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1. Increase your food knowledge and food literacy:
This may be as important to your life as are science, math, English and social studies. Knowing about food and eating right will keep you healthy, enable you to gain friends around the world and even may be the start of your career in a large and exiting industry. This website and many other sources may help you to become "food literate."
2. Choose your food carefully:
Surely you prefer certain foods over others. All of us have our own preferences based on taste buds, genetics, and culture. So eat what you like! Ideally, you want to try and eat a great variety of different food, not just the same few dishes or snacks. This will not only enhance your eating pleasure and keep you healthy but will also help you expand your horizon. You will see that getting to know other countries and cultures through their food can be a lot of fun and provides great ways to connect to people. Based on the foods available in North America and Europe, here are the some eating guidelines:
These foods you should eat or drink often (because they burn fast in your body and provide lots of important nutrients):
- Grains, ideally whole grains (cereals, breads, oatmeal, rice, bulgur, popcorn)
- Vegetables, lots of them and especially those with lots of fiber, but not just French fries!
- Fruits, lots of those and especially the ones loaded with fiber
- Water and drinks naturally low in calories
These foods you should eat or drink often, but in small quantities, or only sometimes (because they provide protein and important nutrients, but may also carry quite a lot of calories):
- Meats, ideally lean cuts of chicken, pork, veal or beef
- Oils with good nutrients (olive oil, canola oil
- Beans
- Nuts
- Fish, especially those with a lot of fatty acids, like tuna, herring, salmon, etc.
- Milk products, including milk, yogurt, quark, butter, cheese, and lots more
- Dark chocolates
These foods you should enjoy, but only occasionally (because they contain a lot of slow burning energy and/or fewer nutrients):
- beef with high fat content
- sweets
- salty snacks
- soft drinks and high energy drinks
- sugared gum
If you don't stick to these guidelines, you may still be fine, but remember: the more fat and sugar you consume (high in energy), the more energy you must burn to avoid gaining weight and adding fat cells. That means a lot of exercise. It's often easier to choose the right amount and kinds of food to eat.
3. Eat slowly and balanced
Enjoy every moment of your eating experience. Chew slowly and wait to take the next bite (in other words, don't gobble). Be aware of how you eat, how the food tastes and how it makes you feel. The more you train yourself to make full use of your senses and eat "mindfully," the more pleasure you will get from each meal or snack and the healthier you stay.
4. Enjoy everything, but limit your portion size
Contrary to what you may have been taught, it's not always wise to finish your plate. Particularly in restaurants, portion sizes contribute a great deal to the overweight epidemic. So, limit your portions and eat more often. For example, try this in the morning: eat only half a bagel during breakfast, wait an hour and then eat the other half. Wait a few minutes after finishing the first half, and you'll notice that you might actually feel quite full. The next hunger pang will come after about an hour, that's when you can eat the second half.
5. Eat lots in the morning and little at night
This guideline has to do with your digestion. In the morning you need most of your daily food because you will be most active during the first half of the day. Lots of thinking during classes, lots of school yard games, and (hopefully) lots of P/E. So get up early and take your time. Also, have a good and nourishing lunch. You need some energy for the afternoon. However, you most likely will feel tired right after lunch, particularly around 2pm. Most people do, that has to do with our metabolism. For dinner, eat as little and as leanly as possible, especially if you’re not physically active and want to enjoy a good TV show. Also, don't snack a lot before going to bed. That will only accumulate energy in your body without the possibility of release.
6. Get enough sleep
Sleep is one of the healthiest activities. Your body regenerates and your mind releases stress. Especially if you are a teenager, make sure you get enough sleep so you wake up fit and happy the next morning. People who don't get enough sleep over an extended period of time are more likely to be depressed, stressed out and far more likely to gain weight than those who sleep enough. The more active you are in mind and body during the day, the more sleep you may need.
7. Shake that booty!
One of the key components of healthy living is physical activity. Walk, bike, run, swim, hop, jump, dance, shake, move, lift weights - whatever you feel like doing. But you try to get active for at least one full hour per day. Minimum physical activity should involve walking about 10,000 steps - as for the maximum, the sky is the limit (see the article "Food for Athletes").
Following these 7 steps will help you to live well and feel happy and healthy.
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