HEALTHY LIVING........10 Easy steps and Eating Habit to Lose weight

FAMILY:

Healthy living will produce healthy family.  As much as it within the reach of families, the them eat home cooked food, at least for one reason - You know what you are eating.

Healthy eating to maintain a good weight or lose weight is simply about making healthy choices.  It is not about food restrictions, cutting out meals, cutting out certain food groups or any of the others. When the family is used to eating at home, it is easy for its members to control their weight, because the woman knows exactly what she is giving her family to eat.  This may not be the case, if they eat outside alot.

It is when the family is blessed financially that the tendency exist for the children to get fat because of junk foods, ice cream, shawama etc. For families that want its members to live healthy, the following health tips will be helpful.

Follow these 10 Easy Steps and Eat to Lose Weight

1.  Eat more home cooked food.

The only way to truly know what you are eating is to cook it yourself.  However, that is not always possible for busy moms who work long hours or drive kids to and from sport.  

One solution is to cook large batches of food and freeze it.  Admittedly this takes some planning, but if you are cooking anyway, it’s just as easy to cook extra for freezing.  Foods that freeze well are soups, lasagnas and casseroles. 

In the warmer months salads are a very quick and easy solution.  Bags of pre-packaged salad leaves are readily available.  Mix with a simple vinaigrette, chopped vegetables, fruits, nuts or legumes and you have a complete meal prepared in minutes.

2.    Increase the amount of vegetables in your diet.    

Vegetables are definitely the unsung food heroes but getting sufficient isn’t always easy.  Half our plate should be filled with fruits and vegetables, a quarter with grains and the last quarter with protein such as meat, chicken or fish. But the fact is most of us don’t eat anywhere near that amount.

An easy way to eat our veggies is to add them to soups, stews and casseroles.  In fact adding them to these dishes is a great way to increase their bulk and make them go further.

They can be piled onto pizzas, stuffed into sandwiches, added to salads, eaten raw with dips and even used in baking.  

3.     Eat more whole grains

When left whole, grains are full of protein, fiber, complex carbohydrates, vitamins and antioxidants, many of which are stripped away during the refining process.  Ideally we should be eating three servings of whole grains a day.  

You might think that getting three servings a day is not achievable, but it’s simply a matter of substitution.  Use whole grain bread, pitas or tortillas.  When baking, substitute half the white flour with whole wheat-flour.  When shopping look for whole grain cereals.

Substitute white rice for brown rice.   Although brown rice tends to have a very different flavor and texture to white rice.   Changes such as using brown rice and whole-wheat pasta may have to be introduced gradually.

  

4.     Avoid red meat

We don’t need to eat meat every day.  In fact we should only eat red meat three times a week.  There are plenty of other ways of getting our protein.   Meatless meals can very be easily based around beans, lentils, nuts and whole grains. 

Pasta dishes, lasagna, risotto, pizza, vegetable chili, stews and casseroles can all make substantial meals that are so tasty your family will never miss the meat.

5.     Start with light and healthy breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  A healthy breakfast sets you up energy-wise for the rest of the day.   Skip breakfast and you will be hungry by mid-morning and likely to reach for the nearest candy bar or send you running to the nearest coffee shop for a pastry.  Studies show that people who skip breakfast are twice as likely to be overweight compared to those who eat breakfast.

A healthy breakfast doesn’t have to be elaborate or time consuming.  Something as easy as a smoothie, a fruit muffin or a bowl of cereal topped with fruit and yogurt will do.

Another great breakfast idea is to use last night’s leftovers.   More healthy breakfast ideas.

6.     Drink more water 

If you are thirsty the best thing to drink is water.   Not only does our body need it, but it contains no calories.   The next best thing is freshly made fruit juice.   Freshly squeezed juice contains all the goodness of the fruit except for the fiber.    

If purchasing fruit juice, read the labels carefully and look for one that says “100% pure” or “reconstituted”.    Many fruit juices contain less than 25% real juice with added sugar.  Other fruit flavored beverages and soft drinks contain large amounts of sugar and flavorings.  Research has shown that individuals who consume large amounts of soft drinks are at risk of excessive weight gain.

7.     Switch to healthy snacks

Healthy eating to lose weight doesn’t mean giving up snacks, it just means making healthy choices.   But this is probably the hardest habit for people to change.  How many of us, when feeling hungry and in need of a snack, reach for the cookie jar rather than a piece of fruit.

It’s also probably the area where there is the most confusion.    The supermarket aisles are filled with snack bars, muesli bars and fruit bars all claiming to be healthy.  But many of these have high levels of fat, sugar and salt.

8.    Eat healthy fats

A common myth is that all fats are bad.  But the fact is we need a certain amount of fat for our bodies to function properly and remain in good health.  It is the type of fats we eat that makes the difference.  It is important to understand the different types of fat if we are to make good choices. 

Unsaturated fats fall into two categories:  polyunsaturated and monounsaturated.  These fats provide many of the essential fatty acids necessary for good health and can in fact help lower cholesterol.  Foods such as avocados, vegetable oils such as olive, canola and sunflower oil, fish, soybeans, nuts and seeds all contain healthy fats.

Saturated fats are found in meat such as lamb, pork and beef, poultry skin, whole milk, cheese, butter, bacon, coconut, coconut oil and palm oil.   Eat these foods in moderation only.  The American Heart Association advises limiting saturated fats to about 7%, or 15 grams, of your total daily calorie intake.  To put that into perspective a 3 ounce piece of steak contains about 10 grams of fat.

Trans fats are produced when liquid oils are processed into solid shortenings and are found in some margarines, vegetable shortenings and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.  It is the trans fats found in processed foods that should be avoided and they are found in most commercial bakery products, snack foods and deep-fried foods.

9.    Switch to low fat

While dairy foods are an essential part of any diet, items like butter, cream and full-fat cream cheeses are high in saturated fat.   So reduced fat dairy foods are the healthy alternative.   Products such as skim milk, low fat yogurt and sour cream can be successfully substituted in recipes.

10.    Include more fish in your diet 

Current dietary guidelines recommend we eat two servings per week of fish.   It contains very little saturated fat, protects against heart disease, stroke and some forms of cancer, reduces blood pressure and controls inflammation.    While fresh fish can be expensive, supermarket shelves are well stocked with tuna, salmon and crab packed in cans, tins, glass jars and pouches.  These make easy and inexpensive meals.

Health benefits of eating well

1. Energy you need to keep active throughout the day - You have more energy – When you eat the right foods and get exercise everyday, your metabolism works faster and you have more natural energy. This is not energy you get from an energy drink. This is the type of energy that can carry you through the day with a skip in your step, a song in your heart, and a big smile on your face.

2. Nutrients you need for growth and repair, helping you to stay strong and healthy and help to prevent diet-related illness - Eating a healthy diet that includes lots of fruit, vegetables, whole grains and a moderate amount of unsaturated fats, meat and dairy can help you maintain a steady weight. Having a good variety of these foods every day leaves less room for foods that are high in fat and sugar - a leading cause of weight gain.

3. Keeping active and eating a healthy balanced diet can also help you to maintain a healthy weight - You don’t have to visit the doctor, if you live healthier, you won’t have to visit the doctor so often. This means that you save a lot of money in healthcare costs and don’t have to worry about staying in bed with a cold. Obviously, bugs tend to get us at some point, but if your body is healthy in general, the bug won’t stick around that long.

4. A healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy can help to reduce your risk of heart disease by maintaining blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

5. Healthy eating together with exercise, eating a healthy diet in the right proportions can help prevents serious diseases – When you eat healthily, get exercise, and follow all those other health tips, you are helping your body fight against the risk of developing diseases like cancer, obesity, hypertension, heart conditions, etc. Living healthy makes your body and your immune system stronger and better able to resist any diseases.

6. It makes you more positive – Mental health is just as important, and sometimes more important than physical health. When your body feels healthy and good, it automatically makes us feel good and proud and positive. With positivity, you can do anything and take on any challenge. When someone is depressed, exercise is one of the things that doctors prescribe to help them. When we exercise, we produce endorphins which are like happy pills. So, exercise is good for both physical and mental health.

7. Eating a portion of oily fish - such as salmon and trout - each week can also help to lower your risk of developing heart disease. The high levels of omega-3 fatty acids in oily fish are good for heart health.

8. Strong bones and teeth - A diet rich in calcium keeps your teeth and bones strong and can help to slow bone loss (osteoporosis) associated with getting older.

What the bible said about Healthy Lifestyle

1. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 - Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

2. 1 Corinthians 10:31 - So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

3. 1 Corinthians 3:17 - If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

4. Genesis 1:29 - And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.

5. 1 Timothy 4:8 - For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

6. Ephesians 5:29 - For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,

7. Jeremiah 17:14 - Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise.

8. Romans 12:1-2 - I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

FIRE...