Why we don’t really understand how to be healthy

The Truth behind healthy eating.

We all know that eating healthy is important.  We all understand that we need our five a day in order to ‘get our vitamins’.  However, the sad truth is that beyond a simple understanding of the ‘healthy eating’ concept, too many of us just don’t actually really know why we are told these things at all.

Think for a moment about all the people in the Western world who are struggling with weight and health issues.  Obesity, cancer, heart disease and diabetes are among the commonest problems relating to poor health and is costing our health service billions in revenue every year.

If we all fully understood why we need our fruit and vegetables, we should all be extremely healthy, no one would be overweight and we would never get sick.

Sounds perfect doesn’t it.  So why are we not a picture of health and vitality?

1 – We are given too much information

You only have to turn on your computer or TV to see a mass of information relating to health. Tips, advise, things to do, things not to do, how to lose weight, how to get a flat tum.  The list goes on.  How on earth do you sift through all the information to get to the stuff that relates personally to you?

Learn to know your own body.  Eating well should include a daily intake of 50% fresh vegetables, with the remaining 50% split into good fats and oils, good carbs such as wholegrain’s, beans, lentils and red starches, lean protein such as eggs, fish and white meat, and fresh fruit.  Cut out the processed meals, sugar, bad fats and white starches which include ‘white’ varieties of bread, pasta and rice.

2 – No one really understands what to eat and why they should eat it

There are so many conflicting stories going on in the health world, it is no surprise that many of us do not understand what on earth we should eat.  One minute coffee is bad, then suddenly it actually turned out that its good.  How can we keep up?

As long as you follow the basic healthy food rules as above, you won’t go wrong.  Eat what you like, as long as you understand healthy eating and keep the ‘treat food’ to a minimum.  Enjoy your food.  Enjoy your life.

3 – The Diet industry has always got it wrong

The main aim of the diet world is to make money out of the suffering of everyone else.  They focus on cutting calories, usually to the detriment of long term health for the dieter.  Low fat is the name of the game and cutting down on the amount of food eaten is key.

The problem arrises when the diet is finished and you go back to eating normally again.  You pile the weight back on and 12 months later you are back on yet another diet.  Diets focus on weight loss, as fast as possible without giving any consideration at all to overall health.  Low fat foods are not sustainable for life, because we need fat in order to have healthy functioning organs and brains.  Diets usually fail because the person on said diet is normally hungry 24/7.

Learn to understand healthy eating.  Plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, coupled with healthy fats such as coconut, olives and avocados are going to help you lose weight permanently.  Jump off the diet bandwagon and start living well.

4 – We think that being on a diet means we are trying to lose weight

The term ‘Diet’ refers to the food you eat, whether or not you are trying to lose weight.  Your diet can be good or bad.  Someone who is several kilos overweight is still on a diet.  A very bad one.

Forget dieting and start thinking of all food as the ‘diet’ that you are on for the rest of your life.  How do you want to eat longterm?  Struggling with overeating the wrong foods, or learning what is really good for you?

5 – Our ‘five a day’ has become a dirty word

If you think about how most vegetables and fruits are prepared for a meal, you can be forgiven in thinking that they are boring and tasteless.  Carrot sticks and cucumber slices sitting in a bowl.  Salad leaves with no dressing taste like something out of a garden, usually set as a side dish to a big plate of meat.  Over boiled vegetables looking very soggy on the plate.  All rabbit food. We want to rebel against boring rabbit food.  Who wants to be a rabbit?

It is for this reason that people tend to stay away from veg, becoming nervous at the idea that they have to try and get 5 portions of this stuff into every day of the week.  GULP!!

Fresh fruit and vegetables are actually amazing when done properly.  Never prepare salad without a tasty dressing to spice it up.  Eat fruit with yoghurt and nuts or blended into a smoothie.  Steam or roast vegetables or better still, eat them raw in olive oil and garlic.  Just as you would never dream of eating potato fries raw or meat straight from the butchers knife, fruit and vegetables should be made into incredibly tasty dishes too.

6 – We are surrounded by ‘experts’

You only have to look at TV or the internet these days if you want to learn something about food.  Whilst this is incredible, the problem is that ‘everyone’ is experts.  Everyone seems to have something to say about belly fat, bottom toning, muscle building, exercise, yoga, what to eat, what not to eat.

Sift out the important details from the hype, especially when you are being sold a product or service.  Learn to understand your own needs, not the needs of the masses.  We are all unique and amazing, one size really does not fit all.

7 – We are given too much choice

You only have to look at the shelves lining the supermarkets to know just how much choice is now available when it comes to the food we eat.  How on earth do we make sense out of all the different products around?  No wonder many people simply fail to understand how to eat healthier.  Health foods are priced out of the pockets of too many people, leaving cheaper processed items as a safe way to budget.

The trick is to follow the following rules for healthy eating and stick to it.  You will always know your weekly budget and will feel happier and healthier to0.

• Eat fresh whole foods – fruit and veg and buy local, seasonal produce.  These are cheaper and you only need to buy as much as you need for the week.  Ditch the processed packed foods.
• Only eat good fats.  Olive oil, olives, avocados, nuts, seeds and coconut oil. Ditch the lard people.
• Drink more water.  Drinking water helps your body to feel less hungry.  If you don’t like boring old water, add some lemon, lime or fruit.
• Cut the sugar.  Processed sugar contributes to weight gain and many more health issues.  Opt for fresh fruit, honey, maple syrup, stevia leaf and coconut sugar.   Ditch the soda and biscuits (amongst a mountain of other sugar laden products out there)

8 – We are constantly lied to

I have never seen a TV advert showcasing junk food that includes anyone overweight.  Everyone on TV are stunning, slim and have a perfect life that we all crave, eating junk food as if it the most natural thing in the world to do.  On TV it seems as if we can all eat burgers every day and still have glowing skin and toned tums (and live in huge houses).

We are given false promises about what products can do for you and its not fair.  Low fat products are packed with sugar to give a better taste (because fat is tasty).  Sugar is more fattening than fat is, so low fat doesn’t achieve anything other than SALES for the diet industry.  (Or maybe that is their plan all along.  After all, if you keep buying low fat products without losing weight, you will keep buying more low fat products).

Get Savy about what you are being told. If something sounds too good to be true, it normally is.