Here are a few things your diet shouldn’t involve: feeling hungry, eliminating essential nutrients, obsessing, perfection, or turning into a monster person.
Instead, your diet should be focused on fueling yourself, boosting energy, and improving your overall quality of life.
Fortunately, if you’re looking to improve your general wellness through the way you eat, there are itty bitty changes you can make to feel all-around better.
Ready to go on the easiest and perhaps most beneficial diet imaginable? Follow these four easy peasy steps from the experts:
1. Base each meal around a protein
Of all the macronutrients (protein, carbs, and fat), protein is arguably the most important.
Protein provides essential amino acids (which the body can't produce itself), helps maintain and build muscle mass, makes you more full for longer, and allows you to burn more calories at rest (fact: the body burns more calories digesting protein than carbs or fats).
Make sure a protein source is at the center of each meal, whether it’s dairy (yogurt, milk), meat (chicken, beef), fish (salmon, tuna), eggs, or a vegan source of protein (tofu, chickpeas).
Joe Johnson, Owner, 9 To 5 Nutrition
@joe_johnson_9_to_5
2. Differentiate between good and bad carbs
While a lot of fad diets will tell you to eliminate carbohydrates all together, the better diet will ask you to reflect on the type of carbohydrates you’re taking in.
Carbohydrates are important, because they are the body's primary source of fuel for energy and daily functions. If you want to be mindful of carbohydrates in your diet, rather than cut them out entirely, you should get to know the difference between complex and simple carbs.
Complex carbohydrates are considered good and refer to whole grains, like oats, quinoa, brown rice, and more. They are more nutrient-dense and provide the body with more than a quick glucose spike and stored fat.
Simple carbohydrates come from processed and refined foods, like convenience snack foods. They are often considered bad carbs, but are also found in milk and some fruits. This form of carbohydrate is broken down quickly and used immediately by the body for energy.
Simple carbohydrates create a state of inflammation in the body and cause the body to store more water than typical. If you find you're experiencing bloating or inflammation, they might be to blame.
Trista Best, MPH, RD, LD, Balance One Supplements
@balanceonesupplements
3. Wake up with water
Are you tired when you wake up in the mornings? Of course you are! Your body has been at rest for about 8 hours. Your organs have been functioning differently, and your brain is now reentering a state of alertness.
Some people wake up ravenous, while others can't bear the thought of eating. No matter what kind of morning person you are, the best thing you can do when you wake up in the morning, before you eat, is to drink a glass full of room temperature water.
Room temperature water doesn't shock your body like ice cold water, but rather gently wakes up your organs and prepares your body to receive food. Research shows drinking water in the mornings before eating might improve digestion, boost metabolism, and improve aches and pains, among other healthy benefits.
Scott Jennings, CEO, Pantry Food Co
4. Follow your intuition to discover the fuel your body needs
To be happy and achieve vibrant health, it’s critical to be mindful of the choices you make and the things you focus on. This is true in many aspects of life, including food.
I've observed that some of my clients eat anything and everything whenever they want, while others follow strict plans created by experts and micromanage every morsel that passes over their lips. Both approaches can have negative effects on the body, and neither extreme allows you to live fully and freely.
Instead, I suggest intuitive eating, which I define as understanding that you are the best expert for the way food choices make you feel.
While you can educate yourself about nutrition and gather helpful external information, it’s important to sense what foods you’re personally drawn to and how they make you feel after you consume them.
Being drawn to a food you don’t consider to be packed with nutrients, such as chips or candy, isn’t intuitive eating. In that case, your body is having a craving due to the absence of nutrients it needs to thrive, or it desires something it's missing, such as feeling loved early in life.
Intuitive eating isn't about being drawn to a quick fix, or choosing foods emotionally, based on historical patterns. I suggest going to the grocery store and allowing yourself to be pulled toward items in the aisles where the foods are healthy. Instead of shopping and eating out of habit, notice what foods you’re drawn to, as well as how those foods make you feel after you’ve eaten them. Eating intuitively is worth the effort because it empowers you to honor your unique needs and preferences, and it creates a happier, more energetic life.
Karen Garvey, Intuitive Coach
@karen_garvey
It’s time to reframe the meaning of diet from “deprivation” to “nurturement.” Your eating routine should be focused around habits that make you feel better inside and out, like getting in all the essential nutrients you need to thrive.
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