To stay healthy and to have the best of lifestyle, follow the following tips.
What to do with my diet
Things to avoid
Refined / packed foods.
Sugars of all form.
Refined grains like rice, millets, wheat etc.
Processed dairy products.
Refined and packed oils.
Processed drinks.
Processed and preserved meat products.
Things to have
Fresh vegetables and spinach.
Fresh dairy products.
Fresh meat and poultry products like eggs.
Nuts and berries.
Fresh fats for cooking like Ghee, Butter, Coconut oil, Sesame oil.
Millets and sprouted greens.
What other simple things should I do ?
Don't
Stay away from sun.
Continuously eat something or the other.
Have the habit of eating 3 full meals a day.
Have a late light dinner.
Have late night sleep go by circadian rhythm.
Doing heavy workouts to reduce weight.
Do's
20 min of skin exposure to sunlight between 11am - 2pm for getting enough vitamin D.
Eat only when you are hungry.
Fast intermittently, for a period of 16hrs/20hrs/24hrs once in a week.
Have an early dinner, at least before 8 pm.
Sleep at least for 7-8 hrs a day, only during nighttime.
Normal paced walking of 5000 - 10000 steps a day (from morning till night counts).
The final tip is, even if you have nothing to give, you have a smile to give others to stay healthy and happy.
Let us understand our relationship between the food we eat and our body's reactions to it.
We all consume food, but do we know how our body prioritizes it for the energy needs? Let us understand it first.
The food we consume generally has three macro nutrients in it, namely
Carbohydrates.
Fats.
Proteins.
Carbohydrates are an instant source of energy for the body.
Fats are a slow burning energy source for the body.
Proteins are used for maintaining and building muscles and also support for hormonal functions in the body.
What does this mean to me, many might think that I already know this stuff when I was in my school?
The sequence in which the body takes energy from our food is first carbohydrates and then fats. Proteins are generally not used as an energy source.
Here lies the crux since carbohydrates are instant energy source our body tries to use it immediately for the energy demands based on the work that we do.
But nowadays physical working needs have come down and more of a sedentary lifestyle is what all of us are in. So all the instant energy will not be used, then what does the body do? It puts the excess energy in our cell lockers in the form of fat.
Hope now we understand why we become fat.
So what do we do, should we not eat food with carbohydrates at all ? Where will I get energy from then.
We have to get energy from good fats. So please use good fats generously in your cooking needs.
Do you know, nature by itself has made a beautiful combination in our foods? All the protein rich foods come along with fats be it meat products, dairy products are nuts. So you don't have to try and find energy rich foods to substitute for carbohydrates.
Remember that our plate should contain a balanced food.
Balanced food should be in a way that it has more of fiber, fat and proteins to compensate the body's slow energy requirements for the work that we do.
Do remember most of us are not athletes, or sports persons whose energy requirements are instant and high. So it is more than sufficient to give our body food that releases slow energy based on the needs of our body.
So key points on the energy released by each macro during digestion in our body.
1 gram of carbohydrates provides 4 calories.
1 gram of fat provides 9 calories.
1 gram of protein provides 4 calories.
What do we understand from the above? Fat gives twice the energy as that of carbohydrates, but at a slower pace. That is reason why we need to use good fats in our diet for the slow energy requirements of our body.
So remember the "things to have" we had seen earlier follow the same you get a balanced meal to keep you fit and active always.
All the best wishes for your health.
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