What does eating healthy entail?

This is quite a loaded topic that everyone has 50 different opinions of, but I’m going to do my best to keep things as simple as possible. I mentioned in a previous post how I like to shoot for eating healthy at least 80% of the time and less healthy 20% of the time. I believe this is good goal for most people and more importantly it is a realistic one. Failure in healthy eating is often because people try to go on crazy diets that eliminate every unhealthy food out there. This can often be maintained for a short time, but almost never in the long run. No one is perfect, and trying to eat this way is impractical not to mention unenjoyable. However, we have rather amazingly designed bodies and do not need to be perfect eaters to maintain an overall healthy feeling/looking body.

So to start we first need a list of foods. I’m not a fan of diets obviously, but a lot of this will be familiar if you know what the Paleo diet is. I’m not a strict follower and don’t necessarily agree with everything about it, but it has a lot of good things going for it. I should also probably preface this and say I’m a fan of eating meat! If you’re a vegetarian more power to you, but I rarely see vegetarians that are in really great shape....so yeah....lol

Good Fuel (things you should try to eat 80% of the time)

            1. Meats - More specifically lean meats such as: Chicken, turkey, fish, venison, etc...

            2. Fruits - Don’t eat a lot of dry fruit cause it’s higher in sugar, but regular fruit is great source of energy and nutrients your body needs. My favorites are: Bananas, avocados, blueberries, strawberries, and apples.

3. Vegetables - Whether you like them or not there’s no getting around the fact that they’re the greatest source of nutrition out there! Broccoli, carrots, spinach, kale, cucumbers, peppers, you name it. You should be eating it everyday!

4. Nuts/seeds - Almonds, peanuts, walnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds. Great for you and make perfect snacks or additions to certain foods.

5. Oils/eggs - Don’t over do oils, but virgin coconut oil and extra virgin olive oil (for low temps) are great for cooking foods in. However, other oils like vegetable for instance, are really just refined soybean oil and not good for you at all! They are composed mostly of polyunsaturated fats that are prone to oxidation when exposed to heat and light, causing inflammation in our bodies. Also, I've learned recently that real butter is actually pretty good for you in moderation. So it is a good substitute for cooking foods in if you don't have oils on hand. And eggs are great for you, especially egg whites...pure protein!

A couple other foods I really like are peanut butter and coconut milk. Peanut butter is high in fat, but you don’t need a lot of it to fill you up. Plus it’s great to put in things like smoothies with fruit and protein powder (makes them creamy and delicious!). Coconut milk is also a new favorite of mine to put in smoothies, not even a huge fan of the taste but it makes a great addition to any fruit smoothie. It is also high in fat though, so I wouldn’t have too much of it especially if you’re trying to lose weight. But coconuts in general are very healthy, so you can't really go wrong eating them.

Not So Good Fuel (things you should eat 20% or less of the time)

          1. Grains - Despite what a lot of the health industry tries to tell you, you really don’t need that much in your diet. You'll definitely lose weight if you cut down on bread/pasta/flour. I still like to eat oats, brown rice, quinoa, some whole wheat breads/wraps, and homemade bread, but less is better. Wheat and gluten can be really damaging to your diet if eaten in excessive amounts, and cutting down on gluten is more than just the latest health fad. Check out this fairly in depth article about it if you're interested in learning more! hyman.com/blog/2012/02/13/three-hidden-ways-wheat-makes-you-fat/

2. Dairy - Personally I really like milk and yogurt and I’m probably never going to stop drinking/eating them, but it is certainly a good thing to cut down on. Store bought dairy products are most often full of pesticides and hormones. And dairy isn't really as good for your bones as you might think, countries with the lowest dairy and calcium consumption actually have the lowest rates of osteoporosis. So while you still do need calcium, you don't need that much. I definitively recommend cutting down on cheese for how much saturated fat it has as well.

3. Sugar - Already covered why in my last blog, but it’s worth saying again. Avoid as much as possible!

4. Processed foods/Salt - Any processed food is guaranteed to be less healthy than fresh food. Almost always is going to be high in sugar and salt as well. And although salt is a necessary component to a balanced diet, too much of it can be harmful. If you’re trying to lose weight, cutting down on your salt intake is a helpful thing to do.

This should also go without saying, but don’t eat fast food. Or eat it as little as possible! Furthermore avoid things like bacon (yes bacon), hotdogs, alcohol, coffee, and soy. That last one might fly in the face of what you normally hear, but research is starting to show that soy has quite a few damaging effects if you consume too much of it. Read this article if you want to know more. http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/article.php?id=32326

Lastly I’ll leave you with a few eating tips. The effectiveness and importance will vary from person to person especially depending on your level of daily exercise, but these are good general rules:

1. See what you eat - If you open a bag of chips and just start eating, you’re a lot more likely to finish the whole bag without even realizing it. Whereas if you dump the chips into a bowl you should realize how much your eating, and likely not eat as much.

2. Don’t snack - If your stomach is growling and you didn’t eat enough during a meal, then it’s ok to have a piece of fruit or some nuts/seeds. But if you’re trying to lose weight, a big problem can be going on snacking binges.

3. Eat with stomach not with your mind - This might seem completely opposite of what you would think. But in reality your body knows what foods make it feel better and when it’s hungry. Your brain will try to tell you to eat certain things that you don’t really need (relates back to the sugar addiction thing), and you’ll often eat when you’re not even hungry. Ever started eating just cause your bored or stressed out? Don't do it, only eat when you're hungry! 

4. Eat in moderation - This is really the most important part of eating healthy. It doesn't even matter if you eat only healthy foods, if you eat too much you're gonna have problems and gain weight. There's a reason Americans (5% of the earth's population) make up 1/3 of the earth's population's weight! Just look how the average restaurant meal has quadrupled in size since the 1950's.