Before you get too hung up on the image of ‘its all wholesome, nutritionally good food’ when in fact its bland vegetable soup, lets look at the reality. Many today are prejudiced against the concept of ‘health food’ as simply tasteless and not easy on the palate. Consequently, healthy eating is seen as little more than a chore, instead of it being as it should : one of life’s great pleasures. One way to do it is by restricting your calories with, for example a 1200 calorie diet plan. But, it’s not that difficult to easily include healthy foods to lose weight into your diet. Really, it isn’t.
1. But, lets get to the crux of the issue, the notion of healthy food being tasteless is plain old outdated (it has its origins in the mid-1800s) at a time when doctors thought certain illness were caused by over-stimulation, and thus created tasteless crud labeled as ‘health food.’ Look at the history of medicine; this is well before doctors even knew germs were causing disease in the first place. That scotches that rumour then. Shouldn’t we just banish such falsehoods to the annals of history and move on? anyway, who wants to base their whole diets on foods which are over two hundred years past their off date?
2. The other common reason many assume the idea of blandness or tastelessness associated with healthy foods is the ‘v’ word: Yes, vegetables. Remember when our parents told us to ‘eat your greens to grow healthy and strong, whilst we tried anything we could to avoid those disgusting green shapes from hell. Back then, the very thought of eating vegetables had no connection with healthy foods to lose weight, but as something that should have been avoided at all costs. Childhood memories can be difficult to erase, but by opening your mind you may just be able to take on board a miraculous new concept. Guess what? Yes, vegetables do not have to be disgusting or tasteless. The two main reasons many adults still feel theres nothing worse than being faced with a plate full of vegetables: a) Most parents of both current and previous generations simply did not have a clue about how to properly cook veggies. American families, like their English cousins simply boiled veggies. Can you imagine what a child felt facing what seemed like a tasteless, green mushy mess heaped onto their plates? Not a good look. b) The truth is there are numerous ways to both prepare and cook vegetables, which do not involve a pan of boiling hot water. Once you get the hang of it, and you combine a good diet with (moderate) exercise, you’re onto a good thing. Trust me when I say that vegetables are one of the best healthy foods to lose weight.
3. Finally, the third myth is one relating to the with that fact that at a young age our taste buds are still developing. Couple this with the taste of some vegetables are either bitter or taste of nothing, and we have children who grow up hating veggies. The thing is as we grow older, our taste buds develop, and start to enjoy bitter tastes much more. Classic examples of this are that coffee and beer taste terrible to many kids but most adults are addicted to the stuff. You need to train yourself to make the right changes. Once you have decided to begin healthy eating, you should not see it as being forced to eat yucky, boring, gloop. Change your train of thought to visualise or explore a new food or cuisine. Educate yourself on vegetable recipes, vegetarian diets. Learn new cooking techniques. Use new tasty spices to flavour your food. Have fun too.
How to Eating Healthy and not Starve Yourself
You may now be asking “What exactly does healthy eating mean? In the main, it simply means having a balanced approach to eating. Which is why its called a balanced diet. You can simply think of healthy eating as a combination of a bit of everything, for example: a little bit of protein, some carbohydrates, some vitamins and minerals, fats, sugar. In terms of food, this would translate into: some meat, some pasta, bread, vegetables and fruit, oils and sweets. By having a range of things to eat you are by default including healthy foods to lose weight.
This is nothing new countries like China, who have an ancient culinary tradition of balancing flavours, for example making a meal using various combinations of: sweet, sour, savoury, salty, bitter, etc. Essentially it means using a variety of foods to make sure that your body gets the nourishment and nutrition it needs to function correctly. The bonus of having a wide and varied diet will also mean that you are much less likely to have an excess of any one type of food (i.e. too much fat or sugar). They have over many centuries perfected the art of a cuisine which has many healthy recipes to lose weight. I mean, is obesity a real big problem in China in comparison to the West?
The other side of the coin is that it’s not just what you eat but how you’re going to eat the food:
a) Medical advice often given is to make sure that you savour the taste of food by eating more slowly. You could actually do a little experiment. next meal time, try chewing each bite of food 20 to 30 times before you swallow. The results may be surprising to you, even though he may not fully realise it at first. If you chew for a longer period, your body will be able to digest the food much better, so less energy will be used to absorb it and you can receive more nutrition from it. Slower eating will also offer your body more time to actually process this food and take stock of just how much has been eaten. For instance, after eating, it may take your body a few minutes to recognise that it is full. So by eating more slowly you will consume less food.
b) Snacking (rather than large meals) often is also advisable. Having more smaller portioned meals spaced throughout the day, is much better than eating a few large meals later in the day. Historically, the humans were designed to be grazers, i.e. to eat constantly throughout the day. By eating a few large meals per day separated by several hours of fasting, is not natural. To the extent that, if you abstain from eating for four hours or more, your body will naturally indicate that the food has run out and you are almost starving. This starving feeling is one way that many people pile on the pounds. You can avoid your body from feeling starved, by indulging in a small snack say once every couple of hours. It could be something rather simple, e.g. a few nuts, an apple, a handful of low-salt potato chips. You see, healthy foods to lose weight don’t have to be boring.
Healthy eating doesn’t have to be hard. By looking at exactly how you can make changes at various points in your life, you will be to get back on track to your ideal eating plan.
