My hope is that this is the beginning of substantial positive changes for you that support both your short-term and long-term goals.

These are SUSTAINABLE practices, which are a must for a thriving lifestyle.

Let’s get to them…

PRINCIPLE #1: WHAT YOU EAT MATTERS

EatingRight.org wrote, “’Processed food’ includes food that has been cooked, canned, frozen, packaged or changed in nutritional composition with fortifying, preserving or preparing in different ways. Any time we cook, bake or prepare food, we’re processing food.“

Processed food falls on a spectrum from minimally to heavily processed:

• Minimally processed foods — such as bagged spinach, cut vegetables and roasted nuts — often are simply pre-prepped for convenience.
• Foods processed at their peak to lock in nutritional quality and freshness include canned tomatoes, frozen fruit and vegetables, and canned tuna.
• Foods with ingredients added for flavor and texture (sweeteners, spices, oils, colors and preservatives) include jarred pasta sauce, salad dressing, yogurt and cake mixes.
• Ready-to-eat foods — such as crackers, granola and deli meat — are more heavily processed.
• The most heavily processed foods often are pre-made meals including frozen pizza and microwaveable dinners.

SIMPLE PRINCIPLE #2: HOW MUCH YOU EAT MATTERS

As I mentioned on my last blog, use your palm as a guide of how much of each macronutrient to eat every meal:

For men:

• 2 palms of protein dense foods with each meal;
• 2 fists of vegetables with each meal;
• 2 cupped hands of carb dense foods with most meals;
• 2 entire thumbs of fat dense foods with most meals.

For women:

• 1 palm of protein dense foods with each meal;
• 1 fist of vegetables with each meal;
• 1 cupped hand of carb dense foods with most meals;
• 1 entire thumb of fat dense foods with most meals.

I love this reference, too. See where you fall and what practice is suggested:

SIMPLE PRINCIPLE #3: WHAT TIME YOU EAT MATTERS

And last but not least, try eating your meals around the same time everyday. Every once in a while, when my body is as crooked as the letter S, I call David. David refers to himself as the pain doctor: he causes pain to get rid of your pain. LOL! David is Korean and extremely wise about the human body. He believes the body wants to heal itself, we just have to nudge it in the right direction (especially when we have been steering it in the wrong one for so long). He was the very first person to teach me that: “Eat your meals at the same time”, he told me in his awesome accent.  And there is a science to that. Pick what kind of eater you are: ‘3 large meals’ person, ‘6 smaller meals’ person, or ‘something in between’ person. Decide what time of the day you will eat your meals. Stick to it to the best of your ability.

This is a practice that will help your brain trust that you will consistently give it what it needs. It won’t go through unnecessary stress caused by irregular eating and poor meals, which leads to water retention and fat storage.

AGAIN, THIS PRACTICE HELPS YOUR BRAIN TRUST YOU. IF IT’S CONSTANTLY WONDERING WHETHER OR NOT IT WILL RECEIVE PROPER HYDRATION OR NUTRITION, YOUR BRAIN WILL COMMAND YOUR BODY (CELLS) TO DO WHAT THEY MUST TO HELP YOU SURVIVE- NOT THRIVE. what does this mean? Most of the time this means water retention and fat storage- all for a rainy a day.

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