MeKnows

I admit, I love to eat. Give me crab cakes, garlic mashed potatoes, apple pie any day, and I’ll be in culinary heaven. But any day doesn’t mean every day. I do indulge in fried, sweet, stuffed or loaded foods, but I do it rarely, and as time goes by, less and less. For the most part I reach for healthy foods. Eating healthy and nutritionally balanced meals is important to keep the body in a good shape, and I believe a healthy body means a healthy mind.

Everything in moderation is not a bad maxim when it comes to eating habits. Portion control and rational thinking are your biggest friends when trying to eat right. Thirty years ago portions in restaurants as well as suggested portion sizes on boxed foods were much smaller than they are today, yet people were not starving after dinner and they were not fighting with weight issues on such a large scale as we are now. When it comes to how much you should eat, remember that your stomach is no bigger than your fist, so you shouldn’t eat more than that at once.

Having five small meals a day is better for you than three big ones, because you don’t fill up too much and keep your body fueled at all times, which reduces a chance of overeating on an empty stomach. Your brain needs about twenty minutes to register that you’re not hungry anymore, and if you open the fridge while starving, in twenty minutes you can eat way more than necessary. If, on the other hand, you never run completely on empty, you will eat less even though you will eat more often.

Your small meals need to be varied and nutritious, you need to eat fruits and vegetables every single day, and you should substitute staples with their healthier equivalents, like wild rice, low carb pita bread, fresh squeezed sugar free orange juice. This way you’ll get to eat things you like, but the food will be better for you. If your everyday eating turns towards healthier ingredients, you reduce or stop the use of salt, sugar and unhealthy fats, you will not only feel better, but also lighter, as these simple steps help in dropping weight.

To stay eating healthy, allow yourself a treat every once in awhile, but remember about portion control. One scoop of ice cream won’t hurt you, as long as it’s not every day. If you feel like having a burger, that’s okay, but make it yourself instead of getting it at the fast food drive through. Your body tells you what it needs, so if you crave an egg sandwich for a few days straight, make one, but use for example low carb bread instead of white, and don’t use all the yolks to keep it healthy.

If you maintain good eating habits, having say mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving will be okay, but then maybe you will decide that you’d rather have a healthier side with your turkey. Because believe it or not, once you start eating healthy, your body gets used to it and your mind sees the benefits, which together results in you wanting to make better choices at the table.