Ten Tips for Healthy Eating

Around this time of year, people start re-evaluating their New Year’s Resolutions. They either are still on track and feeling great or they’ve lost their resolve and are feeling frustrated and defeated. One of the common goals set at the beginning of the year is around weight loss.  As a yoga teacher, I get questions about yoga’s effectiveness for weight loss. People want to know how many calories they’ll burn, is hot yoga more effective for weight loss than unheated yoga or how many times per week do you need to do yoga to lose weight. I usually say something like this: “Yoga, done regularly can be an effective tool for managing your weight. If you can get to a studio class three times per week and supplement that with 20 to 30 minutes at home on the other days or use these alternate days for pure cardiovascular exercise (plus one rest day), this can be a solid path to controlling or losing weight (you need to be eating healthy too).” Today’s focus will be on things you can do to bring more awareness and health to what you eat. Eating better, while it’s a great start, is only one piece of the puzzle. But it’s a huge piece and something that, if ignored, weight loss can’t happen (even if you’re running miles a day). Take a look at these tips: Build your daily meals on the “One hand” approach (five times). Eat three main meals a day and supplement with two snacks. This is a simple way to remember your eating “events” and decrease your caloric intake.Once you’ve committed to this “One hand” approach, start to look at what it is you’re eating during these 5 meals, where and how. It’s not enough to limit your meals; it’s also important to eat healthy foods that will sustain you and eat them with mindfulness so you enjoy them and can register a feeling of fullness.  Your 5 eating events should include 3 main meals. We’ll call these breakfast, lunch and dinner but that doesn’t mean you need to eat them at those times. These 3 main meals will keep your blood sugar at a reasonable level, provide you with nutrition and energy to get through the day and keep cravings down. These main meals should include a mix of lean protein (chicken, fish, beans, lentils) carbohydrates (fruit, veggies and whole grains) and fat (less fat and healthy fats, like olive oil, nuts, fish and avocado). Limit your bread intake, eliminate it or replace thick bread with healthy alternatives. Chunky bagels, crusty bread with meals and rolls with your soup all add enjoyment and heartiness […]

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