A Healthy Diet For Life
Namita Nayyar

Having established that your body needs a well balanced diet, with a good supply of carbohydrates, especially high – fiber foods, water vitamins and minerals, and a certain amount of protein, fat and bacteria, you need to know how to put it into practice.
Much media attention is focused on foods that one should not have, yet there has been very little to tell women how they can use food to enhance their life rather than make it more difficult. Forget the labels; every figure is relative and food manufacturers are frequently very selective about what they tell you, making your task of deciding what is right for you an impossible one. Instead build your choices on the following guidelines.

RESPECT YOUR MOUTH AND BODY: GET INTO THE HABIT OF ONLY EATING THINGS YOU LIKE AND NEED

Before you put anything in your mouth, ask yourself three questions: Do I want it/ Do I like it/ Do I need it?

If you want it and like it then go ahead and enjoy it, if you dont why bother wasting the eating experience? Throw all the boring, unnecessary eating out of your life.

The worst thing you can do with food is to feel guilty about eating it. If you have eaten something that you know is not the healthier but you really fancied it or were in a situation where you didnt have any choice, enjoy it an forget about it. Dont beat yourself up with guilt. Guilt is a negative emotion, which is likely to lead you to bingeing on comfort foods. This can then get you into a negative sugar or salt cycle in which you eat more of these foods, which in turn makes you feel even more guilty. You might then decide its not worth continuing with you healthy eating lifestyle. It is always worth persevering. Remember that life is for living and food is there to help us, not hinder us.

AIM TO EAT FIVE PORTIONS OF FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES EVERY DAY

This provides your body with a good source of vitamins, minerals and fiber, to maintain your body in peak condition to fight diseases. Fiber helps your food to move effectively through the body, keeps you feeling pleasantly full and satisfied and in control of your eating habits, and your energy levels steady.

EAT THREE MEALS A DAY

This is usually made up of one main meal, a smaller snack or lunch-type meal and breakfast. You may, however, feel that you need two smaller snacks, such as a piece of fruit, a small sandwich or a piece of cake, in between two smaller meals. It all depends on your body rhythms. Meals should be based on carbohydrates, such as pasta, whole-meal bread, wholegrain cereals, rice or potatoes, along with fruits and/or vegetables. The main meal should include a source of lean protein, along with carbohydrate and plenty of vegetables and fruits.

CHOOSE LEAN SOURCES OF PROTEIN

Fish, shellfish, lean red meat, game, poultry, eggs or pulses meet your bodys protein requirements without overloading on fats.

TRY TO GET INTO THE HABIT OF USING JUST A SMALL AMOUNT OF FAT

You can use butter, olive oil, sesame oil or walnut oil to enhance the flavor of your food or for cooking, but do try to keep the quantity low.

KEEP YOUR INTAKE OF REFINED SUGAR FOODS LOW

Too much sugar disrupts your natural energy balance, and can cause headaches; mood swings and if eaten in large quantities sugar sensitivity problems such as hypoglycemia and diabetes mellitus. It is much better to get into the habit of using the natural sugars in fruits to provide sweetness.

INCLUDE SOME DAIRY PRODUCTS OR ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT SOURCE OF CALCIUM IN YOUR DAILY DIET

This has far reaching benefits for all women of all age group .

DRINK TWO THREE LITERS (FOUR TO FIVE PINTS) OF WATER EVERY DAY

Water helps the fiber in your food to swell and perform its duties. It also helps to metabolize other nutrients from your food, keep your skin and hair healthy and prevent your body from becoming dehydrated.

TRY NOT TO DRINK MORE THAN THREE CUPS OF COFFEE, TEA OR COLA .

All such drinks contain caffeine, which inhibit the absorption of vitamins and minerals from the gut, causes your body to excrete vital nutrients and interferes with the fluid and energy balance mechanisms in your body. Caffeine also causes your body to be stimulated in an artificial way, which in the long run has the opposite effect of supressing your performance and general feeling of well

INCLUDES SOME GOOD BACTERIA IN YOUR DAILY DIET, IN THE FORM OF LIVE YOGURT CONTAINING BIFIDUS AND ACIDOPHILUS

A small pot of bio yogurt a day should help to keep a healthy balance of good and bad bacteria in your gut. If you dont like or are unable to eat live yogurt, seek the advice of your dietician

TRY TO EAT REGULARLY AND IDEALLY NOT LEAVE YOUR STOMACH EMPTY FOR MORE THAN FOUR TO FIVE HOUR

This helps to keep your gut functioning effectively. Regular eating helps your gut maintain a steady supply of digestive enzymes, protects it from excess acid secretion and enables it to metabolize food in the most efficient way, to keep your energy level and moods on an even keel

KEEP YOUR ALCOHOL INTAKE MODERATE

Some drinks, especially young red wines such as Beaujolais, contain anti-oxidant vitamins and minerals, which can help to reduce the risk of heart disease and some cancers. Beers and Champagnes can also provide beneficial nutrients. Drinking can be a very pleasurable part of a healthy lifestyle, but drinking to excess can cause liver damage, mood and energy-balance problems. Try not to drink on an empty stomach as this can cause your blood sugar levels to crash.

FOOD COMBINING/SEPARATING

The issue of whether you should eat proteins and carbohydrates at the same meal is one that regularly crops up in the media. Some diet consultants feel strongly that proteins and carbohydrates should be separated, and advocate that proteins should be eaten only with vegetables and fruit, not mixed with carbohydrates. Many people feel that their body functions better if they out this into practice; it is commonly known as food combining.
From the physiological and nutritional viewpoint, proteins (meat, chicken, fish, eggs, cheese, nuts, pulses) provide the body with amino acids, used as building blocks within muscles and other tissues. Carbohydrates provide energy and fiber. If you eat proteins on their own, without carbohydrate present, the protein can be broken down into energy, rather than used for building body tissue. Proteins also have other important functions to perform in maintaining body health and carbohydrates protect proteins, enabling them to fulfill these functions.

The choice is yours, but there is no physiological reasoning behind food combining. I believe that food is there to be enjoyed. Women should not have to agonize over whether they are allowed to eat certain things at certain times.

To know more on how to make healthy choices of food while eating ,log on to www.womenfitness.net,a complete resource for healthy living .

About the Author

Ms Namita Nayyar is a gold medalist in M Sc (Child development)and a fitness trainer with a sound knowledge of normal & therapeutic nutrition . She is the founder of Women Fitness (www.womenfitness.net)

Tags: Author, Bacteria, Balanced Diet, cancers;, Choices, diabetes mellitus, Diet Healthy, Dietician, Diseases, energy balance mechanisms, energy level;, energy-balance problems, energy;, food combining, Food Manufacturers, food;, founder, Fresh Fruits And Vegetables, Fruits And Vegetables, Guilt, Habit, headaches;, Healthy Diet, Healthy Lifestyle, heart disease;, High Fiber Foods, hypoglycemia;, Labels, Media Attention, Namita, Namita Nayyar, natural energy balance, Negative Emotion, olive oil;, Peak Condition, Protein, sesame oil, Vitamins And Minerals, Vitamins Minerals, walnut oil, Women Fitness, www.womenfitness.net —

Looking for tips for weight loss for teens? Todays world puts a lot of extra pressure on teens to look thin. Popular TV shows aimed at teens all feature thin, pretty young characters, overbearing parents can put undue stress on their kids to lose weight, and even worse still, is teenagers peers can be incredibly judgmental of a their weight.

Being the fat kid throughout high school can be a recipe for life-long self-esteem problems. Theres no easy solution to this problem. Weight loss is tough, and all the added anxiety that comes with being a teen only makes matters worse. Taking advantage of some of these pointers can help make the teenage experience less scary for overweight teens.

One of the most important tips, especially for young girls, is to make sure that you understand what a healthy person looks like. A lot of girls and young women on TV are, or at least appear, dangerously thin. The media may portray this as the ideal, but the truth is, its not a healthy lifestyle. Many young girls develop eating disorders trying to match the looks of women they see on TV, and this is a recipe for disaster.

Young men can fall victim to eating disorders, too its not a problem exclusive to girls. Its not uncommon for many teens to look in the mirror and see only ugliness and fat, when in reality they are a perfectly healthy young person. If you constantly feel severely depressed about your weight or your look, you should seek help from a psychologist. They can help you improve your own self-image and pursue weight loss goals in a healthy manner.

Another in the list of tips for weight loss for teens is to keep in mind what your body is growing through. During your teen years, your body can undergo a number of changes that affect how you grow. For instance, you might hit a late growth spurt and gain a few inches in height, making your weight even out across your frame. Puberty is a complicated time if you know that youre following a proper diet and exercise plan but arent seeing results, you might just have to wait until youve fully grown into your body.

Regardless of other factors, diet and exercise are always going to be an important factor in weight loss. Keep this in mind as you go throughout your school day, and think of ways to improve your health. If your school cafeteria only serves greasy, unhealthy foods, talk to your parents about bringing a healthier lunch every day. Make sure to participate in gym class, and if you can, get involved in extra-curricular sports, too.

Another factor that can be a great help in losing weight is enlisting the aid of your family. In almost every case, your family wants to be healthy too, and they will help you out as best they can. If one of your parents is the primary family cook, talk to them about healthier options for food. Furthermore you can offer to help your parents with renovations or yard work for a little extra exercise.

These tips for weight loss for teens can make a huge difference for you.

Tags: Diet And Exercise Plan, Easy Solution, Eating Disorders, Eating Habits, Extra Pressure, food;, Healthy Diet, Healthy Lifestyle, Healthy Person, Late Growth Spurt, Losing Weight, Overbearing Parents, Overweight Teens, Popular Tv, Proper Diet, Psychologist, Puberty, Self Esteem Problems, Self Image, Teen Years, Ugliness, Undue Stress, Weight Loss Goals, Young Girls, Young Person —

Tired of doing all the thinking on how you can solve your teen’s weight problem? Why make it hard if you could send them to weight loss camp?

It is not an easy task to see your teen child is struggling with the psychological stigma of being overweight. If you collected all the books, had taken all the measures in getting involved with the disciplinary moves just to help in the management, and still can’t find the satisfactory result, then it is time to step out. There are healthy solutions even for the most impossible obstacles of a child’s social problem. One of the good options is weight loss camp for teens.

Weight loss camp for teens is a haven for those who have the problem with weight. It is combined rapport handled by a trainer to groups of participants suffering from losing weight in particular. They could motivate each other as a group and promote positive result. They could share each other’s background and weaknesses, and in the end accept the mistakes and change in time. Of course, it is not a kind of rehabilitation where people can just cry their angst on some guilty indulgence. Weight loss camps offer variety of activities like sports, exercise, lectures and relevant discussions to promote effective solutions.

Weight loss camp is not necessarily for fat people only. Other people enroll just to find the balance in between hectic schedules and for the sake of having a good break. Summers are usually the best time to join a weight loss camp. The weather is just perfect for most outdoor and fun activities to sweat all excess fats.

The main essence of weight loss camp is not all about dreading to be trim. It is built around strong motivation for people to keep an active life, release stress and simply find means to healthy lifestyle. The group can establish good camaraderie where every activity is geared to healthy relating.

A teen can indulge spending summers in weight loss camps, instead of hanging around nowhere on binge gimmicks. Fast foods play roles in the increase of obesity around the world in the modern age since the last decade of the century. While teens are aware, they can’t avoid the convenience.

Staying at weight loss camp will keep your teen focused on his or her goal. If the family can accommodate the budget, they can also join the child in the program. It could be the best support possible while at the same time spending for a fruitful vacation. Actually, the sessions in the camp have to be taken for fun and not as formal training and stressful objective.

After the time spent on the weight loss camp, it is important to maintain the values learned. Make sure the bad habits have been ruled out to avoid feeling worse in the onset of more weight gain. It means the exercises should be given ample time.

The process of weight loss does not get accomplished over night. It is a combination of frustration and shed amounts of budget from pocket. Entering paid programs must come with discretion, unless it is the last resort. The solutions vary from person to person. Some did it easily without cost, while others spend a fortune. Which way is applicable to you? It will take discipline to answer that.

Tags: Active Life, Binge, Camaraderie, Change In Time, Eating Habits, Effective Solutions, Excess Fats, Fun Activities, Gimmicks, Good Options, Healthy Lifestyle, Healthy Solutions, Hectic Schedules, Impossible Obstacles, Indulgence, Losing Weight, Obese Teens, obesity;, Release Stress, Relevant Discussions, Satisfactory Result, Weight Loss Camps —

If you want to help your children lose weight, some changes have to be made. It is becoming more often that we read and hear a lot about the need to lose weight on a daily basis. Now that obesity is being recognized as an increasing problem, losing weight, especially in teens has gained a lot more significance.

Overweight kids have been the product of a “fast food” lifestyle that most families has grown accustomed with. Daily consumption of hamburgers and fries along with other add-on have made it easier for teens to gain more weight and at the same time get less of the essential nutrients that their growing body needs. It is becoming an unhealthy trend that needs to be addressed. It is usually up to the parents to take action.

So what is usually the quick and easy answer to help teenagers as well as adults lose weight? The simple combination of diet and exercise of course. Almost everyone is aware that following a healthy diet and regular exercise are keys to losing and maintaining a healthy weight. No new research is required before you can look into the causes of obesity in teenagers. More than just the fast food, it is also the larger portion sizes, or increasing inactivity that are causing more teens to become overweight.

There is not one single thing that they can easily change and make fewer people overweight. It is usually a combination of diet, exercise and other things that is the successful answer to any weight issues. The big concern is more on how to find the motivation to eat healthier and exercise regularly. This is probably the most difficult part of trying to lose weight. But even if one has the proper motivation to start eating healthier and exercising more often, trying to keep it up becomes an even harder task.

In the case of teenage kids, proper motivation may come from going to school each day. An educational institution that practices and preaches a healthy lifestyle would be more than helpful in keeping the weight of teenage and even younger kids in check. Schools can institute major changes in order to provide kids with healthy meals and regular exercise. Small steps such as banning soda and fruit drinks can help a lot.

There are many ways that a school might help kids in general become healthier. One is by providing real daily physical education requirements that can help make kids more active physically, a break from a sedentary lifestyle that they may be accustomed with at home. A school can also help in an effective weight loss program for kids by offering only healthy foods at school meals. Unhealthy foods or snacks should not be offered as an option for kids who don’t want to eat healthy.

Having adequate fitness equipment available to all students can greatly help in motivating kids to become more active. Such equipment should be made available for everyone and not just for those students who are participating in formal sports. Schools can also increase the number of informal sports that kids can play.

This way, kids do not have to be a member of the varsity basketball team in order to enjoy playing basketball at school. Of all of these changes, the program to increase physical education requirements will likely be the most useful in helping kids reach a healthy weight. Such programs can also help them avoid becoming overweight and further help kids build good habits that might stay with them into adulthood.

Tags: adequate fitness equipment, basketball, Causes Of Obesity, Daily Basis, Diet And Exercise, Diet Exercise, Eating Habits, Educational Institution, Essential Nutrients, Food Lifestyle, food;, Hamburgers, Healthy Diet, Healthy Lifestyle, Losing Weight, Maintaining A Healthy Weight, Need To Lose Weight, Obesity In Teenagers, obesity;, Overweight Kids, Portion Sizes, Proper Motivation, Single Thing, Teenage Kids, Unhealthy Trend —