Eating healthier is something that everyone should do no matter if they are already at a healthy weight or not, but doing so is difficult, especially if you are like most people and have a busy lifestyle where grabbing a hamburger at the local fast food restaurant is the most time you can spare. However, there are some ways that even a busy person can eat healthier, and they don’t require a great deal of time or money. Some of these may seem simple and obvious to someone trying to live a healthy lifestyle, but you would be surprised how many times the easy stuff is overlooked.
First, drink lots of water. You have probably heard that eight glasses of water is the right amount of water to drink, referring to eight ounce glasses of water, but what you may not know is that you are supposed to drink another 64 ounces of water daily for each 25 pounds overweight you are. So, if your optimal weight is 150 pounds, but you weight 200, you are actually supposed to be drinking 192 ounces of water every day, which comes out to be around 24 glasses of water. If you are using 1 liter soda pop bottles filled with water that comes to around 6. Water is very healthy for you, keeping your body well oiled and all of the parts in working order. Also, if you are dieting, water helps you to eat less because it helps fill your stomach.
Second, eat a variety of different foods with lots of nutrients. You are actually supposed to be taking in about forty different nutrients for the best health, and you certainly cannot get them all from one type of food. You should include everything on that food pyramid they showed you in school, namely, bread and whole grain, fruits and veggies, meat, poultry, fish and dairy, as well as a dessert everyone in a while. Especially concentrate on fruits, vegetables and whole grains, since most people don’t get enough of these foods. Remember, you don’t have to give up the foods that you love, like fried chicken and ice cream, but make them a special treat rather than an everyday meal item.
Next, eat regularly, so that your body gets used to being fed at certain times and knows when to expect it, but also eat more than three meals a day. It is actually much healthier to eat five or six times a day than it is to eat just three. Obviously, that brings us to a very good point about portion size. You should be eating moderate portions of foods, and especially if you are eating several meals a day. Most people eat much larger portions than they should and this is especially true of the best tasting foods. Some of the recommended portion sizes is three ounces of meat, half a cup of pasta and one piece of fruit. If you don’t know what size your portion should be look on the nutritional information and it will tell you the recommended serving size.
It is also very important to exercise. Not only will exercising help you to burn off those excess calories, but exercising regularly actually increases your metabolism and helps to curb your appetite. Exercise is also a terrific way to ensure that you are drinking enough water, because the more you exercise, the more you will sweat and need to replenish that fluid with something. If you choose water to do that, you will be well on the way to better health and nutrition. Your body will thank you for it.