I'm often asked what do you do to stay so fit. After they hear about my crazy cycling they quickly ask about my diet and want to know what changes they can make to be a little healthier. The truth is that you don't have to be weird like me and eat foods like quinoa and millet. You can make very small changes that will get you to stay at the weight your at or even drop a few pounds. All it takes is self control and understanding what is going in to your body.
ELIMINATE CHIPS, FRIES, and FAST FOOD
For years I ate way more fast food then I should have, I also had to have chips or fries with any sandwich that I ate. When I started to learn about a healthy diet my first concern was, what will I eat with my sandwiches at lunch if I can't have chips?!?!? The answer is very simple, Chex cereal or almonds. A word of warning about almonds, they are very high in fat, 1oz or 24 almonds have an astounding 14 grams of fat. Almonds are a great source of healthy monounsaturated fats, that reduce the risk of heart disease. This doesn't mean almonds are great to snack on, but if you only take 10 almonds with you for lunch your in great shape. You will get the healthy fats that you need but will not be putting in so many almonds that it is adding bad fats to your body. A great alternative is Chex cereal. Chex is low in fat and high in fiber, they also taste great dry. Give them a shot with your lunch and I promise that you will enjoy it.
GET RID OF SUGARY DRINKS
Initially this paragraph was going to bad mouth soda then I realized that is not fair to soda. Americans take in almost a half of their daily calories from fluids. Drinks like Gatorade, Soda and juice drinks like HI C are evil. These drinks have nothing but sugar and empty calories. A can of soda has 140 calories and supplies nothing nutritious to your body. I'm human, I like soda and will have it with dinner once a week. It is usually one 16oz glass of diet coke, that fills my need and won't do a lot of bad to my body. So what do you drink if you can't drink soda, it's not very exciting but water does nothing but good for your body. That does not mean to stock up on flavored waters, flavored waters often have calories and artificial sweeteners which you want to stay away from. Plain water is the best thing, if you really need some kind of flavor for your water, cut up an orange and squeeze a little bit of the juice in to your water. You will be getting that slight orange taste but without all the artificial. A person that I work with gave up soda in April, he has since lost 15lbs and that was the only change he made to his diet. If that doesn't sell you on water I don't know what will.
I could go on and on for days but those two tips will help get the ball rolling. Take the time to read labels when you are shopping, if it is high in calories and high in fat put it back on the shelf and find a healthy alternative. The healthy foods are right in our super markets we just have to find them. For those who want to read labels before going to the store I suggest visiting Self Nutrition Data. This is a great site that you can type in any food and instantly get of the nutrition facts for that food or meal. It also has great articles about nutrition.
ELIMINATE CHIPS, FRIES, and FAST FOOD
For years I ate way more fast food then I should have, I also had to have chips or fries with any sandwich that I ate. When I started to learn about a healthy diet my first concern was, what will I eat with my sandwiches at lunch if I can't have chips?!?!? The answer is very simple, Chex cereal or almonds. A word of warning about almonds, they are very high in fat, 1oz or 24 almonds have an astounding 14 grams of fat. Almonds are a great source of healthy monounsaturated fats, that reduce the risk of heart disease. This doesn't mean almonds are great to snack on, but if you only take 10 almonds with you for lunch your in great shape. You will get the healthy fats that you need but will not be putting in so many almonds that it is adding bad fats to your body. A great alternative is Chex cereal. Chex is low in fat and high in fiber, they also taste great dry. Give them a shot with your lunch and I promise that you will enjoy it.
GET RID OF SUGARY DRINKS
Initially this paragraph was going to bad mouth soda then I realized that is not fair to soda. Americans take in almost a half of their daily calories from fluids. Drinks like Gatorade, Soda and juice drinks like HI C are evil. These drinks have nothing but sugar and empty calories. A can of soda has 140 calories and supplies nothing nutritious to your body. I'm human, I like soda and will have it with dinner once a week. It is usually one 16oz glass of diet coke, that fills my need and won't do a lot of bad to my body. So what do you drink if you can't drink soda, it's not very exciting but water does nothing but good for your body. That does not mean to stock up on flavored waters, flavored waters often have calories and artificial sweeteners which you want to stay away from. Plain water is the best thing, if you really need some kind of flavor for your water, cut up an orange and squeeze a little bit of the juice in to your water. You will be getting that slight orange taste but without all the artificial. A person that I work with gave up soda in April, he has since lost 15lbs and that was the only change he made to his diet. If that doesn't sell you on water I don't know what will.
I could go on and on for days but those two tips will help get the ball rolling. Take the time to read labels when you are shopping, if it is high in calories and high in fat put it back on the shelf and find a healthy alternative. The healthy foods are right in our super markets we just have to find them. For those who want to read labels before going to the store I suggest visiting Self Nutrition Data. This is a great site that you can type in any food and instantly get of the nutrition facts for that food or meal. It also has great articles about nutrition.
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