Do You Eat Smart?

Does the thought, "Do I eat smart?" ever come up for your? In the paragraphs below there are a number of tips that will help you to find, prepare and consume a healthy diet.

Look through these tips to see how you are doing in your goal to eat smart.

Outside Diet

I use the term outside diet because in most grocery stores, on the perimeter of the building, you will find:

meat
dairy
fruit
vegetables and
the bakery section.

If you make most of your food selections from this group, you will be eating healthy and have a more natural diet.

The processed, boxed and packaged foods that are sitting on the shelves in the aisles up and down the inside of the store will not serve your health.

Organic or Non?

I'm sure you know that organic food is better for you than non-organic. However, it is more costly and not always available in all areas right now.

If you can't afford or don't have access to organic food, knowing which foods are sprayed the most is important so you can eat smart. To see the most and least sprayed foods check out healthy foods.

Taste Buds - Friend or Foe?

To eat smart, let knowledge guide your dietary choices, not your taste buds. If you let them they will steer you towards too much sugar and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Both of these are addictive.

The more you eat, the more you want. If you'll avoid sugar and HFCS for awhile, you'll be amazed at how overly sweet things are, especially things that are processed.

They also spike your blood sugar and have been linked to:

Type II diabetes
heart disease
osteoporosis
cavities
and many other physical problems.

Many people think that using artificial sugar is an acceptable replacement to sugar. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you use any of the artificial sugars please read this.

Don't Overcook your Food

Overcooking or overheating your meal will kill the nutrients in your food. There is no use to buy quality food, pay more for it, and then render it virtually useless to the body when preparing it.

The more overcooked a food is the longer it will stay in your digestive tract. This will tax your digestive enzymes and make it more difficult for the body to put the food to it's intended use.

Your best choices to keep from overcooking your food are to:

steam
boil
or stew (a crock pot is very handy)

your foods. Of course eating raw food is the most nutritious, but I've never had a coaching client that was willing to go "all raw".

Poorer choices would be:

roasting
frying (especially at high heat)
baking
and barbecuing.

Microwaving is an extremely poor way (in my opinion the worst!) to heat your food. Unfortunately, it is very common now.

Eat Slowly

Eating Smart would definitely include eating slowly. Eating in a rush is hard on your digestive tract. Digestion actually starts in the mouth. Chewing your food slowly and thoroughly helps with your digestion.

When you eat slowly, you consume less food. It takes 15-20 minutes to realize that you're full. If you are bolting down your food and eat till you feel satisfied, you will go away from the table way past full. This will not serve your diet program.

Salad and Veggies First!

If you will eat the salad and vegetables at your meal first, you will eat less of the higher calorie proteins and carbs that come with your meal.

This works especially well if you combine it with the "eating slowly" practice. You'll be sure to get the benefit of the veggies and salad and have much less chance of overeating on the rest of the meal!

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