Healthy Eating Dilemma? Try the Golden Rules...

Want to health up your menu this year, and you are confused whether to count calories or eat clean, be a vegan or restrict carbs? heaps of chaos?  recently, I spoke to my friend who is a clinical nutritionist while she visited me yesterday and gave me some tips on how to embrace healthy eating.What and how much we eat determines our health to a great extend. Ofcourse, exercise is important and we must try to workout at least 3 days a week but this does not give us the license to eat waterer and how muchever we want, we would still need to keep a tab on our plate.

• Be food wise , Train your palate by eating healthy and up your intake of raw veggies.

•  Avoid eating grains/cereals/maincourse directly at the beginning of the meal. make a thumb rule to always start with salads if you don’t, chances are you will end up eating too large a quantity. 

• Choose healthy options for sweet tooth cravings like dark chocolate (refer to my post http://www.randomerscloud.com/2013/11/sinfully-healthy-right-eating-guide.html on how to select dark chocolate).If you are craving sweets at night try fruit teas. 

• Water is the most essential nutrient, and I cannot stress enough on the importance of increasing your water intake. when you experience hunger pangs, immediately drink a glass of water and then proceed towards your snack or meal.

• Do no skip carbs please! yeah, I agree white carbs like white rice, sugar, flour should be eliminated but have complex carbs like multigrain breads, oats, quinoa and whole wheat pastas as fiber is necessary for your body to function properly. 

• Clean your pantry and fridge, try replacing unhealthy snacks to healthy ones. 

• Invest in a good non stick T-fal pan so you do not need to use oil at all and sometimes only a drop. 

• Switch to Olive Oil only! 

• Do meal prep and plan your meals in advance so you do not end up eating junk just because there is no time to fix a healthy meal. 

• Read food labels before buying, pay attention to sodium and sugar content. try to choose organic whenever possible. 

• Make sure you finish your dinner maximum by 8:00 PM. 

• Do not skip meals, try eating every 2- 3 hours instead of eating 3 big meals distribute them into 5- 6 meals throughout the day. 

• Eat slowly, chew your food and enjoy rather then gulping it down. 

• Use smaller plates and bowls, this trick really helps. 

• Try to postpone that extra helping by 20mins, as it takes extra time for stomach to send signals to brain indicating that it is full. 

• Do not fall for “don’t waste food dictum’ because extra food goes either to waste or waist- so you decide.