Healthy eating habits can be one of the best things you can change to improve your health and overall quality of life. A lot of success seems to focus on having good relationships and making a lot of money. Those things are important, but health must not be forgotten.
If you have all the money and love in the world, but you have to spend all of your time in hospitals because of your health, does it even matter? You can't buy good long-term health, and you have to earn it with good habits.
This article will focus on everything you need to know about healthy eating and then how to build habits that keep your long-term health in good shape.
“Sorry, there´s no magic bullet. You gotta eat healthy and live healthy to be healthy and look healthy. End of story.” ― Morgan Spurlock
Healthy Eating for Energy and Why It Matters
Even if you're success-oriented and your focus is productivity so you can make more money, healthy eating still matters. The reason healthy eating is so important is because it will dictate your energy levels.
If you eat low quality food, you will fuel your body with energy that will not sustain you. No matter how productive you wish to be, you will fail on the wrong fuel.
Energy levels help you to be enthusiastic, and they help you to think clearly when it counts. Success is not just about being smart. It's about being able to focus on the right things at the right time.
You can't do that when your brain is foggy from consuming too much sugar. You also can't do that well when you keep eating foods that upset your stomach. You need to be doubling down on what counts and not running to the toilet.
If you eat low quality food, you will fuel your body with energy that will not sustain you. No matter how productive you wish to be, you will fail on the wrong fuel.
Understanding Macronutrients and Micronutrients for Healthy Eating
You need to know you macro and micronutrients in order to get this healthy eating deal down.
Macronutrients
When it comes to macronutrients, there can be a lot of difference of opinion on how much to eat of each group. The three macros are:
- Carbs: 4 calories per gram. Includes foods like bread, pasta, and potatoes.
- Protein: 4 calories per gram. Includes foods like meat, fish, dairy, eggs, tofu's
- Fats: 9 calories per gram. Includes foods like nuts, seeds, oils, butter, cheese, fatty meat
Where these can get confusing depends on the diet you choose to stick with. For example, Paleo eats no bread, pasta, and potatoes and gets all of their carbs from veggies. They stick to eating meat and fats.
Vegans tend to get most of their nutrients from carbs and get their proteins through alternative meat sources.
Be willing to try a few different diets and lifestyles and choose the one that works for you. There is no proof that anyone's diet works for everyone.
Micronutrients
These are essential vitamins and minerals that your body needs in smaller doses than the Macronutrients. The goal is that your diet is diverse enough that you cover all of the essentials. If not, some people choose to take supplements. Some of the most common include the following:
- Magnesium: Helps with your body's cellular processes, including energy production, nervous system function, and muscle contractions.
- Potassium: Helps with blood pressure and fluid balance of the muscles and nerves.
- Iron: Carries oxygen in the blood, helps to improve brain function.
- Calcium: Important for bone and teeth health.
- All vitamins: Vitamins support your entire body in different ways.
Foods to Eat for Healthy Eating
Food to consider for Healthy Eating. These are the tried and true basics that you can build your lifestyle on. Its important that you pat attention to how foods make you feel because everyone is different. Eliminate any foods that seem to upset your digestive process.
Vegetables: Low in calories but high in fiber and nutrients that you need to keep your body running at high levels.
Fruits: A great replacement for all artificial sugars. Fruit contain a ton of vitamins, fiber and antioxidants.
Lean Meat: Your major sources of protein that are also low in fat.
Oily Fish: Oily fish help to provide your body with omega-3s you need for healthy brain function.
Nuts and Seeds: Some of the best sources for macronutrients
Eggs: Opted debated in terms of health in terms of their cholesterol but are worthy of the list in our eyes.
Water: Water needs to be your go to beverage. Water makes sure your body is functioning at optimal levels.
Herbs and Spices: Don't forget the herbs and spices that come pack with beneficial micronutrients and plant compounds that are great for your health.
Foods to Avoid for Healthy Eating
If you want to be healthy, you're going to need to cut some crap out of your diet as well. Now you don't need to eliminate them all forever, but moderation is the key. You want to enjoy life a but not too much that it compromises your health.
Sugar-based products: Anything with a lot of sugar in it like sugary drinks.
Trans fats: Trans fats can cause many different diseases
Refined carbs: White bread and other refined foods can cause overeating and other diseases.
Vegetable Oils: While they seem healthy, they mess up the fatty oil balance in your body.
Low-fat crap: These products add a lot of sugar to make them taste better
Build Healthy Eating Habits
When it comes down to eat, you can know exactly what you need to do and still not execute. Habits help you lock in good behaviors to count on doing them time and time again.
Habits don't rely on feelings but on repeated behaviors. When you have good habits, it does not matter what you feel like doing. Suppose you feel like having ice cream if your habit tells you to eat a piece of fruit instead. Here is how you master your healthy eating habits.
Smart Grocery Shopping
It all starts with shopping in a smart way. You're going to eat what is in the house. One of the best things you can do to prevent poor shopping is making a list that you follow. Suppose it's not on the list; don't buy it. You will save money and your health.
Keep The Crap Out of Sight
You will eat what you can see. If you have people you live with that don't care for healthy eating, put their junk food out of sight. You won't think of it as easily if it's out of sight. Put the fruit bowl on the counter and the cookies in the back of the pantry.
Buy Smaller Plates
If you have small plates, you don't get yourself the chance to load up on food. There will not be room. Restaurants at buffets have been using this trick for the longest time. They want you to eat less so they can make more money.
Eat Slower to Avoid Overeating
When you eat slow, you give your stomach and brain a chance to line up. Many times you're full, but the message has not gotten to your brain yet, so you go up for seconds. Halfway through seconds, it hits you that you're full. You keep going anyway, so you don't waste food.
Write Down Your Negative Triggers
Your negative triggers are all of the things that happen in life that make you want to eat poorly. For example, If you're stressed at work, that may make you want to come home and eat poorly. Know what your triggers are so you can avoid them.
Interrupt Your Negative Habit Loops
You can never change the trigger, but you can change how you respond to it. Let's say being stressed from work makes you want to eat sugar. What you can do instead is replace that need to eat with going for a run and then having one of your favorite protein shakes to celebrate.
Use Habit Stacker
Download Habit Stacker today and use it to track your habits. The app makes it easy to track all of your habits in one place and keep up with stats so you know how you're doing.
Habits don't rely on feelings but on repeated behaviours. When you have good habits it does not matter what you feel like doing.