A Healthy Diet Plan
Eating a healthy balanced diet does not only make you more active and energic, but it also strengthens your immune system and prevents the possibilities of the occurrence of life-threatening ailments like cancers and heart diseases. If in case you’re already suffering from these illnesses, a healthy diet can help reduce the pain and help you manage it better.
For a healthy individual, a good diet can maintain the proper functioning of his or her body. The maintenance of every healthy single tissue and organ is necessary to achieve a healthy living lifestyle.
A balanced diet means that the four food groups — vegetables and fruits, grains, meat, and dairy products — must be consumed according to how much your body needs. For example, a person high in cholesterol may lessen the intake of animal protein, which is proven to hold more fat than the other groups, to prevent heart attack or stroke. Hear the symptoms or feel the heavy unhealthy organ — it is wise to learn how to listen to what your body tells you.
What are the principles of healthy eating?
When pursuing a healthy eating plan, you should remember the following:
1. Try to Eat Variety of Foods
You have to remember that different foods have different nutritional values. Foods can be rich in antioxidants or vitamins. So when you go to the supermarket, try and see what different colors of foods you can take.
You must have a lot of different colors in your cart as you can. For example, when choosing fruits, taking apples, bananas, blueberries, oranges, and strawberries you will see what a large color selection you have. The same goes for vegetables. More color means that it’s better and healthier for you.
Generally, fruit and vegetables should be made as the main part of your diet, but you still need carbohydrates from foods such as fish, meat, potatoes, and less fatty foods like flaxseed oil, which many experts recommend as part of a good fat diet. Overall, a diverse mix of all food groups needed for a healthy diet!
2. When You Feel the Urge to Snack, Do It on Healthy Ways
It does not mean that just because you want to lose weight, then you should skip your snack. A snack can be quite good for you just as long as you eat the right foods.
Generally, when we want to eat a snack, we grabbed a packet of biscuits or crisps. However, if you want to eat a healthy snack, then you will have to swap that for beans, fruits, grain, and vegetables. That way you will get energy, you also will be full until your next meal time and it will be healthy.
Since you know what foods you like and what you do not, you have to decide on your healthy eating plan. However, stick to the above tips can help you to choose the best plan for your healthy eating.
Maintain Healthy Cholesterol Levels
Before you start eating your favorite foods, you might want to know whether you’re having too much cholesterol. A few years ago, many people were not aware that what cholesterol level is but with all the information around, people are becoming aware of how their cholesterol levels affect their life. You have to remember that you are what you eat and what you eat has something to do with your cholesterol.
What is Cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a type of lipid needed in all the vital functions of the body. Every single cell is surrounded by cholesterol and its job is to insulate our nerve fibers. By insulating the nerve fibers, the cholesterol ensures that the nerve signals are traveling properly which is extremely important. Cholesterol also produces hormones that are used to carry specific signals around the body.
Too much cholesterol in the body would increase your chances of heart disease. If you have a high cholesterol level, you should bring it down. Even though cholesterol is essential for our bodies to function properly, it still should be controlled properly.
How do I know if my cholesterol levels are high?
You have to consult your doctor to ask whether your cholesterol level is high or not. Knowing your cholesterol levels is not enough to tell whether you have a risk of heart disease, you need to find out what your Lipoprotein levels are.
Lipoproteins are molecules that are designed to carry cholesterol around the body. It is important because they control exactly how much cholesterol is in your body. Now, there are two main types of Lipoproteins: High-Density Lipoproteins and Low-Density Lipoproteins.
One thing you should be aware of is Low-Density Lipoproteins. A high level of Low-Density Lipoprotein means it has more cholesterol than protein and that is the bad cholesterol, while High-Density Lipoprotein means good cholesterol that they are used to carry cholesterol away from cells and to the liver.
The complicated thing about cholesterol is the right level you should belong to. The doctor can tell you how low your cholesterol levels should be. The average person usually should have around 4.0mmol/l but if you have a low-density lipoprotein count, then you should have around 2.0mmol/l. As mentioned, however, each person is different so you need to get your levels checked to see exactly what you should be aiming for.
Cholesterol is important and you should know what levels you have for you to know what you can do about it. Many people are suffering from heart disease due to high levels of cholesterol so it is advisable to go to your doctors to know your cholesterol level and maintain it.
There are many ways to improve your cholesterol level. One of them is eating healthy foods. With a healthy diet, your body is protected from the damaging effect of cholesterol. The other things you should do are exercise regularly, quit smoking, and control your weight. These will increase your HDL cholesterol level.
Overcome Weight Loss Excuses
We often make excuses when it comes to losing weight. As a result, we stop ourselves from doing a balanced diet routine and get disappointed in the end.
How do I stop making those weight loss excuses?
Losing weight is not easy but you have to discipline yourself. Next time, ask yourself why you make excuses every time you commit it.
Some of the most common excuses include:
- No time to do any exercise
- No time to prepare healthy meals
- Bored with exercising
- Too old for exercising
- Not enough support
- Not feeling well
The excuses mentioned above are just a few. You might have noticed that some are just lame excuses. So how do you stop making those weight loss excuses?
Find out why you are making excuses. Are they acceptable? Or you are just thinking of another better way? If not, then why are you not taking some action? Some didn’t like being overweight yet they’re doing nothing about it because they are afraid that they might fail and end up still overweight. Don’t be a pessimist.
The way you think will affect how you succeed with your weight loss program. The more negative you think, the more excuses you’ll commit and fail. Don’t let your low self-esteem win over you. Strive harder for something important to you.
Lack of time is the most commonly used excuse but it is not a valid excuse because if you think that losing weight is important for you, you need to spend time on it no matter how busy you are. Do as much as you can each day and you’ll feel more energetic.
To overcome the weight loss excuses, you need to understand why you’re making an excuse and think if it’s important to you. Discipline yourself; strive for a happy and healthy living.
Make a Weight Loss Plan
If you want to lose weight, you should have a plan. You have to set some goals and stick to them. And you have to be patient. There is no such thing as fast weight loss. You cannot take a pill and get rid of all the fat deposits in a matter of weeks or months. Your body just doesn’t work this way.
Here are some weight loss plans with all the things you have to do to lose weight safely and effectively:
1. Exercise
This is a common method really, but exercise is probably the most important determinant of whether you will succeed at long term weight loss. For exercise helpful to your weight loss goal, you should strive for at least 10–30 minutes sessions per week. The good news is that a recent study has shown that three times sessions for 10 minutes a day is as good as one 30 minute session a day.
The purpose of the exercise is to burn calories in the body, although exercise offers other benefits as well. How many calories you burn depends on the duration, frequency, and intensity of your activity.
Even though regular aerobic exercise could be effective in removing fat, you should think about how you can increase your physical effort. For example, make several trips up and down the stairs instead of using the elevator, parking at the end of the lot and walking to your destination instead of taking the bus.
2. Stay focused on the healthy, not to be thin
Many people become more successful in long-term weight loss when their motivation changes from wanting to be thinner, to want to be healthy. Change your mindset to think about selecting foods that will help your body’s health rather than worrying about foods that will affect your weight.
Adopting a new eating style that promotes weight loss should include lowering total calorie intake. But decreasing calories does not mean giving up taste, satisfaction or even ease of meal preparation. One of the best ways to reduce your calorie intake is by eating more plant-based foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains products. Strive for variety to help you achieve your goals without giving up taste or nutrition.
3. If you must use any weight loss pills, do not try those advertised as “fat burners” or other nonsense of this kind
There are a lot of plant extracts out there that can help you reduce the sensation of hunger and bind some fat in your food so you benefit from a relaxed approach and a positive attitude.
A good attitude is very important to your success. A good attitude can help you be patient and not try to see fast results. Fast weight loss will only result in getting all the fat back.