5 Things I Do to Eat Well

Hi loves..

I'll be writing about eating well today and habits that I've adopted that have helped me. They are effective for me; for my physical and mental health. It's different for everyone, find what works best for you. It all starts with self awareness and here I'm sharing my thoughts on it.. 

Many people fuss over eating healthy, what superfood to take, what to avoid eating, what to eliminate from their diet… It sounds all too stressful when it doesn’t actually have to be. Food is meant to be enjoyed! You can eat healthy and have a slice of cake too. 😉 It is all about moderation not restriction.These are few things I do to maintain a healthy, balanced, and wholesome eating lifestyle;

Eat my greens.

When we eat out, most dishes we see on the menu are lacking in greens and loaded with either only meat or starches. What I find helpful is ordering a salad on the side to share. But there’s no need to stress over the amount of veggies you eat at every meal. What's been realistic and sustainable for me would be to plan them by day, casually. Example: if I know that there’ll be no greens at lunch, I’ll try to include greens into my breakfast, plan for a veggie loaded dinner, or make myself a green smoothie as a snack.. But having said that, there are some days where it’s just not possible for me to get greens, and that’s fine. One day of no veggie will not kill me.

Limit processed food.

The keyword is limit, not cut out entirely. Because that is just not realistic or sustainable. So how do we go about this? You can find ways to help you limit those food and yet not restricting yourself to the max. One thing that works perfectly for me is to intentionally not stock up on processed/junk food at home. If I want to have a snack/dessert, I’ll make them from scratch with whole ingredients, which isn’t too difficult. It takes minutes to whip something up; I’ve shared plenty of those recipes here on my blog; #thepantryshares and social media. Or I'll just go out and get it if I'm craving for something specific, just not stocking up on them at home.

And when I’m dining out, at a party, or at the movies, I’ll enjoy whatever I fancy, whether it’s cake, popcorn, fries or chips. And when I do have them, I will enjoy them guilt free 🤩 Cutting out a food group or a certain type of food entirely from our life is far too restrictive (and stressful) for it to be mentally healthy or sustainable for anyone. The important thing we need to remember is that it’s not just about what you eat, but also how your body respond to it that matters. if you are constantly stressing (by being restricted), your body is not able to function effectively. And that isn’t healthy either..

Dine in more, eat out less.

By cooking my own meals, I know what I'm feeding yourself. I find that when you are involved in the process of creating your meals, you will find yourself feeling more inspired, empowered and joyous about eating what you’ve just put up. That gives you the sense of enjoyment and fulfillment that’ll keep you going with your healthy eating.

Don’t count calories, just eat wholefood.

Counting calories can come so intuitively for people who want to maintain their weight or lose weight. I used to obsessively count calories. But truth is when you do that, you’ll end up with bad choices because your choices would be based on calories and not nutrients. Processed food can have much less calories than whole food. However, they are mainly empty calories that offers less to no nutrients that will not nourish your body. With some wholefood, they may have higher calorie count, but they are ‘quality calories’ that will fuel you up and also provide the necessary nutrients that your body need to thrive on. So I no longer count calories, I just consume whole foods and eat everything in moderation. You’ll find that once you start doing that, you’ll lose your excess weight gradually and able to maintain a healthy weight long term.

Be mindful.

So I am a stress eater/snacker. It is not exactly healthy to be eating for the purpose of coping. That is an unhealthy dependency. Plus, that is also only a temporary solution. Anything temporal, we want to try to avoid. What I’ve been practicing is, before reaching out for that snack, I will ask myself if I would really enjoy it if I were to eat that now. Taking a moment to stop and reevaluate my decision always gives me a better perspective of what I really want and need and the root cause of that desire.

These are just simple things I do that has given me the freedom of eating well. I hope they will help you with figuring out what works for you and what’s healthy for you. Remember, it’s different for everyone because our body, just like our personality, are made so unique. No one person is like another.

Till the next one loves.. As always, remember to take moments to connect, love, care, give and share your dream, passion and heart with someone this week..

With much love,

Erina