Four Major Tips on How to Eat and Live Healthier

By Jason Hunter

Maintaining a healthy weight and enjoying a long vibrant life all depends on how well you balance the foods you eat on a daily basis. Have you ever heard of the term "you are what you eat?" If yes, then you must know that junk in equals junk out when it comes to diet. A healthy breakfast could mean the difference between having energy throughout the day or crash and burning before lunch. The body needs certain vitamins and minerals to perform at optimal efficiency throughout the day. When you deprive the body of these nutrients, it can be dangerous.

Below are the four major tips that you can follow to assure a healthy eating lifestyle.

1. Skipping meals is a big no!

Three meals a day is the best way to go about eating right and maintains a healthy body and weight. Skipping meals lead to what I call "grazing", this is when you go around eating any and everything within reach. Many people skip breakfast, but by lunch they have already raided the snack machine for two bags of chips, a candy bar, and a soda pop. If they had eaten a good breakfast, those empty calories would not have entered their bodies. When we are hungry, we are more likely to eat the wrong foods. Eating three meals a day preferably at the same time everyday is a big step to having a healthy eating lifestyle.

When taking long trips or going on vacation, you should take your meals with you, or purchase meals from health food stores in the area you are staying. I know it can be hard, especially with a fast food restaurant on every corner, but this is what you have to do in order to stay in tiptop shape. If it were easy, everyone would be slim and trim.

2. Learning to prepare foods is another great step in the right direction.

When it comes to cooking, many things can be done to ensure you are preparing the foods in a healthy way. Instead of frying, you should be boiling, grilling, or baking. In addition, you should try using fresh and dried herbs for seasoning instead of salt and other high sodium seasons. Finally yet importantly skin and fat should be taken off all meats before you prepare them.

3. Sugar is your enemy; it is not your friend!

Avoiding sugar is sometimes not that easy, but if you put your mind to it, you can do it. Soft drinks and juices contain nothing but sugar, and should be avoided due to their abundance of empty calories. Empty calories are calories that contain no nutritional value and are easily stored as fat. Sodas and juices should not be a substitute for water. Water is the only liquid you should drink on a regular basis. The others can be used as a treat, or once a day, but do not overdo it.

4. Avoid diet fads like the plague.

Diets of any kind should always be avoided. Fats and carbs have their places in a healthy diet. Moderation is the key, not fad diets. Limiting your carbs and increasing fats and vice versa could be dangerous. Another thing to look out for are pre-packaged diet foods, although they may be low in fat or carbs most of them are high in sodium. Therefore, eating different foods with fats and carbs using moderation and not overdoing it -- is just as good as or even better than fad diets.

The majority of people who get on these diets gain the weight back within a year. Not only do they gain back the weight they lost, but also they gain even more. Eating healthy and exercise is all you need for a healthy lifestyle. Following these four tips will have you on the right path in no time.

For more information on healthy eating and lifestyles please visit this web site. Healthy Eating Plans and Healthy Eating For Teenagers and Healthy Eating For children

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What Should You Eat During Pregnancy?

By Abhinn Gupta

Pregnancy brings lot many changes along with it in female body. During these 9 months many thing change for the pregnant women or say the mother. Your body will change externally and internally. It may cause some problem or discomfort to you, but as it leads a greater gift at the end, so you probably will not min these discomfort. The initial months are crucial because during these months the baby’s growth starts. The nervous system growth and the organ formation also take place during this time. The baby grows physically and mentally and so good nutrition is very important during this time. So here are our tips on what should you eat during pregnancy.

1. Balanced and nutritious diet during pregnancy is very very important after all you are eating for 2 lives. It is very important you don't eat fast and junk food during pregnancy and stick to routine healthy diet. A diet is called nutritious when it contains proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals in needed amount.

2. Avoid high sugar beverages. They add sugars and calories to your body. When you avoid it, then you are actually cutting calories. This helps in weight loss after pregnancy
3. Eat whole grains; they are better for your body than their “white” counterparts.

4. Lean meats are better for you after delivery to reduce the excess weight.

5. Healthy snacks are better than junk foods. You can take raisins, wheat crackers etc. Remove fast food from the food list. Fast food will increase your weight and will create obstacle in your way to weight loss. Avoid Canned and processed foods, coffee, tea, spicy foods, sugary foods such as cakes, cookies, candies, hot chocolate, sodas and colas and salt etc.

Whether you like it or not but you should eat properly good food during your pregnancy so as to avoid any problem. You have to take care of your health as well the baby’s health. So go for a good well balanced diet during this time.

Abhinn is a content editor who focuses on a wide array of niche health topics.He maintains many health blogs and Medical and Health Information is one of them. The site deals with all kind of medical and health advices and has tons of articles on women's issues like depression,, female hair loss and pregnancy.

Be sure to check out our Pregnancy Articles on the site MedsAvailable to get more such articles.

5 Tips to Get Your Kids to Eat Healthy

By Brandon Johnsonn

Kids are notoriously picky eaters. If it doesn't come in a box with a cute cartoon character promoting it, then they probably aren't interested. It's important to get your children to develop healthy eating habits early on, without having to force them to reluctantly choke down something they don't enjoy. In fact, making them eat certain foods could backfire, leading to binge snacking when you're not looking and/or having a bad association with a certain food for the rest of their life.

Here are 5 tips to ensure that your child is eating healthy because they know it's good for them. Teach them early on, and they will continue their nutritious eating habits for the rest of their lives.

Teach - First and foremost, talk to your kids and teach them that eating healthy will help them to "grow up and be big and strong". Just like talks about drugs or smoking, if they know why they should do things a certain way and how it could benefit them, they are much more likely to listen.

Variety - If they've been eating lots of unhealthy foods and snacks until now, ease them into their new eating habits. For the first few weeks, allow them to continue eating a few of their favorite foods, but mix in something nutritious with the same meal. Just mixing in a sliced apple or a bowl of corn with their dinner will help to widen their palette and develop tastes for new foods.

Schedule - Stick to an organized schedule for family meals. If you have breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the same time each day, your child will be hungry at the right times and less likely to fill up on snacks and junk food.

Tastes Change - As a child, and even into adulthood, our tastes and flavor preferences can change dramatically. So, just because junior despises the taste of broccoli now, he could develop a taste for it later on. If there's a specific healthy food your child refuses to eat, reintroduce it in new ways every few weeks. In the case of broccoli, for example, try mixing it in with a salad or chicken wrap to overcome the "ewww broccoli" stereotype.

Meal Environment - Try to have all meals in an organized setting with the entire family. If you're all eating and talking at a dining table without television or other distractions, your children will view mealtime as a pleasant social experience, rather than a minor annoyance they endure in between playtimes.

Put these tips to use starting with your next meal, and you can begin building the foundation for your child's healthy lifestyle. And, don't forget to lead by example Mom and Dad!

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When in Rome, Eat As The Romans Do!

By Adam Singleton

For generations, Italian food has captured the hearts of people around the world, providing a delectable gateway to the passion and romance inherent in Italy's history and literature. From the height of the Roman Empire to modern-day Italy, food has played a crucial part in cultural traditions and is a part of the Italian experience that many travellers to the country relish above all else! And where better to experience the beauty and delights of Italian cookery than in the country's vibrant and imposing capital - Rome.

During the heady days of the Roman Empire, Roman cuisine was dominated by a diversity of meats, although vegetables were still incorporated into lighter dishes. Today, however, the food you'll find in Rome is much more varied, with vegetarians and vegans being quite naturally catered for.

Typical food native to Rome includes puntarelle (chicory salad), carciofi alla romana (artichokes Roman style), abbacchio alla scottadito (lamb chops) and coda alla vaccinara (beef stew). However, as well as these local treats, anyone planning a holiday to Rome will quite naturally be anticipating an authentic taste of one of Italy's greatest exports - pizza! In Rome, the best pizza places will only open at night, as it will take the better part of the day to warm up the traditional wood ovens in which they're cooked to the right temperature - so make sure you don't get fooled by a tourist trap serving warmed up frozen pizza during the day.

If you want to enjoy a traditionally Roman dish, order baccala (battered salt cod) as a starter before your pizza arrives. Roman ice-cream is also well-known for its high taste factor and creamy texture. If you're wandering the streets of Rome looking for a 'gelateria' (ice cream parlour), make sure you find one with a large 'G' symbol on the outside - this signifies guild association, so the ice cream is guaranteed to be good quality.

And don't miss out on affogato, an Italian speciality that involves drowning a scoop of ice cream in a shot of espresso. Many gelaterias charge you extra if you eat indoors - so eat your ice cream scoop by the Trevi Fountain or another of Rome's iconic monuments, and you'll be saving money while absorbing some prime historical locations! Whatever choice of food you have your heart set on in Rome, you'll be able to find it in a variety of charming neighbourhoods, including Trastevere - one of Rome's heartlands for bars and restaurants - and the old Jewish Quarter, which traces its origins back to 1555 when Pope Paul IV restricted all Jews to a small area of Rome.
But there are other ways to enjoy and experiment with Roman cuisine: for instance, rent an apartment in Rome and you'll be able to buy local produce from street stalls and markets, and enjoy it in the comfort of your own flat. Moreover, renting a flat in Rome means that you'll be able to indulge in Rome's abundance of high quality - yet inexpensive - range of Italian wines, without having to worry about making your way back to your hotel in one piece!

Adam Singleton is an online, freelance journalist and keen amateur photographer. His portfolio, called Capquest Photography is available to view online.