weight management. Substituting water for one 20-ounce sugar-sweetened soda will save you about 240 empty calories!
Water is a very important nutrient. Your body about 60% water and 20-25% fat. It plays a vital role in all bodily and metabolic processes aiding in digestion, circulation, absorption, and lubrication of body joints.
How much of the liquids you consume contain large amounts of sugar, caffeine, or alcohol?
✓ Food is energy. We gain or lose weight depending on how much energy we consume vs. how much energy we expend. This is why it becomes important to engage in regular physical activity. Budget calories much as you would budget money. It’s one part of your decision-making pie. [Mmmm…pie] Humans and other animals need a minimum intake of food energy to sustain their metabolism and drive their muscles. Just like we need to intake a minimum amount of food energy, adults need a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity weekly. Crank up your metabolism. The best way to increase muscle and decrease fat is with high-intensity interval resistance training [HIRT]. It’s really easy to book only a couple sessions with a personal trainer to learn more about HIRT.
Calorie – a measure of energy in food. 1 calorie = 4.18400 joules.
Empty Calorie – food that supplies food energy but little or no nutrition
✓ Eat food made by plants, NOT in plants!
GMOs (or “genetically modified organisms”) are living organisms whose genetic material has been artificially manipulated in a laboratory through genetic engineering, or GE. This relatively new science creates unstable combinations of plant, animal, bacteria and viral genes that do not occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding methods. Virtually all commercial GMOs are engineered to withstand direct application of herbicide and/or to produce an insecticide. Despite biotech industry promises, none of the GMO traits currently on the market offer increased yield, drought tolerance, enhanced nutrition, or any other consumer benefit. Meanwhile, a growing body of evidence connects GMOs with health problems, environmental damage and violation of farmers’ and consumers’ rights.