Every year we hear about the latest diet-craze or new food trend with promises of weight loss and miracles. Beware of those promises… they don’t work or if they do they don’t last! Why? Because in order to get the results you need to form healthy habits and change your life-style.
If you want something you’ve never had you have to do something you’ve never done!
We don’t want to go deep into the science of nutrition but we just want to share our experience and give you some practical tips for a balanced, healthy life-style. Our first tip is: if you need a diet because you have a pathological condition you should always refer to a doctor or an expert!
TO DO LIST:
Eat Real Food!
First step is: get rid of all the packaged junk food. It’s full of refined sugars, preservatives and artificial colors. Your pantry and refrigerator should contain mostly single ingredient foods aka foods in their most natural state.
VEGETABLES. At every meal, you may have unlimited quantities of all the vegetables. They are rich in fiber and all the good micro-nutrients! If you ever find yourself hungry, grab extra vegetables. Celery, carrot sticks and peppers make great snack foods. And don’t forget you can do amazing vegetable soups that are filling and taste good.
FRUITS. Even if fruit is rich in sugar, it’s natural sugar and an immediate source of energy, plus fruit is rich in fiber and all the precious micro-nutrients such as vitamins and minerals. One serving of fruit is generally considered one piece of fruit (one apple, one orange, etc.) or the equivalent of 1 cup of fruit. If you are eating smaller fruit, such as tangerines, consider two or three, depending upon the size. When you eat fruit, allow 15-30 minutes before the next food to optimize digestion. All fruit should be eaten for breakfast and/or a mid-morning snack so you have time to burn all that great natural energy.
COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES. They are NOT evil! Complex Carbs are your fuel, they give you the energy to go through the day and your workouts! Yet we need to choose the good ones! Go for potatoes or sweet potatoes, wild rice, beans (yes they’re carbs but also rich in proteins), ancient grains (quinoa, farro, buckwheat, millet, etc), oats, whole grain cereal, whole grain bread.
PROTEINS. Very important for muscles growth and recovery! Proteins also reduce hunger and makes you feel full longer. 4-6 ounces is considered one serving of protein. This is about the size of your palm. Good source of proteins are eggs, poultry, lean beef and pork, fish, seafood. Protein can be found also in beans, broccoli, spinach, asparagus, mushrooms, chia seeds, etc.
HEALTHY FATS. Fats are an important part of your diet but some types are healthier than others. Examples of healthy fats are Extra virgin olive oil, avocado, chia seeds, fatty fish, Nuts, etc.
NUTS AND PEANUT BUTTER. Nuts have a combination of protein, healthy fats, and carbohydrates. They are a great snack in moderation (i.e. a handful of almonds). You still need to choose the best nuts possible! If your nuts also have added oils, or hickory smoke flavoring, they are no longer a single ingredient food. The cleaner the ingredient list, the better. If they’re toasted, roasted, or glazed… they’re dead.
Read the Labels!
Not only for the expiry date but also for the ingredients list. By law the ingredients must be listed in order of quantity so if the first ingredient is sugar … RUN!
Stay Away from Low Fat/Sugar Free/Zero…
Beware of those false myths… They are not healthier options. When they take out fat or sugar from food they usually add something else instead. They substitute fat with sugar to make it taste better and they substitute sugar with artificial sweetener to trick our taste… Big no no!
Treat Yourself BUT in moderation!
If you really want to see the results and hit your goals you can have some treats but in moderation. Instead of having an entire cheat day or a whole cheat meal, you can have an occasional treat like a square of dark chocolate, a home made slice of cake or a beer with friends!
Drink Pure Clean Water!
Water is life. Hydration is essential, but the good quality of water is very important too! There are so many theories about how much water we should drink in a day. Let’s stick to the Rule of thumb 8 x 8 oz that brings us at approximately 2 liters per day. From there you can drink as much as you want… Don’t drown, though…
Leggilo in italiano. Alimentazione: Consigli Utili
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