Saturday, January 4, 2014

Being healthier in 2014: here's how

Just adhere to these Healthy Foodie Principles, as much as you can.
The ones I've covered so far (details in previous posts, below), are:
1. Eat at home and cook your own food
2. Eat 9 servings of fruits and veggies daily (not as hard as it sounds)
3. Exercise 45-60 minutes (almost) every day
4. No supermarket or fast-food meat (it's really, really bad for us)

Next........


Healthy Foodie Rule #5: MINMIZE LIQUID CALORIES
I try to limit beverages to these (in order of amount consumed):
Water, tea, wine, coffee, cocktails--and a very occasional soda.
Plain water, whether bottled or tap, should be every healthy foodie's main beverage. If you drink alcohol -- as I often do, having wine with dinner -- be sure to drink one glass of water for each glass of wine or other alcoholic beverage.
Tea is my morning caffeine drink of choice -- I make a large pot with loose-leaf black tea every day. Many studies conclude that both tea and coffee can, or even should, be part of a healthful diet, with green tea having the most beneficial substances.
As you probably know, wine and especially red wine has been shown to have health benefits, although consuming more than a drink or two a day of any alcohol should be avoided.


The drinks I actively avoid are those that add nothing but empty calories to my daily tally--or the vitamins in them are overwhelmed by the sugar and/or fat they contain. This means no soda -- I minimize diet sodas to a couple of times a week -- and no fruit juices. Not to mention no milkshakes or obscenely caloric coffee drinks.

It's not that hard to stick to water when you're thirsty and simple coffee or tea when you need a caffeine boost. My strategy is to save as many of the liquid calories as possible for something I can sink my teeth into.

No comments:

Post a Comment