"If you learn only methods, you'll be tied to your methods,but if you learn principles you can devise your own methods."Ralph Waldo Emerson
For most of my life a great deal of my time has been spent trying to figure out just what constitutes a healthy diet for me and my family. It can get pretty confusing and frustrating, especially if you are battling overweight and other unhealthy conditions.
There have been some limited "successes" and some major "back-sliddings" going on over the years. I have had to contend with a lot of conflicting advice, methods that would work for a while only to stop working after a period of time and a lot of counting, weighing, measuring and record keeping.
Eventually I managed to distill some useful principles from all that experience and a good deal of research. This blog is a vehicle for me to share the principles that have worked for me. I will detail what I did that worked for me. I will include lots of links and references so that readers can check it all out for themselves. I am not a professional when it comes to health, nutrition or diet. If something written here leads you to make changes in the way your provide nutrition for your body, it should be because you choose to look further into the subject, make some principles for yourself and put them into practice.
Principle #1:
Choose to Eat Whole, Minimally Processed Food
This could be a very big step for you. It involves avoiding fast food, junk food, convenience foods, foods with additives, preservatives, artificial coloring, flavor enhansers (like MSG), etc. This includes foods of technology, invented foodstuff and manufactured items like "low-fat" ice cream, artificial sweeteners, imitation burgers, etc. There is growing concern that GMO (genetically modify organisms) belong is this list.
Depending on what your current eating style is like, following this principle alone could bring you a big change for the better in how you look and feel. It might be a good idea to spend a few weeks getting used to this "clean" way of eating using minimally processed food before moving on to the next principle.
Principal #2:
Balance Quality Protein, Whole Carbohydrates and Healthy Fats.
When it comes to choosing how to do this, there are currently two quite different points of view.
- The US Government (Dept. of Agriculture) has set forth it's dietary recommendations in first "The Four Basic Food Groups", then "The Food Pyramid" and most recently in "My Plate". Carbohydrates are represented by fruits, vegetables AND all those grains. The emphasis is on lean meat and low-fat dairy. It is safe to say that this is a high carbohydrate - low fat plan of eating.
- There is an alternative eating style that representes in many ways an opposite point of view - a low-carbohydrate, high-fat food plan which looks at the macronutrients in a different light. For an alternative view of the government guidelines, click HERE.
Obviously since the title of the site is LowCarbPlate, I believe that the low-carb, high-fat alternative is best for me. When it comes to finding a balanced proportionment between protein, carbohydrates and fats in ones food plan there are many different opinions and ideas. Along with sharing the balance I have devised for myself, I will share information and links which put forth the ideas of others.
Principal #3:
Hydration: Drink Lots of Water Between Meals
Since the human body is 75% water, we need to drink enough liquid to stay hydrated. I was taught in Wilderness First Aid class years ago that if you are feeling thirsty, you are already dehydrated and you need to drink. Your body can function much better when it is well hydrated.
It is best to do your drinking between meals so that you don't dilute the digestive juices.
Drink the most pure water available to you. It doesn't have to be just plain water, however. Herbal tea counts. Or you can add the juice from half a lemon or line to a glass of water. Add a little stevia and you have lemonade / limeade.
Principal #4:
"Happy Habits" to Add.
Spend some time daily outside in the sunshine (Vit.D), breathing deeply (oxygen), exercising mildly (walk, bike, swim, etc.) and relaxing or meditating. I call these "happy habits" because they make me feel better, relieve stress and make me happy when I do them.
