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Healthy Eating Enables Us to
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To help our bodies cope with stress of all kinds, we need to eat the best diet possible. Healthy eating puts back the nutrients we lose when we are faced with chronic stress. These nutrients are vital to wellness as well as soothing to the mind and body.
It can be more difficult to eat wisely while under stress. Making wise choices makes us healthy and improves our self-esteem. By using a bit of thought and planning, great improvements can be made in how we feel. Any change is easier when done gradually.
10 Tips for Healthy Eating
A lot of us have been guilty of unconscious eating. We are hungry so we eat whatever is available. Thinking about what we eat is the first step toward a better diet. Here are some small ways you can get started.
1) Always eat breakfast. If you are in a hurry (always!), try an apple and a piece of cheese.
2) Cut down or eliminate caffeine. Caffeine makes you feel more anxious. Substitute water or soothing tea.
3) Add one piece of fruit and/or vegetable to your diet a day.
4) Drink more water. Staying hydrated is crucial to keeping stress at bay.
5) Eliminate junk food. Make sure you have healthy snacks available at all times. This is where the planning comes in.
6) Eat a salad with lots of greens and a protein everyday for lunch. Use just a bit of dressing.
7) Eat a healthy snack mid morning and mid afternoon. This will keep your energy up and stress level down. Try a handful of almonds or a peanut butter on whole wheat sandwich.
8) Don't skip any meals. Regular meals and snacks stabilizes blood sugar. This keeps many stress-related symptoms like dizziness, palpitations and sweating to a minimum.
9) Cut down on sugar laden foods. Instead of giving into your sugar cravings, make a healthy substitution like fruit or yogurt with fresh fruit.
10) When eating out (including fast food), choose a salad or sandwich that is not fried. When dining, look for the dish with lean protein and vegetables.
More Healthy Eating Tips
The choices you make about breakfast can make or break your day. Try to eat breakfast before you get hungry in the morning. Include protein such as lean meat, eggs, milk, yogurt, cheese or nut butters. Also add some good quality carbs like whole grain bread, fresh fruit or vegetables. This will give you the energy you need to get through the morning chaos.Healthy snacks are so important. When under stress, we even more hungry. We are using up our food and nutrients faster than normal. Making good snack choices can really improve how you feel. This is a good rule to go by: Alone or in combination, your snack choices should contain 8 grams of protein, 2 grams of fiber and fewer than 30 grams of carbohydrates. You can find that in an energy bar, nuts, a bowl of good cereal, yogurt and fruit, cheese and fruit, vegetable sticks and nut (peanut, almond) butter for dipping.
Lunch and supper don't have to be such big meals when you are incorporating snacks into your eating plan. A lean meat, fish or eggs with a steamed vegetable, salad or bean dish is plenty. You will be satisfied and have more energy since you haven't eaten such a big meal.
What you drink can be just as important as what you eat. Drinking lots of water is crucial. I find that drinking water in the morning makes me feel more awake than drinking coffee. Try it, you may find the same. Anything that can reduce caffeine intake is great.
Caffeine is a double-edge sword. When we are stressed and fatigued, we use caffeine to get by. In actuality, caffeine makes us feel more stressed. Any stimulant to our system will act on our adrenal glands sending them into fight or flight mode. So, it is better to avoid caffeine or at least consume as little as possible. If you need a cup in the morning, switch to half-caff which contains half the caffeine as regular coffee. Or, drink tea instead which has less caffeine and antioxidants to boot.
Another huge improvement you can make to your diet is limiting or eliminating consumption of simple carbohydrates and sugar. Simple carbohydrates are fruit juices, baked goods, white bread, white rice, chips, pretzels and crackers. Choose instead whole grain bread, brown rice, quinoa, basmati, whole wheat noodles and crackers. If you must have that chocolate chip cookie, eat it after lunch or dinner. Instead of sugar for sweetening, use Stevia or Xylitol (found in health food stores).
Now that doesn't sound so hard, does it? Luckily, food manufacturers and producers are listening to a call for healthy eating. I live in a small town and can find many healthy products at my local grocer including organic items. There are many more options now when choosing healthful foods.
Just start with a small change. When that becomes easy, add another. Every small step you take make you healthier, improve your self-esteem and greatly increase your ability to cope with stress. Make good food choices and healthy eating will become second nature in no time.
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