Make your focus creating good dietary habits and behaviours which are much more sustainable in your lifestyle. Sometimes people overthink nutrition. There is so much out there and so many “celebrity” diets or programs but really some key points and discipline are all you need to succeed. Have you heard of the latest nutrition fad…..Pick one and then look the other way. These Top 10 Nutrition Tips will keep you on the straight and narrow
1.Don’t substitute fruit juices for whole fruits
Whole Fruits contain naturally occurring sugars which the body can more easily process then added sugar which can often be found in fruit juices as it helps them sell better.
2. Eat whole, fresh, unprocessed foods.
Process foods are, well, processed and a lot of the processing does things to the food that make them chemically dangerous to the body’s cells. The less ingredients in a product the better it is
3.When buying packaged foods, read the nutrition labels carefully.
Read not only how much carbs are in the product but how much of that is sugar. This is one of the key things to watch for. Compare it under the 100g heading. So basically if 10g of a product is sugar it means that 10% of it is sugar which is relatively high.
4.Never cut any food group out of your diet including carbohydrates.
Your brain needs carbs to function properly. It is the only source of energy the brain can take from. So cutting from your diet is a no no. Reduce carbs, don’t cut them.
5. Don’t eat too much or until you’re stuffed.
Stop eating when you are full. Sounds obvious right. People have a tendency to eat until the clean the plate even if they don’t want it. Stop. When you are full you know you are. You are just going overboard now. Start by using a side plate for your meals.
6. Eat something every four hours.
Little and often is the old golden rule. When your body is fed small amounts often throughout the day it doesn’t store fat as it would if you starve the body for hours on end
7. Don’t take more than one all-purpose multivitamin daily.
If you are taking a multivitamin then just take the one. People can compound these with extra Vitamin C or extra B-complex and you can overload the system which isn’t good for you either.
8. Exercise is important to burn your food efficiently.
What are calories for but energy and when do you need energy most. That’s right – exercise. Use those calories more efficiently instead of storing them by instead burning them off.
9. Before following a nutrition plan, check the credentials of the creator.
Anyone can google “diet” or “nutrition” plan and start creating food plans. Or they can create a whole program like all the celebrities do time and time again. Are they qualified? What is their background in nutrition? Know who you are listening to before joining the herd 🙂
10. Keep track of your food intake to know which food group you need to eat more or less from.
There are 3 key food groups. Fats, Carbs and Protein. Keeping a food journal not only keeps you disciplined to what is coming into your mouth but also identifies where you may be falling short on such as protein. A higher protein diet can lead to quicker weight loss then one higher in carbs.
