Disclaimer
I am not a nutritionist or dietician and would always advise getting professional advice before changing a diet especially if you are introducing new foods to ensure you don’t have any allergic reactions to food types.
There are so many people around advising us on the correct diet and as I mentioned in a previous blog each individual is different. For the purposes of this post I am going to suggest some basic rules that work for most. If you are in a quandary about what to eat start with the following as a general rule and tweak it from there.
1 Single Ingredient foods
On the whole you will be healthier if you stick to foods that have been given to us through nature. If humans have interfered with the foods they won’t be as good for you. The more ingredients we apply to nutrition the less wholesome it becomes. There is a temptation to add chemicals and process multi ingredient foods. Single ingredient foods like fruit and vegetables and protein in meat and fish are better than packaged foods and complex meals.
2 Colour
Nature has given us a clue. The bright coloured single ingredient foods are attractive to look at and are usually good to eat. Think of all the bright coloured fruit and vegetables. If they look good they often are.
3 Variety
The trick here is to increase the variety and reduce the quantity. People say that five portions of fruit and vegetables a day is enough but if you can include 7 or even 10 but in smaller quantities the better.
4 Overripe food
The Japanese some of the healthiest people ao earth have an old expression that says ‘Chose foods that go off quickly but eat them BEFORE they go off’. Think of processed foods. They have a long shelf life due to being processed . Foods that go off quickly are often the better foods to eat.
5 Chewing food.
Some foods like soup are difficult to chew but you should eat slower. This will allow you brain time to establish that you are full. People who eat slowly are less likely to put on weight. The longer you have food in your mouth the more you can enjoy the flavour.
6 Satisfying foods
The two foods that will stave off hunger are proteins and water. If you increase your water intake and eat more protein you will feel fuller for longer.
7 The Three hour window
Avoid eating three hours before you go to bed as digestion can interfere with your sleep and digesting at night is less efficient.
8 Fasting.
There is much talk about fasting these days and it can be very effective in health and longevity. However I recommend you are cautious and study the various programmes before you launch into a fast. If you want to fast, start slowly ( length of fasting time ) and listen to your body. Extreme fasts can cause other problems so get advice from a professional.
9 Control
All the above advice depends on whether you are in control of your diet. When we go out to socialise food is put in-front of us that might not comply with these suggestions above. The last thing you want to do is stop seeing friends because they might give you the wrong types of food. I suggest you eat smaller quantities when exposed to these foods and let your friends know that you are watching what you eat. Good friends will support you in your endeavours.
10 Energy
The better you eat the more energy you will have to do other things. You will have more motivation to keep on track through a permanent lifestyle change that allows your motivation to grow even more. Start as soon as you feel ready and good luck.
Peter Bull ( Author of the book Get In Touch With Your Slimmer Self )