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Eating Healthier Meals

Eating healthy is a goal for most people in this vast planet. Most people think that eating healthy means having boring meals, but this could be any further from the truth. Healthy meals can be tasty and fascinating.

You will learn how to eat healthy. If you do this, you will lose weight without counting calories and feel better every single day. Given that healthy eating can prevent serious diseases like obesity, type II diabetes and heart disease, this advice may save your life. Literally.

Sourced from: http://authoritynutrition.com/how-to-eat-healthy/

Healthy eating can help in controlling and preventing most lifestyle diseases such as obesity and diabetes. Research has even shown that it even improves mental and emotional health.

We all know that eating right can help you maintain a healthy weight and avoid certain health problems, but your diet can also have a profound effect on your mood and sense of wellbeing. Studies have linked eating a typical Western diet—filled with processed meats, packaged meals, takeout food, and sugary snacks—with higher rates of depression, stress, bipolar disorder, and anxiety. Eating an unhealthy diet may even play a role in the development of mental health disorders such as ADHD, Alzheimer’s disease, and schizophrenia, or in the increased risk of suicide in young people.

Eating more fresh fruits and vegetables, cooking meals at home, and reducing your intake of sugar and refined carbohydrates, on the other hand, may help to improve mood and lower your risk for mental health problems. If you have already been diagnosed with a mental health problem, eating well can even help to manage your symptoms and regain control of your life. While some specific foods or nutrients have been shown to have a beneficial effect on mood, it is your overall dietary pattern that is most important. That means switching to a healthy diet does not have to be an all or nothing proposition. You do not have to be perfect and you do not have to completely eliminate foods you enjoy to have a healthy diet and make a difference to the way you think and feel.

Some foods have shown some positive effects in mood balancing; this proves that eating healthy can work to the benefit of the individual. The following are some success tips when eating healthy;

food-828207_1920 To set yourself up for success, think about planning a healthy diet as a number of small, manageable steps—like adding a salad to your diet once a day—rather than one big drastic change. As your small changes become habit, you can continue to add more healthy choices. Prepare more of your own meals. Cooking more meals at home can help you take charge of what you are eating and better monitor exactly what goes into your food. >Make the right changes. When cutting back on unhealthy foods in your diet, it is important to replace them with healthy alternatives. Replacing dangerous Tran’s fats with healthy fats (such as switching fried chicken for grilled fish) will make a positive difference to your health. Switching animal fats for refined carbohydrates, though (such as switching your breakfast bacon for a donut), will not lower your risk for heart disease or improve your mood. >Simplify. Instead of being overly concerned with counting calories, think of your diet in terms of color, variety, and freshness. Focus on avoiding packaged and processed foods and opting for more fresh ingredients. >Read the labels. It is important to be aware of what is in your food as manufacturers often hide large amounts of sugar or unhealthy fats in packaged food, even food claiming to be healthy. >Focus on how you feel after eating. This will help foster healthy new habits and tastes. The more healthy food you eat, the better you will feel after a meal. The more junk food You eat, the more likely you are to feel uncomfortable, nauseous, or drained of energy. >Drink plenty of water. Water helps flush our systems of waste products and toxins, yet many people go through life dehydrated—causing tiredness, low energy, and headaches. It is common to mistake thirst for hunger, so staying well hydrated will also help you make healthier food choices. For many of us, moderation also means eating less than we do now. However, it does not mean eliminating the foods you love. Eating bacon for breakfast once a week, for example, could be considered moderation if you follow it with a healthy lunch and dinner—but not if you follow it with a box of donuts and a sausage pizza. If you eat 100 calories of chocolate one afternoon, balance it out by deducting 100 calories from your evening meal. If you are still hungry, fill up with extra vegetables. > Try not to think of certain foods as “off-limits.” When you ban certain foods or food groups, it is natural to want those foods more, and then feel like a failure if you give in to temptation. Start by reducing portion sizes of unhealthy foods and not eating them as often. As you reduce your intake of unhealthy foods, you may find yourself craving them less or thinking of them as only occasional indulgences. >Think smaller portions. Serving sizes have ballooned recently. When dining out, choose a starter instead of an entree, split a dish with a friend, and do not order supersized anything. At home, visual cues can help with portion sizes–you are serving of meat, fish, or chicken should be the size of a deck of cards and half a cup of mashed potato, rice, or pasta is about the size of a traditional light bulb. If you do not feel satisfied at the end of a meal, add more leafy green vegetables or round off the meal with fruit. Take your time. Stop eating before you feel full. It actually takes a few minutes for your brain to tell your body that it has had enough food, so eat slowly. >Eat with others whenever possible. As well as the emotional benefits, this allows you to model healthy eating habits for your kids. Eating in front of the TV or computer often leads to mindless overeating.
Sourced from: http://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-eating/healthy-eating.htm

Never Let Your Dessert Go!

Dessert is important! I know that health experts and dieters have spoken against it for so long leading to most people avoiding dessert at all cost. Dessert can be healthy and help work together with your healthy diet to give a better and healthier body.

I could rant endless on the importance of dessert following a meal. In fact, I think I could write an entire book or a weekly column about it, that is how intense my feelings are. I simply feel that unless I have had some sugar then the meal just is not over. Sometime I have that strange feeling that something is missing after I eat my entrée. It is like when you leave for a big trip or move, and you have the sinking feeling that you forgot something important. That is how I feel when I have not had my dessert.

Sourced from: http://blog.eatfeastly.com/2012/05/31/the-importance-of-dessert/

People have the misconstrued notion that dessert is terrible because of the sugar content, but the problem is too much sugar not enough or sugar that is within the recommend limit. There are a lot of great, ready to eat desserts that you can have that are well under 200 calories and are right off the shelf. Here are some ideas:

Healthy Choice No Sugar Added Ice Cream Turkey Hill No Sugar Added Ice Cream Edy's Light No Sugar Added Ice Cream Breyer's No Sugar Added Ice Cream Häagen Dazs Fat Free Sorbets Jello Pudding Cups Häagen Dazs Chocolate Sorbet Bar Fudgesicle No Sugar Added Frozen Bar Häagen-Dazs Raspberry & Vanilla Frozen Yogurt Bars Nabisco 100 Calorie Packs Chips Ahoy Thin Crisps Planters Peanut Butter Cookie Crisps It is also helpful to purchase desserts that come in individual packs or go out for a dessert--to the frozen yogurt store, for instance. Sourced from: http://www.drgourmet.com/eatinghealthy/dessert.shtml#.VnkyerZ97IU

There are some healthy dessert treats such as Nabisco 100 calorie pack and thin crisps. The following are the merits of dessert;

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1.It Helps You Lose Weight

No, that is not a joke. Eating desserts has actually been noted as being beneficial to weight loss. One of the most frustrating things about dieting is having cravings for sweet foods. However, most people on diets resist all dessert foods to avoid gaining weight. Many people who follow this method of dieting end up binging on unhealthy foods in the middle of their diet due to not satisfying their urges. Having a small sweet snack as a dessert every night can satisfy your cravings while dieting to prevent you from binging.

2.Provides Nutrition While Dieting

Another common issue with dieters is that a lot of people take it too far and do not eat enough to properly provide their bodies with nutrition. In fact, not eating enough just makes your cravings for unhealthy foods even worse. A rich dessert can provide your body with the missing nutrients and give you more energy. Depending on the dessert, you can have plenty of nutrients in a sweet snack. For instance, strawberry banana smoothies are very popular as a nutritious dessert. The strawberries provide your body with vitamin C, antioxidants and they fight off wrinkles, poor eyesight and even cancer. The bananas provide your body with vitamin B6 and plenty of potassium.

3.No Need to Risk Extra Calories to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth

[youtube video=https://youtu.be/nHEFWOanqqI ] You do not need to let your calorie intake skyrocket to satisfy your sweet tooth. There are plenty of low-calorie healthy desserts that are delicious. You can easily find easy dessert recipes for healthy desserts in numerous cookbooks. Sugar free desserts can cut a lot of calories while maintaining their delicious taste with other flavors. There are plenty of other smoothie recipes in addition to strawberry banana smoothies. You can make practically any fruit into a delicious low-fat smoothie. If you still want sugar, try some low-fat dessert recipes. Sourced from: http://ezmealplan.com/benefits-of-eating-dessert/