The way to a healthier you in 2014
January 06 2014
Lose weight. Eat better. Finally get fit. The vagueness (not to mention blind optimism) of New Year’s resolutions also makes them near-impossible to achieve. Here are some tips to help you get healthier this year.
• Eat more pickles. Once upon a time, fermented foods were common with every meal. Research has now shown that fermented foods are full of good germs that improve our overall health. By bringing foods such as sauerkraut, kimchee, fermented vegetables (pickles and garlic), cheeses, yogurts and of course, probiotic beer and wine back into our diet, we can live better in a natural and delicious way.
• Plan your meals. Planning your meals avoids over eating and unnecessary snacking. Maintaining a regular schedule of healthy meals with carefully controlled portions will not only improve your health, but you will eat out less and you will waste less food; both of which help you save money!
• Don’t fill your calorie count with liquids. If weight’s a concern, avoiding high calorie drinks such as soft drinks and sugar heavy sports or energy drinks is a great way to start you on your way to better health.
• Try walking instead. Next time you’re about to drive over to the store or about to take the elevator up a few stairs, try walking. It’s cheap, it’s fun and it will help you achieve your weight goals.
• Get a good night’s sleep. Good-quality sleep keeps your appetite hormones in check, cools those inflammatory chemicals that promote heart disease and cancer and keeps your waistline trim. A recent study in the American Journal of Science showed that a good night’s sleep is like clearing your neurological cache. In other words, sleep clears out the clutter. So aim for 7 1/2 to eight hours of shut-eye a night for these benefits.
• Eat more slowly. According to research from the University of Alberta, if you spend less than 60 minutes a day eating – you are eating too fast. It takes at least 20 minutes for your gut to tell your brain that you’ve eaten. Paying attention to what you are eating, chewing and savoring each bite, eating without distractions, such as driving, phone calls or texting, goes a long way to reduce overeating. Vegetables, fruits and complex carbohydrates all take more time to eat than prefabricated processed foods.
• Be mindful of what you are eating. In the words of Hippocrates: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” The best medicine is preventative medicine. With that in mind, thinking about what you are eating and the quantity of that food is the best medicine for a healthier you. Try to stay away from too many processed foods and convenience products and look to increase your intake of fruits, vegetables and legumes.
• You’ve got to move it to lose it. If your goal is to lose weight this year, then healthy eating is an excellent way to start but it’s not the only thing you need to do. Move regularly and you’ll think, sleep, work, play and even love better. Move every day for as little as 15 minutes and the rewards are even greater. How great? How’s reducing your risk of some types of cancer by up to 50 per cent? So swim, walk, run, shovel snow, do yoga, play golf, it doesn’t matter what it is as long as it gets you moving. This is the advice from Greg Wells, assistant professor at the University of Toronto and associate scientist of physiology and experimental medicine, the Hospital for Sick Children.
Try these simple steps for a healthier 2014.
