Eating Healthy

Dear Children,

Here is an article from my reading on eating healthy.

With Love, Naana

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Keep Metabolism Steady.
Eating one small meal such as a potato, a salad, etc. every three hours that you are awake will not speed up your metabolism, rather, it will keep it going.

Your metabolism goes and slows with your food intake and eating something small every three hours will keep that metabolism burning calories and will help you lose weight.

Eat Smaller Dinners.
Cut down on the size of your dinner.
If you're hungry, snack on fruits or other healthy, low calorie snacks.
Large dinners tend to hurt a fat loss process because most people aren't very active after dinner.

The claim that your entire dinner is stored as fat isn't entirely true but the fact you don't move after dinner is enough to hurt your cause. You can offset this by eating a larger lunch or snacking healthily before dinner.

Fresh fruits or vegetables are excellent choices for curbing appetite not to mention other health benefits.

A handful of nuts might do the same. Drink a large glass of water before sitting at the table.

Eat More Fiber.
Most people don't get enough fiber. The recommended amount is actually not that much if you eat a healthy diet. "Fibre foods" include whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and nuts and seeds. Other options are fibre supplements.

Eat Breakfast.
Many people skip breakfast because they don't have time for it.
Keep this in mind: You don't have time to skip breakfast, it's simply too valuable to skip.

The fact that skipping breakfast messes up your concentration and other mental functions is beyond the scope of this article.

The harm of skipping breakfast from a weight loss perspective is it makes you eat a huge lunch since your body hasn't had anything in the past 12 hours. When you eat a huge lunch you get that after meal drowsiness so now you're both unproductive and inactive.

Cereals don't take much time to prepare and consume, and most of them are very healthy nowadays. If you are extremely pressed for time, consider grabbing a box of breakfast bars or a smoothie and throwing one in your bag when you leave for work or school. Some breakfast bars out there are also excellent sources of fibre.

Eat Smaller Meals More Frequently.
This helps raise your metabolism too. It's not easy to do though since it's a relatively big change to most people's routines. But it doesn't have to be a full blown meal, simply eat often but less. A jar of nuts in the office will do just fine, grab a handful when you feel like it.

Most fruits can last for a couple days without refrigeration, and if you have a refrigerator at the office, make use of it.

Drink More Water Everyday.
Many places suggest 8 cups (2 L) of water a day.
It sounds like an absurd amount of water, but actually, you can drink tea without sugar to make up some of the quota.

In fact tea, especially green tea, rev up your "metabolism". For fat loss purposes, consuming water instead of the other junk will keep you away from the carbs and curb your appetite. Needless to say there are many benefits of water. 70% of your body is made of it!