A Guide to Healthy Eating!

There's no such thing as bad food. It's commonly heard that this food's bad for you or don't eat this because it's not good for you or other similar phrases. It is ok to have a sweet or burger in moderation. Eating broccoli and carrots as a snack will provide you more nutritional benefits than chips would. But people usually say something is bad for you because they believe that single item causes weight gain. 

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People talk about weight gain vs weight loss. Healthy eating does not need to restrict yourself of foods that you like. It's about finding a healthy balance between foods. You do not need to remove an entire food group from your diet to be healthier. Healthy eating is to eat enough macro and micronutrients  that help you feel energized, great and overall feel better. 

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There're so many information about nutrition that it can feel confusing. However it doesn't have to be too complicated. Let's break it down. We only need a healthy balance of proteins, carbs and fats. The job of protein is to build, repair and strengthen tissue. But there are different types of protein. 

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The first one is complete protein. This type of protein could come from meat, dairy, eggs, etc. These foods are considered complete because they contain contain the nine different amino acids that our body cannot produce. Amino acids are basically molecules that every living thing needs in order to make proteins. Body needs 20 different amino acids, 9 of which are essential. We consume these through our food because our body cannot produce them. Our body has a ton of proteins that each has a different job and function in our body. 

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There are also incomplete proteins. They're typically found in most plant foods such as beans, nuts and vegetables. They are called incomplete because they don't contain essential amino acids. When you combine two or more incomplete proteins that make a complete protein. They're known as complementary protein. For example; eating beans and rice or peanut butter on wheat bread or even mac and cheese. Combine these to get a complete protein. 

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Now carbohydrate. The main function of carbs is to provide energy. Carbs get broken down into glucose, then used as energy. Now there are two different classifications of carbs. There're complex carbs. Complex carbs have more fiber and they digest slower. Foods such as beans, whole grain, bread, rice, potatoes or corn. These types of carbs provide us with vitamins, minerals and fiber. The other kind is simple carbs, they are absorbed more quickly than complex carbs. Main sources are sugar, fruit, milk and some vegetables. But it also includes sugar added to things like baked goods, candy pop, these tend to cause a spike in your blood's sugar levels. 

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The another macronutrient that we need is dietary fat. Dietary fats provide your body with energy. They help with cell growth. They keep you warm and they protect your organs. Among other benefits now saturated and trans fat should be kept at a lower level as these can lead to a whole variety of different health issues. Unsaturated fats such as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated are okay to add to your diet. Some unsaturated fat sources are avocados, nuts, sunflower seeds. 

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You also need to consume micronutrients. These are things like vitamins and minerals that body needs in smaller quantities. You need to keep in mind when you're planning your meals together is that they should consist of  protein, carb and healthy dietary fat. So you don't need to remove a food group or a certain food item from your diet in order to eat healthier or to lose weight. 

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We see this all the time when someone wants to start eating healthier or they want to start losing weight, they start removing things from their diet. They start restricting themselves of foods which means they're not getting all the nutrients that their body needs in order to function properly. The more that you restrict yourself from eating a donut, chances are you're gonna want it even more and you give in to the craving of having a donut, even though you've been restricting yourself from it. It might lead you to feeling guilty or even indulging in more than you would have had if you wouldn't have been restricting yourself. That's where we start to see and develop these bad relationships with food. Instead if you have a donut once in a while in moderation or let's say you have the donut for breakfast, add a salad into your lunch so that you can get those macaron micronutrients that your body needs that you didn't get because you ate a donut or maybe have it for dinner. 

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In order to have a healthy diet, you need to have a variety of foods. Start packing food for lunch during the week, start cooking more at home little by little, start eating out less. Started paying attention to what you are eating. Counting macros is very similar to counting calories but focusing on the protein, carb and fat intake. Personally I wouldn't classify it as a diet because most diets have some kind of restriction around food counting macros. You calculate how much protein, carbs and fat, you should eat each day based on your goals. Eating habits will not change overnight, keep working on them. Be creative with what you eat, it has to be something that you enjoy and that you actually like. Keep in mind is that there's really no way of clearly defining what healthy eating is because we all have different needs. But we do have a general guideline what might be healthy for us. I want to hear from you in the comments section. Let me know, do you struggle with your nutrition? what are some tips that have helped you as you develop these better eating habits? 

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