Reflection Essay on Healthy Eating
Having a healthy balanced diet affects every aspect of your health and appearance. Noticeable signs of an unhealthy diet are dull, weak hair; poor gum and teeth health, and weight gain. An unwholesome diet can also cause chronic illnesses such as diabetes, high cholesterol, and heart disease. Being conscious of what you eat through out the day will provide you with the energy and nutrients required to survive and stay healthy. You should eat a variety of foods from every food group to get the essential vitamins and minerals for optimal health.
The major food groups are grains, which includes breads and pasta; meat and legumes, such as fish, nuts, and beans; fruits and vegetables including green leafy vegetables and sweet potatoes; dairy products, such as milk and yogurt; and healthy fats and oils. The goal here is to focus not on dieting, but on a healthy approach to eating. If you keep up with your conscious healthy eating habits, as time goes on you will also start to see a change in your weight. Even just losing as little as five percent of body weight can improve your blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels.
Eat what you love, and love what you eat. Learn how to get in touch with your hunger. No one eats perfectly all the time, but when you start to pay attention to the taste of food, you can be satisfied with out going overboard. You can eat everything you want still but do it in a moderation. You can choose to have one or the other. For example, if you want to have dessert then don’t have a glass of wine. If you happen to be craving french fries from McDonalds go for it! Skip the hamburger and the McFlurry.
You don’t need to deprive yourself with the food that you love. DeLuca 2 Many people hear the word diet and may get discouraged and think they cant do it because they don’t like healthy foods and it just doesn’t work for them. Really to have a good diet is to just balance out your calories so you can just indulge in one or the other, while still keeping you sane with your cravings. Healthy eating is not a diet. It means making changes you can live with and enjoy for the rest of your life. Diets are temporary because you give up so much when you diet.
After you stop dieting you may also over treat yourself to make up for what you have missed. Eating a healthy, balanced variety of foods is far more satisfying. Other than balance and moderation a change to healthier eating also helps you learn about variety. Be adventurous and try different foods. For example, don’t reach for an apple every time you choose a fruit. Eating a variety of foods each day will help you get the nutrients you need. Another big problem that many folks seem to struggle with is to have a big full breakfast in the morning.
Maybe your tired or busy, it can even be that you might just not have enough time for that. What many people may not know though is that eating fully in the morning will give you energy for the day and by bed time you will have it worked out. After taking pleasure in your tremendous breakfast, after a couple hours its only normal to start to feel hungry again so you will go and look for something to snack on. Snacking is not bad, its actually quite good! You can enjoy your favorite clean eats with out guilt all day.
Just space them out. If you love high calories foods such as nuts, dairy, peanut butter, etc. you can eat it all! Spacing out meals keeps your metabolism high which means you will continuously burn calories, keep your blood sugar levels stable, and your stomach and mind satisfied. DeLuca 3 Having a busy week schedule may also be another reason as to why some people don’t get the healthy nutrients that they need, because you just don’t have enough time to eat. Well if your constantly on the go then you need to get your energy somehow.
You can prepare healthy meals the night before hand and keep them in containers that you can take on the go with you the next day. You can also pack nuts and fruit to bring to the office so you can snack, because remember its a good thing to do. After a long hard work week, or an exhausting week with school or your children its only normal to throw a few back! When going out for cocktails you should always keep in mind the calorie benefits with your alcoholic beverages. As you should know some beverages are better than others calorie wise.
You can pick a red wine over a sugar infested margarita and you can also swap the dark liquored drinks for the light. Just a few small changes like this can go a long way. We all need a little discipline in our lives. So all in all remember that conscious healthy eating is not dieting. The small moderation changes, the variety, and the balance of healthy eating will give you a longer healthier life with out making huge drastic changes that puts a burden on your normal everyday life. If you start these small changes today, you are going to be happier with yourself and how you feel in the long run.
