Hey guys, I'm here to share my tips for a Healthy Lifestyle for now and the future. So, enjoy!
MYTH BUSTED - Let's start by exploding one commonly help fallacy. There are almost no foods that are intrinsically "bad", similarly, none that are intrinsically "good" for you. Let me explain. The vast quantity of sugar, fat, salt and so forth that we eat in the western world is what makes them "bad". If we were to eat similarly huge quantities of fruit and vegetables the chances are that they would then be discovered to be "bad" for us also.
LOW FAT - GOOD HEALTH? - Take fat for instance, people have furiously sought to cut it out of their diet. They are "helped" by the fact that there are more low fat products avaliable now, somewhere and it is this: By singling out just one food type for special attention, or exclusion
health. Everything must be done within the context of a
healthy lifestyle and that demands a
balanced approach to what we eat, how we exercise and so forth.
A GOOD START -
A good breakfast is an essential start to the day, like it or not, this is true. Start with fresh fruit and, during the
winter, follow this with real porridge or perhaps toast and a boiled egg. In
summer meusli topped with natural yoghurt and fruit such as grapes or strawberries. This is easy to prepare and a good bowl-full can keep you going to lunchtime.
LUNCH - Because preparation time is often limited, I'll confine myself to suggesting the good old-fashioned sandwich. It might not be trendy but it hasn't survived for hundreds of years as the ultimate convenience food for no reason.
Wholemeal bread is best but there is nothing wrong with white now and again for variety.
Meat, cheese and eggs are the staples,
liven these up with vegetables such as sliced green or red peppers, shredded carrot, lettuce, celery and so forth. Tomatoes can make the bread go soggy, so instead take half a dozen chrrey tomatoes not cut and eat them alongside the sandwiches. Use mayonnaises and relishes in moderation to supplement the flavour.
On fruit, apples, pears, bananas and oranges are the easiest to get hold of on a regular basis but a handful of cherries in season can be delicious. Try to
drink water as much as possible.
Here's a tip: In summer freeze a partly filled plastic bottle overnight and the next morning fill it to the top and wrap it in some kitchen paper to prevent the condensation wetting the contents of your lunch box. You will have a
cool drink at lunchtime, and, in addition, the ice will have kept your sandwiches cold and fresh.
DANGER HOUR! - The period immediately after school when lunch is a distant memory and dinner still a long way off
is the danger hour. Crisps, chocolates and biscuits tempt us and can be wolfed down almost without thinking. When you get home, pause for just a second before demolishing that packet of biscuits.
Try instead to have something like a handful of cherry tomatoes, a natural yoghurt to which you add your own fruit, a stick of celery, a carrot or a handful of brazil nuts or almonds (plain, not salted). Promise yourself a biscuit after that. Try to eat slowly and you may even find that you can get by without the biscuit after all!
A LITTLE OF WHAT YOU FANCY - Sweets, chocolates, crisps, fizzy drinks, chips, deep fried foods and all the things you like and which people are telling you not to eat, are permissable, but not in vast quantities. If they form the basis of your diet then you really should look at
making some changes - do it sooner rather than later. You will soon begin to feel the benefits.
DRINK UP! - If you consume a lot of fizzy drinks then you are also consuming a staggering amount of sugar. What is more, sweet drinks tend to increase your thirst rather than quench it. Fruit juices are better (though read the list of contents carefully) and
water is best of all. Changing from one to the other is not easy (I know!)
so cut down rather than cut out. Drink water with your lunch on a couple of days a week and then reward yourself at the end of the week with your favourite fizzy drink. (A smaller bottle than usual, perhaps?)
