It doesn’t matter where you turn these days it seems that someone is having a go at you about your general lifestyle, whether it be about exercise or about the food that you eat. It could be a friend, someone who makes a passing comment as you’re walking down the street or the constant media bombardment that you get on a daily basis. The thing is that there is a lot of advantages about living a healthy lifestyle, and it’s more than just the way you look, it’s also about how you feel and the longevity of life itself.
When promoting a healthy lifestyle, it’s not just about going on a diet as diets are short lived and most are doomed to failure. It’s more about changing the way you eat long-term and sticking to it as this will have a prolonged benefit and does away with ballooning weight effects that normal diets produce, which in itself is very unhealthy. Therefore a healthy lifestyle is exactly that, it’s when you make the decision to change the way you live and make it a lifestyle choice, one that you will stick to.
Perhaps that is what puts most people off, the fact that as much as they want to be healthy they feel that they are unable to change their lifestyle as the sacrifice is too much. This can be so true for those people who love their food as they may feel that it is all too hard to change their diet and that eating healthy is so bland and boring. The fact is that this is so far from the truth and that with the correct approach and food combinations there are many ways of treating your taste buds to burst of fresh flavor.
I’ve found some very interesting ways of combining natural foods into healthy meals at Phytolife.com. As there motto is to ‘Power Yourself Naturally, their site concentrates on phytonutrients, which mother nature as blessed us with through the availability of the very diverse fruit and vegetables. The recipes that are found there are all quick and easy, and more importantly are very tasty.
Now, I’m not telling you to go vegetarian, something that I did do for a very long while until I got married, but I am saying that it should be a very important part of your diet. Substituting these meals for the unhealthy takeaways and those frozen dinners can make all the difference. This is a life choice that can enhance the life of you and your family. Your new lifestyle should also include an exercise regime, and I am not talking about going to the gym. When you think about it, our bodies were not designed for a sedentary lifestyle as those muscles were designed to do more than just laying on the couch. Go out and kick the ball with the kids, take those long evening walks and enjoy the surroundings, even if you have to drive to the park or something where you can get some fresh air and enjoy a bit of nature, just don’t become a couch potato.
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Tagged with: Health • Natural foods • Nutrition
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Eat a well balanced meal, fresh fruit and go for a good walk regularly. Youn dont have to knock yourself about exercising or vibrating your bone structure while pounding the pavement. Keep active!
And where better to go out for a stroll than beautiful NZ, although I found that a bit more than a stroll was necessary to keep warm in the South Island during the winter months. Still the scenery was always beautiful.
Oh Sire, you’re making feel guilty already. I think for most of us, we have been neglecting our health. We know it but never really do anything about it. Thanks for the reminder, I’m off to take that walk….
Peter Lee
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I did? Gee, I must be good
Seriously Peter, there’s nothing wrong with a daily walk. Just remember to take in your surroundings and enjoy the experience.
Wow Sire, you have great timing. I can hardly walk after the meal I had last night. (Click the Comment Luv link below to see it) I’ve been doing so well and completely blew it for Valentine’s Day ;)
Seriously though, I ate fast foods for over twenty years. When I was an OTR truck driver I would eat McDonald’s 1 or 2 times a day. Cheap and easy access was the main reason. As we get older our reasoning changes and hopefully our lifestyle. Too bad it took so long to figure it out. Now it’s no more smoking, eating lite and often, exercise and yes even vitamins and fiber. Fast food restaurants are a thing of the past. All this is needed just to do half of what I did back then.
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Hi Brian, thanks for dropping by mate. I reckon it’s pretty safe to say that most of us have been guilty of eating the wrong foods in the past, but the main thing is that we have learned something from our mistakes.
The thing is that you can have a healthy lifestyle and still splurge on stuff like cakes and chocolate every now and again, as long as you don’t make it a regular thing. Thankfully Valentines Day only comes once a year, and then there are birthdays, Thanksgiving, Xmas, shit on second thought, maybe you shouldn’t overdo it on those special occasions. :tongue_wink_ee:
Okay, two things.
One, I found it funny that one of your ads that’s showing is for the Metrocard, that’s only for New York City, as far as I know; that’s kind of funny, considering where you are. :smirk2_ee:
Two, you know I struggle with eating patterns, being diabetic. Last year at this time, while I was home, I was able to drastically lower my glucose by a strict eating plan. Then I went on the road and lost control. Now I’m back in the mode of trying to regain control, only it’s not as easy because some other factors have changed. And yet, I’m still doing better than being on the road.
Three, I hate vegetable and fruits, which of course limits some of my options. I have heard of phytonutrients, but of course, plants are vegetables in my mind, so it’s not happening. :zip_ee: :grin2_ee:
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Mitch, first off, I understand that there may be a hell of a lot of people who hate fruit and vegetables, but honestly mate, if it’s going to do you good, health wise, then I really think you should try your hardest to include some in your meals, even if you start off with very small portions. I know there were many vegetables I used to hate when I was a kid, but my parents forced me to eat them because ‘it was good for you’. and now I have no problem at all.
Do you hate all fruit? I didn’t think that was possible.
As for the ad, where do you see it as I know I don’t run it.
You know the ads that run immediately after your post? Those bad boys rotate, and the one I saw when I was commenting was for the NY Subway. The one showing now is for something called Easy Brand Shopz.
Well, I do hate vegetables in general, but there are some I’ll eat, like carrots, lettuce, and my own homemade cole slaw. I also like spinach and beets. I’ll eat those frozen mixed vegetables, and I’ll eat broccoli if I can hide it with lots of meat and potatoes, but I don’t like them.
As for fruit, the only one I’ll eat is apples, and only if they’re peeled and sweetened with Equal. Yeah, that’s a shame, but that’s about it.
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OH, those are my Chitika ads and I would expect them to be biased towards American brands.
I can’t believe you sweeten your apples with Equal. I’ve always felt they were sweet enough on their own. That’s a pretty good list of vegetables, and I always thought coleslaw was one word. I love spinach, especially when my mum bakes it in a pie. honestly there is so much you can do with vegetables I reckon that done properly you would be able to satisfy the most fastidious dieter.
You may not see it the same, Sire, but I think the taste of many foodstuffs has changed over the years. I remember eating apples as a kid and thinking they were sweet enough, but no more. I also remember apples being smaller, and some of them are just so big now. I often wonder if the pesticides that they’re always changing to kill bugs, which are always modifying themselves to overcome the latest pesticide, have altered food at all.
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Actually Mitch, it makes me wonder what sort of apples they are feeding you guys down there. We have several varieties and they are still pretty sweet.
It sort of pisses me off how our farmers have very stringent rules that they have to abide buy when growing food, and yet the government allows all this cheap crap from overseas who don’t adhere to the same rules. Bloody unfair that.
Actually Sire, New York grows a vast number of apples; we’re kind of the apple capital of the country. So, there are lots of choices and varieties; they just don’t taste the same to me as they once did.
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That seems weird. Wish I could taste one so that I could see for myself.
Hi Sire!
Oh you are so right – eating healthy by changing our lifestyle is NOT painful at all. The problem I have found as a nutritionist is that people are scared and confused deep down of what they are going to eat and what will it taste like and what will others think…
The truth is when we educate ourselves on the foods we eat, CHANGE COMES NATURALLY.
There is no such thing as feeling deprived, after all “what am i depriving myself of? – disease!” And there is no such thing as too hard. Eating healthy is actually cheaper and easier (aside from fast food of course) than traditional eating, once people get educated on what to do of course.
Anyhow this is a great article and yes, more and more people do need to hear these messages as really it comes down to a matter of quality of life they are going to have. We don’t have to live with guilt, we just need to make a choice to act a new.
P.S. Sad to hear that you are no longer a vegetarian ;) The health benefits are so tremendous when it is done right. And today research on this is pointing from every angle and coming through more and more consistantly.
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Hi Evita, thanks so much for the great comment. As for not being a vegetarian any more, it’s just one of the sacrifices that I’ve made for love
having said that I still have a lot of it in my diet and there is nothing more refreshing or tasty than a lovely fruit salad.
I don’t have all that much meat, and when I do it’s only in small portions. I remember how I used to eat a fair bit of eggs and nuts to get my protein but I think there is more information out these days as to what foods provide a good protein intake.
Thanks for dropping by.
Great post Sire. My wife is really trying to transition our family’s eating habits to a more whole foods base. I support her 100%, but as a true meat eater, it is a bit of a sacrifice for me!
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Mate, if I can do it for love, then so can you. Anyway, it may be hard to start off with, but once you get into it it gets easier.
I think a lot of people consider going healthy / vegetarian as a loss. Loss of their favorite food, loss of money because it’s supposedly more expensive. But What they don’t realize is that you gain the awakening of your taste buds to new foods you would have never tried before. And the extra bit you may pay for organic will benefit you in less doctor’s bills and medication. It all balances out, and you end up healthier and happier.
~ Kristi
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Hey Kristi, it seems that in this case the end certainly does justify the means, and if you have to put up with a bit of a lack of taste, for some, in the eating department, I reckon a healthier and happier lifestyle is worth that temporary adjustment.
it was only a few years ago when i was a gym rat. I ate a lot of brocolli (no fat) and a lot of lean, grilled chicken for protein and other crazy salads and specific types of meal. I enjoyed it once I had the ball rolling. I noticed a lot of changes during that lifestyle. I felt compelled to wake up early in the morning to go to the gym. I felt more confident and the attention to detail grew stronger than when I was just an average weight and body type. My eye hand coordination stepped up to another level and my way of thinking wasn’t irrational. Pretty much, when you’re healthier, a lot of things become healthy along with you.
I feel the difference now, 2 kids later and no workout or gym time for over 3 years. My body fat grew from the muscles I was able to gain. my stamina decreased my motivation went down the drain, my confident factor went down, plus my ability to perform at the level I was before showed how much I’ve lost it.
Living a healthy lifestyle is worth the sacrifice you make, but it’s not like you can’t eat what you want to eat or do what you want to do. You just have to do healthier portions and use better judgement and management of the things you’re used to.
At the end of the day i can say that during that time i was at my best both physically and mentally.
Isn’t it amazing how much better you feel when you give the body what it yearns for. The body can be considered a biological machine that performs best when it is given the right fuels. But that isn’t the end of it, as the fuels are only part of the equation. Food can be considered the fuel and the muscles can be considered the engine and the engine has to work to convert the fuel which in turn enhances the engine so it works more efficiently. If we just consume the fuel and do not work the engine the fuel gets converted to fat cells, just in case we decide to get off our fat arse and actually do some work to burn up those fat deposits.
I keep telling myself that I will hit the gym again, and I will I just have to get into a routine and stick to it.
Same here, as far as the workouts go, but I just haven’t gotten that far with it yet, although I did work out a little bit last night.
That’s good Mitch, just make it a part of a routine and it will be a lot easier to maintain.
that’s a great analogy, as soon as my kids get a little older i’ll be hitting the gym back up as well. right now 2 and 1 year olds is just crazy
I know, been there and done that. Mine are 20 and 17 and it is a hell of a lot easier now than it was when they were as young as your children. Make sure you take lots of photos, as they tend to grow up rather quickly.
Changing our health definately goes hand-in-hand with altering our lifestyle. No quick fixes. You make strong points about limiting the junk from our diets. I love the work the Slow Food movement is doing to combat fast food. I also believe in the motto of In Defense of Food: Eat food, Not too much, Mostly plants.
Becoming healthy takes lots of efforts. But the results are very good and make you feel nice. It gives you more confidence.