Basic Healthy Diet - Simple Tips to Assist with Weight Loss and Maintain Good Health

Weight loss is a psychological problem. Except when you are obese or overweight to the extent that it affects your physical health. In that case weight loss becomes imperative. Consuming healthy foods for weight loss becomes a mandate. A basic healthy diet becomes a part of a disciplined routine. Weight loss for any other reason is a mental health issue. The obsessive need to have a slim waist or flat abs is not only unhealthy, it can become fatal. What is important is to maintain a supple body and an overall ideal weight. The aim is to be healthy, not to go crazy.

The rules to follow a basic healthy diet are simple. Listed below are a few tips to help you follow a basic healthy diet.

Less is More – A basic healthy diet is about eating right

• Moderation in diet is the primary principle. Overeating is the biggest hindrance to maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
• Eat a limited quantity of food such that you feel hungry after another 3-4 hours. Fill your stomach with 1/2 of solid foods, 1/4 with liquid food, and 1/4 left empty for the free flow of gases.
• Break your meals into smaller quantities and consume them at regular intervals. It is ideally recommended to have 4 meals a day. These are categorized as breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner.
• When the gap between your meals is longer, there is a tendency to overeat. Thus, maintain at least 3-4 hours gap between each of the above meals.

The ‘Fist Rule’ – your own punch line to follow a basic healthy diet

• Fold your palms into a fist. That is the approximate size of the stomach. The stomach is an elastic organ. If you overeat, it will expand. If you keep up with overeating, this expansion then leads to a paunchy stomach. The entire abdominal region feels bloated and protruding. Hence it is rightly said ‘Abs are made in the kitchen’
• Eat only when hungry. Do not eat just because something smells good or looks tasty. Gluttony brings pleasure. Pleasure brings pain.
• So next time you are tempted to overeat, fold your palms into a fist. Follow this ‘fist rule’, as your reminder to avoid mindless bingeing. Drink some water instead; it helps to curb unnecessary hunger.

Mind Over Matter – Your mentor on your journey to a basic healthy diet

• Eat your food in silence without any distractions. Avoid being busy on your mobile, laptop, or television while eating.
• Chewing food properly is essential to facilitate the process of digestion. Always chew your food properly. Eat at a moderate pace, and not in a rush.
• Talking while eating creates unnecessary gas production. Further, gulping large chunks of food causes indigestion.
• Eating mindfully is an important aspect of maintaining good health. It helps us to avoid overeating.
• Avoid eating when in a negative frame of mind. Your mood affects the way you eat. This in turn affects the effect of food on your body.

Say Goodbye to Fad Diets – get back on track by saying hello to a basic healthy diet

• Dinner should always be the lightest meal of the day. It should be consumed as early as practically possible. This allows the body sufficient time for digestion before going to sleep.
• If your Dinner was at 8:00 p.m. and the next meal i.e. Breakfast is consumed at 8:00 a.m. the next morning, you have given your body a good 12-hour rest.
• Following a disciplined and healthy routine as suggested above will lead to automatic intermittent fasting. You have given your body sufficient rest at the right time.
• If you have a tendency to blindly follow fad diets aimlessly, there is an important lesson to be learned here. Follow a natural diet system as per the needs and wants of the body. It is not recommended to put yourself through unnecessary torture to follow a diet fad. There is a danger of it affecting not just your physical but also your mental health.

Conclusion

The importance of good health cannot be ignored. Good health is primarily based on good nutrition. Moreover, it is not what you eat, but how you eat that determines your overall health and well-being no matter what your health goals are. Following the principles of a basic healthy diet are very important to maintain good health and ideal weight. It is important to maintain a healthy body image. Food plays a very important role in weight management. You may adopt any form of exercise; it will not help unless you change your eating habits. An obsession with healthy eating can also turn out to be a psychological problem. Hence learn to keep it simple.

About the Author

Karen Rego is a content contributor at Life Positive. She is a certified yoga practitioner and has completed her advanced teacher's training in yoga education from The Yoga Institute. An important part of her yoga teacher training course also included the importance of food and nutrition for a healthy lifestyle. She is also a law graduate and has previously worked in corporate legal and compliance for 10 years.