A Healthy Way of Eating

            Have you ever wondered why there are so many diets out there? The answer is simple; the greater percent of them do not work. New diet plans pop up just about every day to suit different people and different eating habits. In my opinion this is where the problem comes in.
The creators try to make the plan so easy that it gets away from the core values of healthy eating. Another problem with dieting is that it can be made way too complicated. Counting calories, or recording everything that you eat will never last. In my opinion, none of this is needed. Instead a little patience and know-how is all that is required in order to eat right. The key to healthy eating is to eat healthy!

            When trying to become a healthy eater it is very important to not fall into trendy “media diets”. Things like cutting carbs, sprinkling magic powder on your food, taking diet pills, and consuming pre-made frozen meals will not get you to where you want to be. Everyone has seen the advertisements on TV where people say they have lost 100 pounds in three days on some crazy plan. Not only is that impossible, but it sucks people into spending time and money on a gag. In order to actually lose body weight you must consume fewer calories than you burn, also known as a “calorie deficit.” 3,500 Kcals make up one pound of body weight, so to lose one pound you must burn 3,500 kcals. This deficit is not something that should be aimed at for a single day; instead you should aim for a deficit of one to two pounds a week. A couple pounds per week is considered healthy weight loss, this confirms that the ridiculous diet ads are unhealthy and unethical.
            Personally, I do not like to call my style of eating a “diet,” instead I refer to it as a “way of eating.” The word diet is often misused and can turn people away from an eating plan prematurely. The way I like to eat is often called “eating like a caveman.” You may have also heard it referred to “eating closer to earth,” or “paleo diet.” What this means is that you can basically eat anything a caveman could (taken with a grain of salt.) For example, a caveman could not eat a bag of potato chips, but he could pull a potato out of the ground and eat it. A caveman could also not pour himself a glass of apple juice, but could eat an apple off a tree. The idea behind the name is to get people to think about eating more naturally; with fewer preservatives, processing and other additives. Food and meal selection can be made easier by thinking this way.

If you model your intake around this philosophy then you will almost automatically eliminate unhealthy foods. The main staples of this way of eating are: fruits, vegetables, whole grains (breads, brown rice, whole grain pasta, and other grains), lean animal meats, nuts, and oils. These food categories are to be eaten in their “most-natural” form. What I mean by this is that meats should be grilled or baked instead of deep fried and breaded. Veggies should not be fried in fatty oils or doused in dressing. Keeping meals as simple and natural as possible will ensure that only high quality nutrients are consumed. You should aim to include a whole grain, fruit or vegetable, and lean meat or other protein source into every meal. You also should not neglect the all-important nutrient of fat. People cringe when they hear fat content in foods, but the truth is that fat is actually an extremely important nutrient, (the right kind of fat that is). Saturated fat is the fat to avoid, but most of this type of fat is found in foods and ingredients that a caveman could not have eaten! The healthy fat (unsaturated) is found in fish, nuts, soy, and certain oils. When thinking of what to eat just think, “what could a caveman eat?” Asking yourself this question will help you to choose more natural and nutrient dense food.

Knowing which foods to eat is a pivotal aspect of this type of eating. As simple as possible; you need some carbs, protein, and fat with every meal (in that order of serving size.) Any fruit, veggie, or grain is a carbohydrate. Anything that comes from an animal is a protein, plus nuts and soy. Good fats are also found in what I stated earlier (fish, nuts, soy, etc.)

Another important part of healthy eating is knowing how much and when to eat. These two are the easiest to figure out, with a little patience of course. As for how much to eat, you need to eat until you are satisfied. That’s it! When your body has enough fuel it will release a hormone that tells your brain you are satisfied. Ignoring this feeling will cause one to overeat.  The most common reason for over eating is eating too fast. When someone eats too fast it is nearly impossible for the hormone to do its job and you will pass the satisfied stage and overeat. So, in order to eat the proper amount you must eat slowly. Take time and enjoy your food. Your body will tell you when you have eaten enough. Now as for when to eat, this is also simple. Your body will tell you when it needs fuel by secreting another hormone that tells your brain you are hungry. This is where people usually go wrong and will at times disregard their hunger. Never ignore hunger! Hunger is your body screaming it needs food in order to fuel you. If you ignore this cue it will lead to excessive hunger and cause you to overeat at your next meal. Ignoring hunger is usually attributed to “improper meal times” or “no room for extra calories.” This could be the worst mistake in healthy eating. Your body doesn’t have a clock that says, “Oh its lunch time lets be hungry!” You need to adhere to what your body is telling you. When you are hungry, eat! And when you are satisfied, stop eating! In doing so you will control your hunger and only intake the amount of calories needed by your body. This is the most natural and effective method of counting calories and planning meals.

Please keep in mind that I do not expect you to drop everything and change your diet. The ideas stated in this article are simply my opinions and I fully acknowledge that others may exist. My goal in writing this was to help put to rest some pointless dieting notions and bring to light my view of what healthy eating really is.