A well-balanced diet is the cornerstone of all healthy lifestyles. With a new healthy diet trend seemingly popping up every other week, it can be difficult to decide what your healthy eating plan is going to look like. Luckily, a balanced diet can still include delicious tasting food allowing you to reach your fitness goals without crash or fad diets. Our team here at Healing Hands Chiropractic is dedicated to keeping Murfreesboro, Tennesse as healthy as possible and that starts with your diet!
Know Your Daily Calorie Needs
This is perhaps the most important part of a healthy diet, especially if your main focus is to lose weight. Setting goals for your daily caloric intake allows you to better keep track of what you have eaten throughout the day. The average woman needs to eat about 2,000 calories per day to maintain her weight and 1,500 calories per day to lose one pound per week. Meanwhile, the average man needs 2,500 calories to maintain and 2,000 to lose one pound of weight per week.
Of course, these numbers are largely dependent on several key factors including height, weight, age, and physical activity. There are huge numbers of phone apps and programs that allow you to accurately track your calories throughout the day. This is highly recommended for anyone starting a new diet or a new weight loss journey. The further you go along you will develop a better understanding of your daily caloric intake without having to count.
What Should You Eat for a Healthy Diet?
More often than not, when we try to make a positive change to our diet, we dwell on the foods we can’t eat rather than refocusing on all the new foods we can eat. One of the biggest misconceptions regarding healthy eating is that all of the food sucks. Healthy food can be delicious, good for you, and most of the times better tasting than any fast food or processed meal could ever dream of being. Here are some of the great foods that you can eat when you go on a diet.
Fruits
Fruits can be a refreshing snack, the centerpiece of a smoothie, or an ingredient in a tasty entree. All fresh, frozen, or canned fruits are great choices, although some canned fruit may be high in sugar. If you are going with canned fruits, try to choose canned varieties of fruit packed in water or its own juice.
The best part about fruits is that you’re not limited to just one or two options. While apples and bananas are nutritious and delicious, there’s a wide range of ‘exotic’ fruits that are just as good. Try a mango, or a pineapple, or a kiwi fruit. How about passionfruit, cucumbers, or you can really shake it up with some dragon fruit.
Vegetables
For whatever reason, we’re programmed from a young age to despise vegetables and everything green. It’s a shame really because just like fruits, vegetables can be enjoyed in a variety of ways and also come fresh, frozen, or canned. You can even throw them into a blender with your fruits to create a healthy smoothie.
There’s no limit to the number of possibilities when it comes to vegetables. Even vegetables you once thought you hated, like onions, for example, can be prepared a number of different ways, tasting different each time. Try sauteing vegetables with herbs and other spices to bring out tastes you didn’t even know existed.
Calcium-Rich Food Products
Calcium is so important to our wellbeings that we have more calcium in our body than any other material. It makes up a huge part of our bones and teeth while also playing a role in heart health, muscle function, and nerve signaling. Luckily, you don’t have to down a gallon of milk to get the calcium you need (unless you like milk then more power to you).
Foods such as yogurt, cheese, seeds, almonds, beans, and sardines have huge amounts of calcium. These foods can help you reach your recommended daily intake of 1,000 mg of calcium. The best part of it is, you don’t have to bend backward to fit any of these foods into your diet as they’re already healthy for you.
Put a Healthy Diet Twist on an Old Recipe
If there’s an old, unhealthy recipe you just can’t fight your craving for, try some creative imagining to make it fit into your diet. If the recipe calls for frying fish or chicken, try healthier alternatives such as baking or grilling. These options are much healthier and provide the same amount, and in some cases, more taste than the original recipe.
You can get extra creative and replace higher-fat meats with dry beans. Nowadays most fast-food restaurants allow you to tweak your order to make it healthier such as removing the bun, replacing meat with beans, or smaller portions. We know how sacred some recipes may be but give it try, it may surprise you.
Do You Have to Give Up Your Favorite Food?
Another popular misconception when eating healthy is that you have to quit all of your favorite comfort food cold turkey. This is nonsense. While you will have to place a cap on how often you eat your favorite junk food, it’s impossible to expect you to quit entirely. Here are some tips when it comes to eating your favorite comfort food:
- Eat them less often – Try to limit your junk food intake to once a week or even once a month. You will notice a huge difference in your caloric intake
- Eat smaller portions – If your favorite comfort food is a chocolate bar, have a smaller size or only half the bar.
- Try a low-calorie version – If you like to cook your comfort food, try non-fat milk instead of whole milk, limit the amount of butter, add a vegetable or two into the recipe.
Quitting comfort food entirely will only lead to you burning out. Eat comfort food less often, opt for smaller portions, and try to make previously unhealthy recipes more healthy.
We Can Be a Stepping Stone Along Your Health Journey
While it’s the most important part of a healthy lifestyle, eating healthy isn’t the only part. Taking care of your body should be a top priority as well. Our staff here at Healing Hands Chiropractic helps you get the most out of your body. If you’re in need of chiropractic care in the Middle Tennessee area, we’re here to help!
Did you know Chiropractic care can help treat chronic back pain, sports injuries, and auto accidents?
Get in touch with Dr. Dee at Healing Hands Chiropractic today for an initial consultation!
