Our top tips for Healthy Living
There is plenty of great advice on the internet to help you live a healthier live. This is some of the simplest but best advice to help you create some traction with your health goals. Pick the one that will create the greatest impact for a you and you are most likely to be able to stick with.
Get plenty of fibre in your diet.
Soluble fibre from fruits, oats, barleys and legumes are ideal for lowering cholesterol. Insoluble fibre from brans, whole grains and vegetables help bowel movement. Both types of fibre can help to control blood sugar and suppress hunger. Fibre has also been shown to have a protective effect on cancers. Apart from all this, food with fibre are also very tasty!
Start the day with some protein
Never skip breakfast, but even if you do have breakfast try to include some protein. Protein has been shown to improve levels of alertness, improve energy and ease the mid morning hunger cravings. Eggs, nuts, seeds and yogurts are a great choice.
Eat some green food every day
Green food contain natural enzymes, nutrients and phytochemicals. These help the plants to grow strong and fight infection and they will have the same effect on your body. The alkali food help to balance out the excess acid in a typical western diet. They taste great and eating them will make you feel great. Try unusual greens such as wheat grass or grow your own peas and beans.
Don’t mistake hunger for thirst
Many people live their lives in a state of dehydration. In a healthy diet much of your fluid intake will actually come from the liquids in fruits and vegetables, however a western diet often has little of this and instead relies on refined carbohydrates. There are many common symptoms of dehydration, but some of the more common include headaches, lack of energy and weight gain. Water is a key part of all metabolic processes within the body, without you will struggle to produce energy and metabolise food effectively. If you wait to drink only when you are thirsty the chances are you are already dehydrated. Due to our continual dehyrdration, the body often mistakes hunger for thirst and you drink instead. Try a glass of water and then decide how hungry you really are.
Don’t let the gym beat you.
So many people start a regime at the gym with all the right intentions of improved health, weight loss, tone and greater energy. Often your body is depleted of nutrients, lacking energy and in a state of adrenal shock. You start at the gym pounding away on the treadmill each session, generally doing loads of cardio, because this “burns calories and makes you thin”. Weeks later you start to get bored, little has changed and you pick up every infection going about. Take some advice; start slow, focus on your diets, keep your exercise varied and do some resistance work.
Lose the stress
Stress can make you fat by causing cravings, hormonal imbalances and over-eating. Reducing your stress is one of the best ways to help control your weight. Next time you go to the gym, take some time out to unwind, try and sauna and then a session of the massage bed. Start to focus on how you want to feel and not just how you want to look. Improvements in one will benefit the other.
Eat seasonal foods
Seasonal foods are generally easier to obtain locally and will be fresh and full of nutrients. Seasonal foods will provide plenty of variety in your diet and promote a wholesome, balance intake.
Set yourself a goal
If you are looking to create a healthier lifestyle, then you are looking to build a habits. Bad habits can be difficult to break while good habits can be even more challenging to create. It’s that little devil on your shoulder again. Setting yourself a goal and telling yourself you are going to be a “winner” is one of the best ways to provide focus. Try a big goal that seems out of reach. When you tell your friends and family about it, you will have no choice but to succeed. Remember this isn’t primary school, in real life there are winner and losers. Challenge helps us feel alive and winning will motivate you to greater success.
It all falls apart in the supermarket
The food that goes in your trolley at the supermarket, will go in your belly. If you fill your trolley with crap you will eat that crap. Most of your shopping should take place in the fruit and vegetable isles. Top this up with some healthy meats, pulses and grains and just a few treats, so you don’t so insane.
Try to take a walk each day
Walking is the most natural exercise. It will help to increase the feel good chemicals in your brain and mobilise your joints. This is especially beneficial if you spend much of your day seated and want to raise your metabolism prior to eating.
Wash your fruit and veg
The fruit and vegetables you buy have often been handled many times prior to arriving on your plate and may have residues of pesticides. Give them a good wash to reduce you intake of toxins. Better still, grow your own!
Get some spice in your life
Spices contain many amazing nutrients that will rev up your metabolism and your health. They are also a great way to improve the interest and palatability of you vegetables and pulses. Pick any herb or spice and you will find research demonstrating such health benefits as reduction in blood pressure, anti-inflammatory properties, improved blood sugar levels and improved circulation.
Get some rest
Rest is essential to the body. If you’re tired you will not perform optimally and your mood will suffer, as will those around you! It’s easier to get the rest you need by going to bed early than it is to sleep in.
Don’t think that all “health food” are healthy.
Just because you buy something from the healthy isle of the supermarket or in a health store doesn’t make it healthy. Check the label! Many of these foods are substitutes for other less healthy food and often contain just as many unhealthy ingredients.
Cut down of the white stuff
If you take one message to heart and act on it, make it this one. Reduce your intake of salt, sugar and flour and you will see the benefits! I’ll say no more, just try it.
