The key to healthy diet is eating the right number of calories in accordance with how active you are. This way, you are going to balance the consumption and usage of energy from food. Eating or drinking too much will make you put on weight while eating and drinking too little will result in loss on weight. It is important to eat a wide range of food that help your body get a balanced mix of nutrition without anything lacking in their diet.
Men require about 2,500 calories a day while women require around 2,000. Eating a lot more or a lot less than the required calories on a regular basis can lead to health issues.
Here are some tips to help you get the required amount of energy while at the same time, keeping your fit and healthy.
1. Include Starchy Carbohydrates to Your Diet
About one-third of the food you eat should come from starchy carbohydrates. It is important to include at least one starchy food with all your main meals. It is also recommended to choose wholegrain varieties as they keep you fuller for longer as they have a rich quantity of fibre in them. It is important to keep an eye on the amount of fat you add to the starchy carbohydrates when you are cooking them as it can lead to an increase in the overall calorie content.
2. Include a Lot of Fruits and Vegetables to Your Daily Diet
As per the experts, it is important to include at least five portions of vegetables and fruits to your daily diet. It might sound easy, but doing this practically can be an issue. The best thing to do is add fruits and vegetables to your regular meals. Chop a banana over your morning cereal or add some fresh strawberries. Swap your snacks for fruits or vegetable salads. It is important to note that fruit juices cannot make up enough for eating fruits. Therefore, you should not swap fruit and vegetables smoothies for their fresh counterparts.
3. Add Fish to Your Diet
Not only do fish contain a lot of proteins, but is also a rich source of many minerals and vitamins. You should eat fish at least twice each week. You should also include a portion of oily fish to your diet as it is rich in omega 3 fats and can be really helpful to prevent heart diseases.
4. Cut Down on Sugar and Fats
While our body does need some amount of sugar and fats to work properly, overdoing it can lead to serious health issues. Eating too much saturated fat can lead to an increase in blood cholesterol which further causes heart issues. Thus, you should include more of unsaturated fats in your diet in replacement of saturated ones.
Too much sugar can lead to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay. It is best to keep the use of processed foods and drinks containing sugar to a minimum to remain healthy and active while also being free of any health issues.