SMART EATING - KNOW YOUR TRIGGERS

 

Smart Eating: Your Way To A Perfect Body

Experts agree that the key to healthy eating is contained in three main factors-balance, variety and moderation. In short, it means eating a wide variety of foods at regular intervals, in small quantities, is the best way to keep your metabolism active and stay lean and healthy. If you've tried every weight loss program, crash diet or exercise regime and still not managed to reach your ideal body weight, maybe it’s time to really get in touch with your eating cycle. Remember, how and when we eat is as important as what we eat.   Studies show that sometimes the strongest craving for food occurs, when people are under stress, or emotionally unstable. Many people turn to food for comfort - consciously or unconsciously - when they're facing emotions, such as stress, anger, anxiety, boredom, sadness or loneliness. Most often emotional eating leads to eating excess food, especially food that is high in calories and fat. The important step in controlling emotional eating is to recognize its pattern. Write down what you eat, how much you are eating and what stimulates your craving for food. Know your triggers. Over time, you will recognize an unhealthy eating pattern and you can begin to make changes.   Distracting yourself from food can help you when you are feeling the need to emotionally eat. Instead of eating a chocolate bar, listen to some music, take a long bath, go for a walk, talk to a friend or treat yourself to a movie. Relaxation exercises or yoga can also help to distract you. Avoid keeping high-calorie comfort foods in the house. If you feel the urge to eat between meals, choose low-fat, low-calorie foods, such as fresh fruits, salads or cereal. Eating a well balanced diet can prevent unhealthy eating patterns. If you are not getting enough energy from your food, you may be more likely to give in to emotional eating.   An essential part of losing weight and keeping it off is learning to listen to your body. The feeling of a full stomach is your body telling you that you have eaten too much. Typically, people who are overweight eat until they are full. It is important to eat slowly and chew your food. It takes your brain about twenty minutes to send a signal to your body that it has had enough food, so eating slowly can prevent you from over eating.   Eating a healthy, balanced diet is far more satisfying than following a strict weight-loss diet that leaves you feeling deprived, hungry, and obsessed with food. Completely avoiding certain foods can make you crave them even more. Healthy eating is flexible. Giving in to a craving of some cake or pizza once in a while can be part of a healthy eating pattern, as long as it is balanced with an otherwise healthy diet.   To improve your eating habits, you first have to know what's wrong with them. Initially, make small changes and stick to them. Be realistic and once you find that your new eating habit has become a normal part of your everyday routine, proceed to make other changes. A healthy body can be achieved by learning how to be smart about your eating. Remember-crash diets don't work. Instead, develop a healthy eating plan that you enjoy and can incorporate into your lifestyle on a long- term basis.