Staying healthy has never been more important. In past generations, they didn’t see the importance of eating well and working out in order to keep your body in good health and shape. Nowadays, however, there has been enough research and studies conducted to show what a difference it makes to the quality of life as well as the length of life when someone will stay physically active and maintain a proper diet. Now, what is a proper diet? It really depends on the person. You need to find something that you can stick with and follow for the rest of your life. Fad diets and short term ideas are not going to be a good idea for anyone. Eating true leaf microgreens, sticking to Paleo recipes and other ideas are very popular nowadays. Here are a few ideas of how you can stay healthy and still live a normal life.
Paleo
What is Paleo, exactly? The idea of Paleo eating is to return to the way that cavemen would have eaten, had they existed. There would have been no processed foods, sugars, etc and they wouldn’t have had the technology that we have to add chemicals and growth toxins into our foods as they grow. The pure foods, eaten directly as they are grown are the best way to do this. Things like true leaf microgreens, meats, fruits, vegetables and other things that can be grown from the ground are all acceptable ways of eating. True Paleo does not allow the consumption of dairy products but for those who simply cannot live without eggs, cheese and milk; the Primal diet is another variation of Paleo, except that along with the micro herbs, meats and other good for you foods, you can eat organic dairy products as long as they have not been chemically processed.
Clean Eating
Clean eating is a way to live, not just eat. A good rule of thumb, although there are exceptions to the rule, is that if there is just one ingredient, it’s considered ‘clean.’ For example, true leaf microgreens are just that: arugula, kale, basil; the name of the true leaf microgreens are what it is, there are no additives. On the other hand, bread is not considered clean because it consists of sugar, salt, flour, yeast and a myriad of other things, depending on the type. ‘Bread’ is not an ingredient, it is the finished product of several ingredients. As mentioned, there are exceptions to that rule of the one name, but for the most part, you can count on this. No boxed or canned food is going to contain anything clean, either.
Making it a Habit
The most important part about making healthy eating a lifestyle is to set good habits. We set so many bad habits over the years by eating junk food, soda and fast food. We can actually destroy our taste buds. It might take some time but you have to break the bad habits and replace them with good habits. If you can do that for long enough, over time your taste buds will actually regenerate and will become like new again. You will be able to appreciate the natural sugar in things like tomatoes and carrots, believe it or not. You may even find that you enjoy healthier food more than junk food.
Allowing for the Cheats
You have to realize that making a habit and lifestyle out of healthy eating, be it Paleo, Clean Eating or some other idea entirely, there are going to be times when you end up eating a dessert or a bad carb. The thing is, it’s okay. You are constantly poisoning your body with these things so when they really do become the one off and not the norm, they won’t do that much damage; nothing unfixable anyway. However, you will probably find that you don’t want to cheat that often because of how terrible you will feel afterwards. That lethargic, drained feeling comes from the awful food that we eat and when you realize how great you can feel when you don’t eat those things, you’ll want to keep at it and not ruin your healthy streak of eating and living.