Fight Stress With Healthy Eating

Whenever we get too busy or stressed, we all tend

to make poor food choices that will actually

increase stress and cause other problems. To get

the most of your healthy eating and avoid stress,

follow these simple tips.

Always eat breakfast

Even though you may think you aren't hungry,

you need to eat something. Skipping breakfast

makes it harder to maintain the proper blood and

sugar levels during the day, so you should always

eat something.

Carry a snack

Keeping some protein rich snacks in your car,

office, or pocket book will help you avoid blood

sugar level dips, the accompanying mood swings, and

the fatigue. Trail mix, granola bars, and energy

bars all have the nutrients you need.

Healthy munchies

If you like to munch when you're stressed out,

you can replace chips or other non healthy foods

with carrot sticks, celery sticks, or even

sunflower seeds.

Bring your lunch

Although a lot of people prefer to eat fast food

for lunch, you can save a lot of money and actually

eat healthier if you take a few minutes and pack

a lunch at home. Even if you only do this a few

times a week, you'll see a much better improvement

over eating out.

Stock your home

As important as it is to get the bad food out of

your house, it's even more important to get the good

food in! The best way to do this is to plan a menu

of healthy meals at snacks at the beginning of the

week, list the ingredients you need, then go shop

for it. This way, you'll know what you want when

you need it and you won't have to stress over what

to eat.

Winter Weight Gain - Why Does It Happen And What Can We Do?

Winter weight gain is a common complaint of many people. It seems that every winter we add a few pounds, and come summer we don't lose them all again either. A few of them always stick around, making us a little heavier every year. They seem to be very hard to lose extra pounds! Why does this happen and what can we do?

There are many contributing factors. First, it seems likely that we have a genetic disposition to store more fat as winter approaches. Many animals do this and it was probably vital to survival for our ancestors. Extra layers of fat on the body protect us against the cold and then can be used as fuel in the late winter and early spring when food stocks would historically be very low. We probably have a tendency to eat more in the fall, when food is plentiful after harvest time, to help this process along. We may also unconsciously choose foods that are higher in fat content at this time.

Hormone levels can also influence our weight gain. The interaction of hormones and other chemicals in the brain can bring about variations in appetite and cravings. Some neurotransmitters can also influence the way we eat. People who are overweight often have low levels of these neurotransmitters and the results can include excessive appetite, depression and sleep disorders. At the same time, the lack of daylight caused by the shortening days during late fall and winter can bring on seasonally affected disorder or winter depression. One of the quickest ways to give a boost to the energy levels and emotions is to eat high carbohydrate foods including sugar treats, chips and cereals that give us a fast blood sugar 'fix'. So people who feel low in the winter will tend to overeat or eat the wrong foods, leading to weight gain, more depression and a vicious cycle that is hard to break.
   
So altogether there are many reasons why we eat more high carbohydrate foods such as cookies, pies and chocolate in the winter, and of course most of these foods also contain high levels of fats. The best way to handle this is generally to substitute other foods that are also high in carbohydrate so that we get what our body craves, but which have low fat content and plenty of fiber. This means potatoes, wholegrain bread without butter, wholegrain rice, cereals, and fresh whole fruit.

It is also important to take more exercise. Often our physical activity levels drop in the winter and we have a tendency to want to stay home and rest. This is natural when it is cold outside. But we are not cavemen! We have heating in our homes and can be sure that there will still be plenty of food in the stores come February. We do not need to stow fat the way that they did. Sign up with a gym or get a stationary bicycle for the den. Transform those carbs into energy now instead of keeping it on the waistline until spring. Winter weight gain is easily avoidable this way.

Weight Loss and TV

Lots of the reasons people have excess fat on their bodies than they really want, have to do with the persistent behaviors they developed as they were being raised. Other reasons relate to the habitual choices they learned to create when they were young adults, maybe at school or in the armed service.

Frequently, those habits, even though might have been ideal for the time we learned them, are not helping us a lot now. And if you're overweight to the extent that you are on the internet to learn about ways to reduce your weight, then it is probably due, in part at least, to the routines you already have.

Its time for a change.

First rule of thumb is to stop listening to people who say that habits are tough to break. Unnecessary eating to the point of gaining extra weight is not in the same category as being addicted to cocaine. It is possible that for a very few people, food is actually an addiction in their lives. But in truth, that is not very many people.

Most times, it is a matter of understanding how to make some new habits.

Habit Change #1

Stop eating while watching TV. And no, don't even eat there if the television is not turned on. Go someplace else in your house where the TV set is not. If you have a television in every room in your house, that might be a different issue, and if that is the situation, just keep it turned off.

Second part to habit change number 1. Don't go browsing while you are eating your meal. Not the laptop, not the desktop, not your phone, tablet or anything. If anything, the internet is more addictive than the TV set. As a matter of fact if you are looking over this while you are eating, start with that. Go away until you are finished eating and then come back to read the rest of this article.

The goal is to pay attention to what and how you are eating. And it is very hard to pay attention to your meal while your mind is far away in the television or in a funny cat video. The television will be there when you are done and so will the world wide web. They are not going anywhere. And if you pay attention to what you're eating, you will eat less of it.

Part of the reason is that you are going to be listening when your stomach says it is full. And that's a great time to quit eating. It is quite amazing how much less you will eat when you eat meals this way. Just eat, don't do anything else.

You're important and your overall health is important and your weight is important. And being attentive counts a lot.

Habit Change #2

Stop drinking your calories.

Choose water as your beverage with your meals. Do not choose diet drinks or energy drinks or even milk. Simply drink water or maybe a cup of tea with nothing in it. There are numerous delicious teas in the world. And choosing one of those to drink with your meal is a calorie free way to add some extra enjoyment to your life at mealtime.

Artificially sweetened drinks are never thirst satisfying and are often seen as a punishment. The idea is something like you really want a soda, but since I am on this dreadful diet at least I can have a diet soda. Don't do it. Just drink water.

These types of habit changes can make a large difference in the amount of calories you consume throughout the course of a day. And by just making these small modifications in your habits, you will feel better and look better and your body will thank you.