My Favourite Healthy Eating Lifestyles

Vegetarian or 'plant-based' diets can be a very healthy eating style. By not eating meat, you automatically consume less cholesterol and saturated fat. All the other rules still apply, however, of practicing variety, balance and moderation.

Start your day with breakfast.
Breakfast fills your "empty tank" to get you going after a long night without food. And it can help you do better in school. Easy to prepare breakfasts include cold cereal with fruit and low-fat milk, whole-wheat toast with peanut butter, yogurt with fruit, whole-grain waffles or even last night's pizza!

Snack Smart.
Snacks are a great way to refuel. Choose snacks from different food groups—a glass of low-fat milk and a few graham crackers, an apple or celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins, or some dry cereal. If you eat smart at other meals, cookies, chips and candy are OK for occasional snacking.

Balance your food choices—don't eat too much of one thing
You don't have to give up foods like hamburgers, french fries and ice cream to eat healthfully. You just have to be smart about how often and how much of them you eat. Your body needs nutrients like protein, carbohydrates, fat and many different vitamins and minerals such as vitamins C and A, iron and calcium from a variety of foods. Balancing food choices from the Food Guide Pyramid and checking out the Nutrition Facts Panel on food labels will help you to get all these nutrients.

From: Ific .org

Forget the fads: Diet fads come and go – without offering a permanent solution. When you hear about the latest diet, always ask yourself: Can I eat this way for the rest of my life?

Be realistic: Any eating plan needs to work for your family and your situation. It needs to fit with your schedule, your food budget, and your cooking skills.

Make a commitment: Write down some important reasons for changing your eating habits. Share a written or verbal promise to make healthy food choices with your friends or family.

Start slow: Making drastic changes can be a recipe for failure. Small changes can make a big difference, if they last. Pick one change, like eating breakfast, and make it a habit.

Be consistent: The human body responds well to consistency. If you decide to eat breakfast, make eating breakfast part of your daily routine – rather than an occasional thing.

From: Montanapta .org

To eat 1-3 times a week

* Meat: mostly white, chicken and turkey, rabbit, pig and veal
* Fish: anchovies, sardines, herrings, aguglie, clear, spato
* Eggs

Nourishing: Animals Proteins, minerals (zinc, branch, iron, vitamins of the complex B. vegetables proteins, acid fats)

Functions: Plastic, energetic.

Useful tips:

* Prefer lean meats and fish. Moreover blue fish (anchovies, sardine, herrings, aguglie, clears, spato them, etc)
* Consume fish at least two times a week
* Avoid the consumption of conserved meats, fat meats and fishes
* Limit the fat of animal and fried origin
* Prefer vegetable oils, particularly extra virgin olive oil

From: New Mediterranean Diet Recipes Blog

Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes—foods high in complex carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, low in fat, and free of cholesterol. Try to get fresh, local produce

Drink more water. Our bodies are about 75% water. It is a vital part of a healthy diet. Water helps flush our systems, especially the kidneys and bladder, of waste products and toxins. A majority of Americans go through life dehydrated.

Limit sugary foods, salt, and refined-grain products. Sugar is added to a vast array of foods. In a year, just one daily 12-ounce can of soda (160 calories) can increase your weight by 16 pounds. See suggestions below for limiting salt and substituting whole grains for refined grains.

Don’t be the food police. You can enjoy your favorite sweets and fried foods in moderation, as long as they are an occasional part of your overall healthy diet. Food is a great source of pleasure, and pleasure is good for the heart – even if those French fries aren’t!

From: Help guide

With so much information available about the effects of dietary fat on health, understanding the role fat plays in a well-balanced diet can be pretty confusing. To cut through the confusion, it's important to remember that fat is an essential nutrient that everyone needs to stay healthy.

Fat is a valuable energy source and carries fat-soluble vitamins needed for proper growth and development. It also contributes important taste and textural qualities that are part of enjoying food.

Too much fat, however, can increase the risk of heart disease, obesity and other health problems. When moderating fat intake, it's important to consider these points:

Health authorities recommend Americans consume 30 percent or less of their total daily calories from fat, with 10 percent or less of those calories from saturated fat. Remember, the 30 percent refers to your total fat intake over time, not single foods or meals. Use the following chart to guide your fat intake.

If you eat this Total fat Total saturated
number of calories per day fat per day
per day: (grams) (grams)

1,600 53 or less 18 or less
2,000 65 or less 20 or less
2,200 73 or less 24 or less
2,500 80 or less 25 or less

From: Real time