In my last article I showed you how to ease into your new exercise program. Today I want to show you how to make small incremental changes to your diet to achieve your nutritional goals.
Here are some of the diet changes I suggest for better health and weight loss:
- Eat more vegetables
- Eat protein with your breakfast
- Stop eating 3 hours before bed time
- Eliminate white flour and sugar
The main lesson that I have learned when it comes to eating healthy is that it can only be accomplished with planning. You cannot improvise proper nutrition!
You will probably agree that the first two changes are easier to implement. It is easier to eat more of something than eliminating things from our diet. So those are the changes we want to start with.
Eat more vegetables
First we can add vegetables to our diet by having snacks. At home or at work have items like baby carrots, celery sticks, broccoli, or cauliflower at hand. To make eating those a little easier you might purchase a simple hummus dip. This will actually add some protein, which provides a desirable balance of carbohydrates and protein in your snack.
Next replace some items you are currently eating with steamed vegetables. For example the loaded potato or fries could be replaced with steamed broccoli. Or, instead of having bread with your meal, have vegetables instead. You will get more nutrition and fiber and less calories in your meal making this simple change.
Eat protein with your breakfast
Step two assumes you are already eating breakfast. You are, aren’t you! I am sure you’ve heard it often enough, but breakfast is a very important meal. If you feel you are not hungry in the morning a possible reason could be the coffee you are drinking first thing. Coffee is actually an appetite suppressant! Please, have at least a small meal in the morning! When you combine your oatmeal or cereal you typically eat for breakfast with some protein – for example eggs, a protein shake, yogurt, or nuts – the carbohydrates will be absorbed much slower giving you a steady blood sugar level and with that a steady level of energy. Now you have the added benefit of not arriving starved at lunch and being able to have a smaller portion at lunch time.
Stop eating 3 hours before bed time
Next you will want to stop eating anything 3 hours before bed time. This step clearly requires planning, as I am not suggesting you skip dinner. The closer to bed time you eat, the bigger the chance the unused energy will be stored as fat. Ideally you want to start out with larger meals in the morning, and then have smaller meals as the day progresses. This way you will have the energy you need for activity and little energy while you are at rest. Makes sense, doesn’t it?
Eliminate white flour and sugar
The last step is clearly the largest and most difficult. So, before you eliminate, you will replace. First replace any white flour (cookies, white bread) with whole grain flour. Sugar can be replaced with natural sweeteners like stevia or agave syrup. The really good news about sugar is that your body only craves it when it gets it. If you make it through the initial cravings they will eventually go away. When you slowly incorporate balanced meals containing protein and vegetables into your diet, the cravings for sugar and unhealthy snacking will vanish. Yes, it isn’t easy to make these changes, but remember that it’s okay to slip sometimes, just don’t use it as an excuse for failure. Just get right back in the saddle the next meal or the next day. You can do it!
I have to add a plug here for one of my favorite nutrition books. Mark Hyman’s UltraMetabolism has taught me a lot about real food, metabolism, and toxins in our environment, nutrition and as a result in our bodies. I highly recommend this book!
Amazon.com: UltrametabolismTechnorati Tags: diet,nutrition,weight loss,goal setting,New Year’s resolution,protein,carbohydrates,sugar,white flour,natural sweetener
