“I am confused about eating healthy”

 

Tons of people don’t really understand what it means to eat healthy and what it means to eat nutritious foods. I know sometimes I will talk to people about their eating habits and they believe what they eat and how often they eat is considered healthy but when I tell them they are going about things in the wrong way and its causing the opposite effect (gaining weight) then they seem very shocked and surprised. Now if you are wanting to gain weight, eating healthy is still something you should be doing; but this is especially for those of us who may think we have the right idea but really don’t know and base our eating habits on diets and fads and here say. I think the problem with eating healthier is everyone’s definition of healthy eating is different; which is why discussing this is very hard sometimes because not everyone eats the same foods nor eat at the same time and not everyone is open to trying something new.  It’s a habit that we have to instill in people, in ourselves and we have to experiment to get it right otherwise we will fail and not want to try again. I have struggled trying to decide what I should eat and what I shouldn’t and how much should I eat and what time should I eat and it all came down to one thing… WHAT IS THE EASIEST WAY FOR ME TO EAT HEALTHIER? this is really the question you should be asking yourself because eating healthier is also a journey like physical activity, you don’t just decide tomorrow I am going to eat carrots and cucumbers for lunch instead of bologna, you have to have this mentality and you have to decide what is the easiest way about going about this so I don’t quit. Down below I will give you some ideas to consider when you want to eat healthier and decide to take this challenge. I believe knowledge can be power and if you take the time to research foods and the myplate and nutrition you will find some good stuff.

  • Good veggies & good fruits. Sure we hear all the time how veggies and fruits are the best for us but not all veggies and fruits are particularly that great for you if you don’t know how much of it you should be eating and not aware of what it contains that is good for you. 
  • meats are NOT bad for you, vegans and vegetarians will disagree because you have a bias opinion on animal cruelty and while I don’t like seeing animals being hurt either; I appreciate my poultry and red meat very much. Not to mention eating animals contains tons of resources that alternatives may not be able to give us. Now if you are vegan or vegetarian that is fine, but don’t preach to people who enjoy meats because honestly we appreciate our greens just like you but we also enjoy eating chicken and cows the same.. & being vegan and or vegetarian is not the healthiest form of eating (there are other ways to be healthy without having to take away foods) I appreciate those of you who are vegan and vegetarian though and if it works for you, DO IT! 
  • whole wheat (although I will be the first to admit I don’t eat wheat, so if you are like and don’t eat wheat, then I will have a post discussing this)
  • eat less sodium rich foods
  • water! drink tons of water, and stay hydrated
  • have a routine, try to eat breakfast/lunch/dinner at the same times each day
  • don’t skip a meal thinking it will help you lose weight (it will hurt your metabolism)
  • breakfast is important when you wake up, truly the most important meal
  • snack often between meals and snack healthier
  • a salad is actually all carbs pretty much, so just eating a salad isn’t always going to “cut it”, it is good to eat salads but being on a strict, eat salads and nothing else isn’t going to give you everything your body needs. 
  • Sure you have dairy products but I have found out i am lactose intolerant and have some bloating when I drink milk so I have decided to quit drinking milk for the month of march to see if anything changes. So be aware of your intolerants and know how your body reacts to them and you find out it is the reason for why you haven’t lost weight, bloating, diarrhea , ect
  • Fish is good for you, but each fish offers something different and some fish offers better benefits , read up on this
  • anything your deficient in, make sure to find something that can help that 

Don’t take this whole list to heart, things vary for each person. Like I said eating healthy doesn’t mean you have to go vegan or vegetarian or skip meals, eating healthy is simply eating what provides good nutrients in your body and provides energy for you. Eating healthy comes in multiple forms, you have to decide which way to go about this and stick to it. Thanks for reading, please comment, like, share, and reblog.

 

Sincerely,

Your blogger Shay-lon

“I don’t like the feeling of sweating”

sweat

Okay, So I have been gone for a little bit but I have tons of blog post to post about today since the semi event is over now, I will post the rest of everything today. This is the third excuse “I don’t don’t like to sweat” and because of this excuse people think that in order to stay fit you have to sweat and perspire.  The truth of the matter is, that is false. Not everyone sweats and not everyone does exercise that enables their sweat glands to work. I know for a fact that there are many ways to stay fit and exercise without having to get all wet and stinky.  If this is one of your excuses, read below.

  • use a good deodorant 
  • do non-fatiguing exercises
  • do non-vigorous exercises
  • try doing yoga
  • don’t layer yourself in clothes when you want to exercise
  • don’t wear cotton when you exercise
  • workout in a cool environment 
  • instead of running, walk briskly
  • lift lighter weights and more reps
  • take a shower after your workout so you don’t have the feeling of being sweaty bothering you
  • drinks tons of liquids

Now this is a small list of things, but these are very important to consider when you exercise for those of you whom do not like to get sweaty.  I find that people also believe that because you sweat means you are losing weight and although that might be true, it normally is just water weight but its not enough to notice on a scale most of the time.  Working out doesn’t have to be a “dirty” job, there are classes you can take and exercises you can do without having to sweat. Thank you for reading, please follow, share, comment and like!

 

Sincerely,

Your blogger Shay-lon

“I don’t like the taste of healthy”

taste

Believe it or not, this excuse happens a lot. It happens because we like what we like and things we don’t like, we won’t eat. It’s simple. If I don’t like something, then I won’t eat it.  For example I don’t like sweet potatoes or peas and I don’t like them no matter how they are cooked nor will I eat it mixed with anything else. I can understand how someone may not like something & I can definitely understand that normally we aren’t exploring different foods if we think it doesn’t look appealing or if we had a bad experience BUT we shouldn’t let that get in the way of eating healthier.  Now I stand by the fact, we shouldn’t restrict but use moderation (which I will discuss in a later date/time), when it comes to not eating healthy foods because we don’t like the taste, we need to be more open minded to the different types of healthy foods that are available because you are bound to find at least one and more so many that you do like. Since I don’t eat sweet potatoes or peas, I choose to eat other foods that I can get the same nutrients/benefits from that I do enjoy eating.  

  • Explore different recipes
  • use a variety of foods
  • try something at least once
  • cook the food in various ways 
  • if you don’t like the way it taste when it is being eaten, make into a drink and try it that way
  • find alternatives to the foods you do not like
  • balance your plate, you don’t have to eat all greens and fruits all the time, mix it up a bit
  • talk with peers about the type of foods that they enjoy, it may give you ideas. 
  • experiment 
  • make a dressing for the foods, if you don’t like eating something, add something to it that will help improve the taste
  • research the different types of foods available
  • if all else fails, you may need to take supplement pills for certain things if eating certain foods that provide the health benefits don’t taste good to you
  • make the food not just for yourself but maybe for a spouse, a friend, family member, your children, ect to receive feedback; this can be helpful because they might be able to share their ideas with you and not to mention then you won’t have to eat alone 🙂

Eating healthy doesn’t have to be nasty, it can be fun, adventurous, simple, and quite benefiting to our bodies.  No one said you have to eat a salad everyday, there are other ways to eat healthy, all you have to do is explore and branch out your comfort zone.  I think eating healthy is a huge step and it takes time and patience, taking smaller steps will do much more for you than jumping right in.  Thank you for reading, follow, share, reblog, like and comment. 

 

Sincerely

Your blogger Shay-lon

“Nothing is convenient all the time” excuse #2 physical activity

convenience

When people talk about convenience, normally it means nothing that keeps them active or could help keep them active is near them, within reason or they want something to be a quick fix,  Not in all cases is this excuse used, normally used when someone also uses the excuse about time.  I think most of you will agree with some the answers I have share about how convenience is what you make it.  Nothing in life is that convenient where we can just sit on a chair and wish on star to be healthy and it happens; so if that is your idea of convenience.. then no wonder you don’t find things to be convenient. Before I start on this list, some of these things will be solutions to time as well (previous post) and a lot of the solutions will be more of a “food for thought” to keep you thinking on your feet when this situation happens.

 
 
  • Stop looking for quick fixes. Convenience can’t always be a hop, skip and a jump
  • if you don’t live near a gym, then find other means.. ( I made a blog about this)
  • challenge yourself to stay active no matter the situation..  there are a lot of people with illnesses, and handicaps who still manage to stay on the move because they don’t allow their conditions to keep them from things.. so if you have the ability to stay moving without worrying about an illness or handicap then do it. 
  • if time management is the problem; read my blog that helps manage that issue
  • if you do live close to a gym, then that is called convenience and you should take advantage of that

The list was short and it was a bit less in depth but it gives you somewhat of an idea of how convenience is something we make of it.  If convenience is what you want then find it.  No one said you have to drive to a gym, maybe that comes with the territory because most of us own cars we believe that we have to be within driving distance to want to go, when in all reality exercise can happen outside the gym. I think when people use this excuse it all adds up to be .. time… and that in itself is solved by making time and doing things that keep you moving. If anyone has anything they want to add to this, please feel free in doing so.  Comment, like, share and reblog. Thanks for reading.

 

Sincerely 

Your blogger Shay-lon

“Nutrition problem #1”

 

I love when people scream “I don’t know how to eat healthy” or “I do eat healthy” and I ask them why and they say .. “I don’t know”. This reminds me of like a couple of people I know; more like at least 5-6 people.  Now people who say they eat healthy, will list everything under the sun as to why they want to eat healthy but NOT any one of them are saying ” I care about what goes into my body” and the people screaming I don’t know how to eat healthy, will tell me everything they have tried that they thought was healthy but NOT any one of them say “I look at the food labels”. Now I know I will get a lot of hell from those of you who will tell me “Food labels lie”, “food labels aren’t important if you are choosing to eat unhealthy” “I eat veggies and fruits, who cares about food labels”, “I don’t care about food labels because it takes too much time to look and read everything”, “I use common sense”, and my favorite one is “Food labels are pointless because everything we eat is essentially bad for you because we don’t know where it went before it hit the store”.  Here I am to tell you.. guess what? while all your reasons may be valid, they aren’t all true. BUT I am not here to argue with those of you who choose to ignore the fine print, I am simply on here to inform those of you who may not know where to start and why reading the food labels is important & if you choose to say screw reading food labels, by all means.. go on right ahead.

 

Only read down below if you truly care about your health & want to learn some really fun information:

 
  • food labels list the carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, sugars, calories, fats, serving size, ect.. and these are all very important if you want to eat “healthier”.
  • food labels normally come with the list of ingredients and these are important if you are someone who is allergic
  • Food labels are going to do the measuring for you, you just choose how much of it you want to eat
  • when you eat out (fast food .. ) these will come handy
  • I live by the less ingredients is has, the better
  • I don’t know what certain ingredients are, I research them
  • If you are watching your calorie intake (Food labels help)
  • I need low sodium foods (the food label will help you)
  • need to eat less sugaring foods (the food label will help you)
  • watching your carbs (food label will help you)
  • never shopped a certain brand and don’t know what to expect (the food label will help you)
  • want to proportion your plate, the food label will help give you serving size
  • need to do comparisons on foods, read the food labels
  • if you care about what goes into your body, read the food labels
  • For those of you on a veggie and fruit only diet, reading the food label can be even more important for you

Now that I have helped you realize some of the importance of reading a food label, let me help you begin making a routine of it & give you hints as to what to look for when you are reading it:

 
  • Depending on whether you are trying to lose or gain weight, know how much protein and carbs you are putting into your body will come handy; look at this
  • knowing the type of vitamins you are going to be consuming is important because you may be surprised as to what you may or may not be getting enough of 
  • the amount of sugar is important because sugar can turn into fat and the more sugar something has the chances of it being unhealthy or not having “good sugar”
  • The serving size will help you choose how much to eat of something, definitely a good idea when you are someone who is trying to lose weight or gain weight
  • the ingredients most of the time are things we have no clue what they do to our bodies, so the less ingredients it has, the more I trust the product
  • the different fats labelled, are especially important because not all fat is bad fat
  • I will go as far as to saying, the company’s name is usually on the bag somewhere and researching that company can do wonders if you honestly want to know more about what goes on.
  • The calories is important because sometimes things we wouldn’t think would have a lot of calories usually have the most. Be careful when choosing
  • Have a genuine understanding of what you want to eat more of and less of & reading the food label will come in handy

These are just a small list of things compared to what others may say or want to add and I always welcome any and everybody to add to this list at any point because the more we know, the better! I might have skipped over a few things on a food label that is important and if so please make mention. I will say this, it’s not easy to do and it takes patience and somewhat consistency in order to do it on a more daily basis.  For some people, they have gotten to the point where they know right away what matters most to them and that is all they look for on the food label & that is awesome! for others, they are still learning and read everything & by all means that is awesome too! No matter your situation, a food label is important; it might not give you every insight possible but it helped to give you lead way and with the knowledge you can start to make better food decisions for yourself.

 

Add, comment, reblog, share and like. Thank you for reading!

 

Sincerely,

Your Blogger Shay-lon