Let’s get real: staying healthy is hard to do. Between the office goodies that the secretary always brings in every Friday to the fast paced world you live in (which makes it so difficult to make time to head to the gym), your life is filled with activity. But how much of it is healthy? Does your lifestyle need a healthy boost to go? It’s National Nutrition month, which means we have the dose for healthy eating for your mind and body that you’ve been waiting for!
Always Apply the 70/30 Rule (Always!)
If you’re a parent, then you might be used to saying something to your toddler like this: “Eat your greens. That’s what will give you the energy to become big and strong!” By the time you become an adult, you know the facts about food: you are what you eat. But each time you indulge in a rich, creamy, carb-filled meal, you suffer the consequences. When you don’t fuel your body with real, whole foods (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, etc.) your energy, mood and metabolism plummet. The end result? You feel awful.
Here’s a rule you can follow to a ‘T’, and when you do, you’ll jet set your body and mind to a whole new level of fitness: apply the 70/30 rule to each and every day! The 70/30 rule goes as follows—keeping yourself ‘fit as a fiddle’ is 70 percent the food you eat, and 30 percent exercise. Feeling sluggish? Then ask yourself, “When’s the last time I had a protein packed meal? Have I had my day’s allotment of fresh veggies and fruit? How much sugar and caffeine have I had today?”
The answer is usually right there in your last meal.
In other words, food affects not only your metabolism, but your waistline, your mood, and most of all, your energy level. Skip the donuts and scramble up some eggs instead, and you’ll immediately feel the difference—you’ll eat less by staying fuller for a longer period of time, and best of all? Your motivation to keep up the ‘healthy eating trend’ will last all day long. Skip the vending machine snacks during a mid-afternoon slump, and reach for those ham and cheese roll-ups you prepped and packed, instead. Grab a yogurt, and top it with raspberries and blueberries—two ‘super foods’ which don’t only taste great, but keep your svelte figure looking its very best!
Now you don’t have any more excuses. No more ‘I’ll start eating better tomorrow.” It’s National Nutrition Month, after all! Take your hand out of the cookie jar, and grab some berries or nuts instead. When you fuel your body with nutrient packed food, you give yourself the motivation, energy and will power to eat right all week long!
