Healthy Diets - Keep It Simple

Do you know how easy it is to eat healthy, and the reasons and benefits of a simple healthy diet can be, to you and your family. I pride myself in been a healthy eater, been in top shape, and seriously, never a cold or flu, and I mostly put that down to keeping fit and a great healthy diet.

Now, let me be clear on the word "Diet', when I say diet I do not mean any stupid fad you can read about, or celebrity crap diets you See in magazines. I'm talking about, a simple balanced healthy diet, it's as easy as that. Incorporating a healthy eating plan, very simple to do, with regular exercise, is a winning combination, that I have used and stuck by for years, and as a man in my early 30's, I have never felt better.

Here I'm going to give you some tips on What to eat, food item benefits, fitness tips, all with an aim of giving you a goal, either if you just want to improve your diet, build muscle, or burn fat and lose weight. I've been training and keeping in shape years now, have never been overweight in a big way, and basically it's all been down to common sense and discipline.

Yes you've seen this crazy stuff, "lose pounds without exercising" " burn fat without lifting a finger." Now for crying out loud, seriously, if you really need to lose weight quickly, change your lifestyle, and Avoid Avoid Avoid these type of advertisements, I cringe when I see them and think of the poor suckers who buy into them, yes probably losing the weight, but doing damage to their body with out even knowing it.

You see low-fat diets, in theory it should produce the results it promises, been a diet, and low in fat, yes, but really low-fat diets don't protect us from heart/cardiovascular disease, and can even interfere with weight loss. Most "low-fat diets" are company sales tricks and propaganda, and a huge industry.

Really, we need to eat fats, because most fats are actually good for us. Depriving your body from fats, and starving yourself or following a strict "lose weight" diet will make your body store fat rather than burn it off. Avoid unnatural saturated or trans fats, and make sure you get an intake of monounsaturated fats from nuts/avocados, omega-3 from fish and fats from meats, your body uses these natural fats for your bodies structure and cells. Remember you need to eat fat to burn fat, especially if you exercise regularly.

" Eating more calories than you burn off is the prime cause of weight gain"

And that's a fact. Now I could go ahead and ramble of a load off recipes for a healthy diet but that would be too easy and a little boring. So I'll give you a list of ingredients I personally use and no about, and different tips I've come to learn and love. You can incorporate in to you meals as you seem fit.

Foods Your Body Would Love To Meet.

1. Rule no1. Rule number one really, for everything from exercising to eating healthy is, Drink plenty of water. Very Very important, water is unbelievable in what it does to our bodies, for hydration to helping you lose weight.

2. Lemon. Add lemon to you water/tea or shakes. Lemon draws out more saliva in your mouth, which helps break down foods into fats, protein, sugars etc, stimulating the body and helping burn fat.

3. Vegetables. Especially vegetables that have a high water content. They drown out calories and are full of vitamins. Wet veg can be, courgettes, peppers, cucumbers, cauliflowers, great for helping burn fat.

4. Blueberries. Great for breakfast with cereal. High in antioxidants and known to fight diabetes.

5. Nuts and Seeds. Almonds, Brazil Nuts, Pine Nuts, Pumpkin/Sunflower Seeds etc. High in vitamins and essential fats and very tasty.

6. Protein Rich Meats and Fish. I eat a lot of Fish, and also Chicken, Turkey Breast( very low in fat), Pork and the odd Steak for Iron. Mix it up daily. Chose meats low in fat and fish high in Omega-3 oils. Eggs are a great source of protein also.

7. Carrot Juice. If your going to drink any juice I recommend Carrot juice. High in antioxidants, great source for potassium, high in vitamins. Carrots are a great snack too eaten raw.

8. Low Sodium Miso. I love a bowl of Miso soup. With the seaweed, and low in sodium, it can help lower blood pressure, and very tasty too.

9. Carbohydrate rich foods. Rice, Bread, Porridge Oats, Beans, Potatoes, Breakfast Cereal, Pasta are all important for Fuel, for exercising and basically daily living. These foods would also be high in Fibre, B Vitamins and minerals.

10. Fruit. Fruit provides us with Fibre, Minerals, Vitamins and will help boost your immune system (hence strengthen your defenses from colds and flues). A big deal with me, is buy locally. Not only are you supporting your local community, the produce will also be better. Produce imported loses its nutritional value when in transport.

11. Calcium Rich Foods. Yogurt, Milk, Cheese, Dark Green Veg, Almonds and Tinned Fish are all great sources of calcium, needed to strengthen bones and your pearly white teeth.

12. Fat Burning Stars. Yes these are ingredients that are metabolism boosters such as Ginger, Mustard, Cinnamon, Cayenne Pepper.

13. Junk Food. Yes you heard me, if, by now you have or are planning a balanced diet, biscuits, chocolate, bars, cakes, sweets, pop, have very little nutritional value and are full of artery clogging saturated fats, but a piece now and again or a daily piece won't do any harm, once you don't over do it.

So out of the list above, you can see how easy it is to incorporate some of these items into your life and diet, with out having to resort to diet fads. It's plain and simple, look at your diet now and simply change it. Eating vegetables, fruit, nuts, lean meats and some sort of exercise and you will be on the right track to a better you.

Exercises

I have a daily routine of a morning run, and through the week I'll fit in, swimming, Cardio, weights, long runs, and my favourite is a boxing bag and sparring, best all round exercise regime in my opinion, well for me anyway, love it, has me in the best shape of my life. That's why a healthy balanced diet is important, an all round unbeatable system. Also, a good sleep is essential and you can burn fat while you sleep.

My Diet

I have a variety of different meals I eat during the week, for different training regimes, and here I'll give a mixture of what I eat and maybe give you an idea how to set a healthy menu plan for yourself.

Breakfast, usually after my morning run.

Plenty of water, and a range between Porridge Oats with fruit(usually blueberries and bananas), egg white omelet, slices of cheese, Weetabix, Smoke Salmon Bagel, always some nuts,, Muesli, Peanut Butter, Rye Bread, Protein Shake, Green Tea or a Black Coffee.

Snacks

Protein bars, Shakes, Fruit and Yogurt, Omelette, Cottage Cheese, Nuts, Oat Biscuits, Fruit

Lunch.

Lean Meat (Chicken or Turkey Breast), Broccoli, Tuna or Salmon with Veg, Brown Rice, Home made Lasagna, Tuna Salad, Wholemeal Pasta, Water.

Dinner

Tuna Steak, Chicken Breast, Turkey Steak, Salmon Steak, 6 Egg White Omelette, Low Fat Steak Mince, Home made Sweet Potato chips, Mixed Veg, Cheese, Water.

Supper

Whey Protein Shake, Wholemeal Toast with Peanut Butter or Scrambled Eggs, Nuts, Fruit, Water.

Keep It Simple

So as you can see, a nice mixture, and the odd biscuit or chocolate bar helps too. So remember, it's not too hard to have a tasty balanced healthy diet, and a little exercise, you will be on the road to a healthy full of energy new you. Check out my fitness blog for some tips, Good- Luck.