aspects of a healthy diet

1. Create a list of your eating habits
According to CDC improving your eating habits is a key factor in maintaining or strengthening your overall health and losing weight. In order to improve your eating habits, you have to know more about them. Keeping a food journal is a good way to get to know your own eating habits and determine what you should change. Food journal should contain everything you eat and drink throughout the day. Most people discover they tend to overeat when they are stressed out, depressed, or when they are coping with unprocessed emotions. All these habits have a direct impact on your overall health and weight as well. Besides keeping a food journal you should also:

Highlight bad habits
Identify triggers that make you do those unhealthy and bad eating habits
Identify different things you can do to avoid triggers
Replace unhealthy habits with healthy alternatives.

2. Eat regularly
Overweight or obese people and even individuals who don’t want to gain weight make the same mistake – they skip meals. After all, if you skip meals, you can’t gain more weight and you will easily shed those extra pounds. Wrong! Skipping meals make your body store fat faster regardless of the size of the portion. Plus, your body requires a variety of healthy nutrients throughout the day in order to remain healthy.

3. Exercise
Regardless of your weight, size, or age, physical activity is essential for good health. A sedentary lifestyle is associated with excessive weight gain, weakening of muscles and joints as well as heightened risk of numerous diseases. If you’re overweight or obese, you usually think that regular exercise is something you can never do mostly because you don’t think you’re strong enough to do it. Luckily, there are many things you can do to become physically active. You can start by taking nice walks every day, opt for stairs instead of elevators, or consult personal trainer who can create the list of exercises based on your shape and weight. Optimal health requires healthy diet and exercise and these two aspects of a healthy lifestyle go hand in hand.

4. Make weight loss shake
Weight loss shakes are delicious and healthy tools for improving your health and losing weight. These nutrition power bombs offer an abundance of protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that your body needs in order to function properly. These shakes speed up your metabolism thus contributing to weight loss. Plus, they’re easy to make which means you can have to start your day in a healthy manner and still have plenty of time to get ready for work. Do You need some ideas? Not to worry, here are 3 recipes you can use to make your own shakes for weight loss.

#1 Mango smoothie
Mango cubes – ¼ cup
Ripe avocado (mashed) – ¼ cup
Mango juice – ½ cup
Fat-free vanilla yogurt – ¼ cup
Freshly squeezed lime juice – 1 tbsp
Sugar – 1 tbsp
Ice cubes – 6.

#2 Blueberry shake
Skim milk – 1 cup
Frozen unsweetened blueberries – 1 cup
Cold-pressed organic flax seed oil – 1 tbsp.

#3 Peach smoothie
Skim milk – 1 cup
Frozen unsweetened peaches – 1 cup
Cold-pressed organic flax seed oil – 2 tsp.

5. Drink water
If you want to stay healthy, then drinking water throughout the day is extremely important. Water doesn’t only help your body function properly; it can also improve your weight loss endeavor. According to Authority Nutrition, drinking water boosts your metabolism by 24 – 30% over the period of 1-1.5 hours thus helping you burn off more calories.

6. Use reliable weight loss supplement
Dietary supplements are available in all drugstores and you can also buy them online. They are made of natural ingredients and usually contain herbs which have been used for medical purposes for centuries. With that being said, you should bear in mind that not all weight loss dietary supplements are created equal. Some of them are effective while others include bold claims without proving the effectiveness. Effective dietary supplements prove their reliability by providing a complete list of ingredients. Before you buy any dietary supplement you should consult your doctor first. Remember, if there’s no list of ingredients; skip the product and move on to the next one.

7. Drink green tea
Green is one of the healthiest beverages in the world which is why you should, definitely, have a cup of this tea at least once a day. This healthy beverage is abundant in powerful antioxidants which improve your overall health, memory, and concentration and detoxify your body. Did you know that most weight loss supplements and teas for weight loss contain green tea? Take a walk to the nearest store and buy this tea to start healthy lifestyle today.

8. Use smaller plates
Overeating doesn’t only make you gain weight at a faster rate. It is also associated with:
Diabetes
Increased risk of stroke
Cardiovascular diseases
High blood pressure etc.

When you use big plates, your mind makes you eat until the plate is completely empty. It plays a trick on you making you think you’re not full just yet. Now, it’s your turn to trick your mind and you can do it by using smaller plates. Instead of a big plate, opt for a smaller one and eat smaller portions of your breakfasts, lunches or dinners. This practice can improve your health by preventing overeating and it can help you lose weight. French women are famous for their elegance and obesity rate in this country is significantly smaller than in the US. Their secret is simple – they eat different foods using smaller plates and avoid refilling once the plate is empty. You should try this as well.

9. Eat fruits and vegetables
Instead of pizzas, burgers, French fries and other unhealthy foods, you should make sure your diet contains more fruits and vegetables. They are rich in vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients essential for your health. Plus, they contain antioxidants which inhibit free radicals thus protecting your body from oxidative damage.

10. Eat more fiber
Fiber-rich foods are extremely important for your health and weight loss. Why? It’s because fiber stabilizes bowel movements and improve your digestion. Regular digestion is crucial for improving your health and it’s a significant part of weight loss. Fruits and vegetables are excellent sources of fiber as well as whole grain products.

Conclusion
Being overweight or obese makes you more prone to various diseases including the most severe ones. In order to avoid this scary scenario, there are many things you can do to improve your overall health and losing weight at the same time. It’s important to remember that all you need to become healthier is strong willpower and lifestyle adjustments.

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