The festive season can become a stressful time of the year and one during which we often eat more, exercise less, gain weight and feel overwhelmed. Trying to resume healthy eating habits can be a challenge but a few simple pointers can help.
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Healthy eating is about ensuring that the food you eat helps you to improve your health & maintain a healthy weight, enabling you to feel good both mentally and physically.
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Practice good eating habits – chew food well and eat slowly; sit down to eat, eat only what you need to feel full (gently satisfied, not overfed), and try to stop eating before you feel too full.
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Be aware of recommended serving sizes and healthy portion sizes.
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Try to eat at regular times and not late at night where possible.
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Understand what drives your eating patterns e.g. boredom, addiction or habit.
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Understand your own body, and the foods that just don’t sit well with you and which foods can lead to nausea, flatulence, pain GIT disturbances (constipation and diarrhea).
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Be realistic to avoid failure- make sure you can stick with your chosen diet i.e. is it doable?
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Plan and organise e.g. careful shopping each week, good food/ meal prep and planning.
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Make all food tasty and interesting so you don't equate "healthy" with "tasteless".
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Try to have a protein at every meal and a protein rich snack to avoid eating sugary or fatty foods on the run e.g. nuts, protein balls, hard fruit (apples)
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Know that nutrient dense foods keep hunger at bay, keep blood sugar stable and minimize food cravings.
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Have plenty of water for hydration detoxification and bowel health and fibre for good gut function and protection against bowel disease, diabetes, heart disease, and to help with weight control and healthy skin.
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Remember that a balanced diet includes all the macronutrients: protein for growth and repair of tissues, making enzymes, hormones and other chemicals, and for providing energy and satiety; good quality carbohydrates from vegetables, wholegrains or fruit for energy and protecting muscles; and good healthy fats for energy storage, helping with absorption of fat soluble vitamins, enzyme and hormone production and for satiety.
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The best kind of “detox” is adopting a clean-eating approach that replaces processed, fatty, sugary foods with nutritious quality whole foods, and eating daily from all the food groups where possible. Fresh is best so be kind to your body.
Pamela Nelson, Naturopath/Nutritionist/Herbalist at Health Space Lane Cove
Call 9418 9555 to make a booking.
