A Dozen Keys to Healthy Eating & Healthy Living
Enjoying a healthy life is not as hard as many people assume. Just follow these keys to healthy eating and living, and you will add years to your life. More importantly, those years will be active and enjoyable years as you experience good health. Simply begin by choosing a key, practice it until it is a part of your lifestyle. Then choose a second key and begin living it. Continue adding keys, or improving your practice of these keys throughout your life, and you will be blessed by the results.
1. Drink plenty of water all day long. Enjoy a large glass of water about ten minutes before meals, and any time you get hungry or simply feel like eating. At a minimum, drink ½ of your weight (in pounds) as water (in ounces) each day, and more if you sweat. This means a 180 pound person needs to drink 90 ounces or water every day.
2. Eat three healthy and balanced meals EVERY day. ‘Healthy and balanced’ meals mean not too much food and that there are sufficient levels of needed nutrients and low levels of uneeded calories. Eat these meals slowly and enjoy each and every bite.
3. Eat at least 20 grams of protein in each of the three meals. Men should eat 25 grams or more at each meal. If you take antacids, you may want to consider 35 grams or more of protein each day.
4. Keep your ‘BAD’ carbohydrates low in order to keep your body from making too much insulin. Bad carbs include processed sugars, corn syrups, and starches. Eat plenty of complex carbs from vegetables, whole grains, and fruits at every meal. You should eat a minimum of two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables every day. A total of nine servings of fruit and vegetables is best if you want to avoid chronic diseases. Potatoes and corn do not count as vegetables in my estimation. Eat them, along with white bread, as if they are a treat in place of dessert as an idea.
5. Keep the total amount of fat to a reasonable level (about 25 to 30 percent of total calories). Most importantly, completely avoid trans fats (hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils), limit saturated fats (animal fats), but eat plenty of omega-3 oils, such as those found in fish, flax seed, and walnuts. These can be supplemented with fish oil, flaxseed oil, or oils with high levels of EPA and DHA.
6. If you must snack between meals, eat nuts (raw is best), vegetables, or fruits (such as apples).
7. EXERCISE, EXERCISE, EXERCISE. 30 minutes a day of active exercise on four or five days of each week can do wonders for your health. Most importantly, doing some exercise is important, and you can begin with even a few minutes a day. Add slowly until you are doing at least 30 minutes. Your 30 minutes can even be done in three ten-minute increments at different times of the day. Every one of us can find ten minutes several times a day to excercise. How about during the ads as you watch television?
8. Eat very slowly. Taste your food completely. If it melts, let it melt completely on your tongue and breathe in air over the food so you can enjoy it more by experiencing more of the aroma. If you are going to eat something that is not completely healthy, eat it last and even more slowly than the rest.
9. Try to eat at least 30 different kinds of food items each and every day (not including spices, condiments, or oils used for cooking). ‘Toppings’ such as onion, broccoli, or carrots on a salad would count, as would each type of nut if you eat a mixed variety. EAT A RAINBOW – as many colors as you possibly can (except white. Think only of the white of an apple or pear as something good).
10. Keep your intake of salt and condiments (such as mayo) low, but add a lot of spices. A few condiments, such as prepared mustard without sugar or oils are healthy. In general, spices are healthy and can make food taste better. Just avoid using unhealthy fats, sugars, and salt.
11. Eat at least 30 grams of fiber every day – preferably as raw veggies, whole grains, and fruit. The US Government says 25 is the minimum, so 30 to 35 grams is a good and healthy target. If you feel you must, a fiber supplement can be okay while you improve your diet (remember to drink extra water).
12. It is important in our high-stress, hectic world to relax and take time for your physical, mental and spiritual health. Below are a few suggestions that should be practiced by every one of us on a very regular basis. Nutrients work best in a body that is operating well physiologically. We also make better choices when we are mentally and spiritually healthy.
- Take at least 3 deep breaths in through the nose, hold for six to ten seconds, and then breathe out of the mouth with an audible sigh. Do this at least once every hour of the day.
- Sleep at least 7 ½ hours each night, preferably 8. Teens need 9 hours, children 10 or 11. Take time every day to relax, meditate, and to visually think about positive things, such as your goals.
- You must have goals. You can not make progress unless you know where you are going! Always state your goals in positive terms. For example, it is never fun to ‘lose’ anything, so don’t say “I want to lose 20 pounds.” Instead, focus on your goal weight, and say, “I will live healthily and happily at 130 pounds or less.”
Good luck with your health. Even more importantly, I pray you make good choices for your health. Health is primarily not about luck or genetics, or what others cause to happen. Good, even great health is primarily our choice. It isn’t always easy; we have to make choices to learn to like things that we thought we disliked in the past. Health is an ongoing active life of making choices, most of them good.
As you think about the suggestions above, remember that you can not begin doing them all at once. Always improve in steps. Choose one to begin and practice all week. When you feel you can continue that suggestion easily, it is time to add another, or to improve on a previous change. You will become healthier, happier, and better looking day by day!
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