Healthy Foods for a healthier, trimmer you.

It’s pretty simple concept – healthy foods and moderate exercise are your best strategy for health and weight loss or management.

Better than any diet ever devised. Better than any wonder drug, supplement or shake. Better than any piece of expensive gym equipment. Better than any new age method.

So what’s stopping you?

Everybody knows the benefits of eating healthy foods. Most know what healthy foods are and where to get them. Most of us have gone on a ‘health kick’ at one time or another. In fact, I’m on one now.

And, sadly, there’s more and more of us getting sickness and overweight due to the foods we put in our bodies. And the foods we don’t put in ourselves.

So why don’t we eat healthy foods more often?

Too much, too soon.

I think it’s because we go too far, too soon. We tend to go from one extreme to another. I know the days before I go on a health kick I eat as much junk into my body as possible. Too much, too soon is also the factor behind the phenomena of people not completing weight-loss programs or going straight back to their old eating habits. It’s just too hard to maintain that level of commitment.

Take your time.

You can’t change a habit of a lifetime overnight. Even over ten nights. It just takes time.

From personal experience it took me seven days of eating a low GI, low sugar cereal before my palate got used to it and stopped craving the high carb, sugary cereals I used to eat. And, now after three weeks the sugary cravings are still there but no-where near as strong.

Simple ideas to up the amount of healthy foods you eat.

Go green – always have a bag of green, leafy vegetables in the fridge. Spinach and rocket leaves are my favourites. Just throw them in at the very end of a stirfry, have a mini salad with every dinner, grab a handful for a mid-afternoon, hunger satisfying snack.

I scream for yoghurt – as a dessert loving, sweet tooth I just got to have a little treat after dinner. Instead of ice cream I pour some low fat yoghurt and add some nuts. It’s delicious (admittedly not as delicious as ice cream, but then nothing is) and healthy.

Low GI Diet – These are great for your weight and health. In short, low GI foods release their energy slower, so you get longer lasting energy. For weight loss they help you feel fuller for longer which means less snacking.

Most food categories have low GI alternatives. Take your time to learn which fruits, vegetables, breads, pastas etc are lowest in GI. For example, watermelon is high GI (one of the few high GI fruits); most vegetables are low GI.

Breakfast like a champion. A healthy breakfast is key to wellbeing and keeping trim. Don’t be fooled by so-called ‘health’ cereals – they may be high in carbs and sugar. Not only not ideal nutrition they also leave you hungry again in just a few hours.

Look out for low GI cereals, ones rich in wholegrains and NO ADDED SUGAR…we just have too much sugar in our diets.

Remember – take your time introducing healthy meals and foods into your diet. Just start. Today.

Enjoy!