Week 3 Challenge: Healthy Eating Habit
In my previous post, I have mentioned about how important it is to have the right balance between your mind and the body. So, for this weeks challenge, you have to find that balance within yourself. And the challenge is to eat healthy food.
The aim of eating healthy is not only to lose weight but also to nurture your mind and body from inside and out. It is an overall lifestyle change that completely depends on the choice of what you put into your mouth.
I know that there is going to be quite a lot of struggles during this journey but I can also promise you that it can totally change the way you think about food. In this journey, you will understand what a mindful eating is.
My personal experience of those struggle is surreal. It’s difficult to stop yourself from indulging your favourite food/junk by giving yourself some silly little excuses. And later feeling guilty about the whole situation of why you ate it.
My understanding of the excuses comes mostly from the ‘Confusion’, confusion of what you should really be eating. Most of the people have a habit of cooking and eating what they are used to from the beginning of their life.
I mean in every culture there is a staple food that is almost mandatory to be included with every meal. In Asian culture, rice is a staple food and likewise in other countries potato, pasta, meat, egg and so on. Hence, the whole situation of modifying or adapting to a completely new diet becomes quite ambiguous.
However, it’s important to know the amount of the food you are putting on your plate. And when I said that, it means the whole protein, vegetables, fat and carbohydrate combination. You should be well aware of how much quantity of all those categories goes into your plate.
The vegetables should cover half of your plate whereas protein (meat, fish, egg, beans, tofu) and carbohydrate (rice, potato, pasta, bread) should only cover 1/4 of your plate. So, here you can compare your plate with the healthy plate.
Not only that, the healthy plate is incomplete without the whole grain carbohydrates such as brown rice, quinoa, sweet potato, brown pasta, brown bread and less red meat and more fish, beans, tofu, nuts as a protein source.
They are not only healthy but also very much filling and satisfying too. A plate of brown rice with colourful veggie and beans is much more filling than a plate of white rice with red meat and potato.
Likewise, on daily basis fruit are much healthier option compare to candies, cakes and chocolates. On a few occasions, few chocolates and candies would not hurt.
It is also very important to keep yourself away from these temptations by not hoarding it in your cupboards and pantries. Instead, you can try to fill your refrigerator and pantries with healthy foods. This way you’d left with no choice but to eat healthily.
When your environment is surrounded by healthy stuff, you tend to adapt likewise. You start making healthy choices that will impact both your mind and body.
The right balance, therefore, is there where your mind and body react in parallel to the present surroundings. When you make a choice to act and consume healthily, you are nourishing both your mind and body.
So, for this weeks challenge, stock up your refrigerator and pantries with healthy foods and start eating them.
Good Luck.
Read similar articles:
- My Journey towards a healthy lifestyle
- Week 1 Challenge: A baby steps towards being new you
- Week 2 Challenge: Workout for healthy mind and body