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Eat Drink And Be Merry
Christmas is coming and maybe it is not just the goose that is going to get fat. We all tend to over indulge to a varying degree at this time of the year. Why else is the main new year resolution dieting, either for health or weight loss. It must be our guilty conscience.
There is no need to have a guilty conscience. You can indulge and join in the festivities without watching what you eat or drink. I don’t mean stuffing your face or drinking to excess just because it is Christmas, but you don’t have to watch your diet too carefully. Anyway if you normally eat healthy nutritious food and avoid junk and processed foods you will not be going crazy anyway.
If you follow my advice in this site and in my website at http://www.thenutritiondietclub.com and eat a healthy nutritious diet already the traditional Christmas dinner will be little different - other than maybe quantity. Turkey, potato, brussel sprouts, carrots, peas and stock based gravy, gives a healthy meal. Pudding and pies are perhaps an excess but once the day is over we will no doubt revert to our normal diet and no harm is done.
If you avoid over indulging too much on the chocolate and alcohol and nibbles, things you may not eat much of during the year, you can have a ‘normal’ guilt free Christmas and no harm done. There is also the new year resolution if all else fails! So eat drink and be merry.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
What Diet
There are many diets around, and knowing which diet is best for you is hard to work out. There are low fat, low carbohydrate, low calorie, low gl, raw food, paleo, vegetarian, vegan, food combining (one of the better diets), and even ‘the perfect diet’; though nothing is perfect in reality.
We are not perfect either so trying to stick to a rigid diet routine is difficult enough without wondering if it is the right diet. So what is the answer. We all want to have a better diet, either for weight loss or health reasons. If it is a diet that is ‘low’ or restrictive in some way then it is probably not balanced and the nutrient content is not complete.
A complete diet is the answer and should be one that provides all the nutrients the body needs. Though I doubt any diet can do that in reality today without a lot of care and work. A diet with healthy nutritious food and few rules to follow is a good start. A diet that is not too difficult to follow and fits in with everyday lifestyles and uses everyday foods. A advocate a diet based on nutritious food and some simple rules. The main one being avoid processed foods, junk foods and soft drinks and colas including diet drinks (another story) and eat more fruit and vegetables.
You don’t have to starve yourself or count calories, and can eat as much fruit and vegetables as you like but eat more vegetables than fruit. The following is a list of foods to base your diet on and none are exotic, expensive superfoods.
Apples, Bananas, Berries, Pineapple, Broccoli, Lentils, Garlic, Onions, Mung Beans, Flax Seeds, Sunflower Seeds, Nuts, Oats, Olive oil, Green Tea, Tomatoes, Sprouts (as in sproutings), Yoghurt (plain), all Vegetables, other fruits (grapefruit, grapes, kiwi, oranges, peaches, pears, prunes (high in anti oxidents)
Plenty of choice there and if you are not vegetarian make sure any meat etc you choose is organic, free range chicken and eggs, meat from organic grass reared animals and oily fish such as sardines and salmon. You don’t have to have large amounts of these or eat them every day, so the cost is not out of reach.
Age is another factor to take into account when working out a diet. While on the subject of ideal foods, the following are good for us oldies - cherries, oats, almonds, oily fish, tomato, chicken (free range), full milk (organic), together with the rest of the above foods.
Add to this healthy nutritious diet more fresh air and exercise and you have the potential for a healthier lifestyle that will make you feel good and look good.
New Year – New Diet
Image via Wikipedia
Well the holiday/festive season is over and a new year 2012 is upon us. Many people will be thinking of all the things they will be doing in the new year and a new diet is usually top of the list. A new year resolution to lose weight or eat more healthily is the first thought especially after the guilt of all that food and drink over Christmas and New Year.
The papers and magazines all had their diet stories and diet plans for a new you and of course a new diet pill is out to make it easy for you to lose those pounds. Once again it is an attack on fat. The new pill like many others is supposed to work by interfering with the body’s ability to absorb fat. This is not the answer. The body needs fat for various reasons but the right fats. Stop using cooking oils and margarine and spreads. Cut out the fried foods and use olive oil and a little butter. The brain is made up of a high proportion of fat and we need the fat soluble vitamins – Vitamin A, D, E, K and essential fatty acids. Why do we keep getting told to take our omega 3 oil. Vitamin D is also important for many health reasons including heart health and there are always stories about the need for Vitamin D.
The other problem with a pill is that even if it worked it does not change your diet. Which is why you got fat in the first place. If you have also changed your diet, well forget the pill. A diet of healthy highly nutritious foods as I keep recommending is the way to achieve a healthy weight loss. Plenty of fruit and vegetables, nuts and seeds, whole grains if you tolerate grains and legumes. Eat a wide variety of foods and as many as possible raw. You can learn more about a healthy nutritious diet at http://www.thenutritiondietclub.com. No need for a pill and so you save money as well! Happy and Healthy New Year.
