A healthy lifestyle starts with the way we feed our bodies. If you think of food as fuel for your body. You need to put in the right sorts of fuel in the right amounts to get the optimum performance out of your body. This together with regular exercise will give you more energy, control your weight and even make you concentrate better.
Healthy dieting is important for the prevention of disease and obesity. Choosing to eat a balanced diet is a lifestyle choice that becomes easier over time. However, there are some basic principles to healthy eating that needs to be mentioned:
Choose Nutrient-Dense Foods
Nutrient-dense foods contain high amounts of vitamins and minerals, but low amounts of calories and fat can serve as a guide.
Avoid Junk Food
Foods that are highly processed or contain large amounts of fat and calories don't have a place in a healthy diet. Limiting junk food and opting for fresh and natural foods is important to a healthy diet because it helps a person reach her daily allowances for many nutrients, including fiber, calcium and potassium, without exceeding calorie recommendations.
Incorporate Healthy Fats
Not all fats are the same, and a person is wise to avoid saturated and trans fats in his diet. However, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and omega-3 fatty acids are important for heart and brain health. These healthy fats can lower cholesterol and prevent heart disease if eaten in adequate amounts. Foods in this category include nuts, olive oil, avocados and salmon. Foods to avoid include fried foods, baked goods and some kinds of crackers and frozen pizzas.
Watch Portion Sizes
With the huge portions at restaurants and super-size packages of food at the supermarket, people are becoming conditioned to eating larger serving sizes. Watching portion sizes is an important part of a healthy diet because it prevents the consumption of too many calories. Weighing and measuring foods are good ways to get familiar with what constitutes a portion of a given food item.
