Eating Well – A simple guide for beginners

What if I’m here to tell you that you could start eating well without going into crazy diets and severe plans?

Sounds good right?
If you are following me for a quite sometime you already know I’m not a fan of dieting: why most diets fail.

For me simplicity and some discipline in life are vital, and I practice that every day especially when I choose the food I eat. Part of my practice involves the Intuitive and Mindful Eating, but first, you have to learn and understand WHAT TO EAT. What we eat every day has a significant impact on our health and the quality of our life.

Eating organic and fresh food can be simple, but we can get confused sometimes by all these dietary plans out there.

Understanding the basic principles is crucial.

Eating healthy is a matter of habits, and we are creatures of habits, aren’t we?
So imagine having this beautiful attitude every day toward eating fresh food. Nowadays so many diseases are linked to a poor diet as cancer, heart diseases, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. Scary to think about it, but not impossible to avoid or reverse these disease with a healthy way of living.

Don’t count calories but quality!

I don’t get obsessed with counting calories as much as I see people around me. Calories can be important to control when your goal is weight control, but still, if you know how to eat, you can stop being obsessed with calories. If your sugar level or cholesterol is high, do you really want to spend your energy in counting calories?

I will put my attention on consuming whole foods every day.

What’s Whole Food?

All the food that is real, unprocessed and contains natural ingredients. Those foods to which none of their natural characteristics have been removed or artificial substances have been added.
Organic plant-based foods are the king of the unprocessed and unrefined foods, even though our lands today have been impoverished by their natural characteristics due to overproduction, and that’s why you want to consider taking natural supplements.
Whole foods have fewer calories and more nutrients per serving than processed foods, when in fact processed food has almost zero nutritional value and are responsible for a lot of diseases and health-related issues.

Always check minerals and vitamins:

Calcium for the health of your bones and teeth, and a vital mineral for your heart, muscles and nervous system.
Potassium for blood pressure control, fluid balance and proper function of muscles and nerves.
Iron for carrying oxygen in the blood mainly, but also for other benefits, including brain function.
Magnesium for energy production, and good function of your nervous system.
Vitamins from the A to K which work for your organs and cells in your system.

Now, let’s dive in what you can eat to have a balanced food intake every day.

Even if I’m vegan and I live out of a plant-based diet, I understand and respect that we are all different and have different habits, but I encourage you not to consume much meat, animal products, and of course refined sugars which have been linked to numerous diseases.

What to eat.

Vegetables should rule your plate every day and in every meal. They are low in calories and full of essential micronutrients and fiber.
Fruits rich in micronutrients and antioxidants.
Nuts and Seeds, the best fat sources available that also contain necessary micronutrients.
Healthy Starches as potatoes, quinoa, and Ezekiel bread (if you are not gluten intolerant) are healthy and nutritious.
Beans and legumes which are wonderful sources of fiber, protein, and micronutrients.
Herbs and spices which are often high in nutrients.

Drink a lot of water. Every day should be your primary beverage without compromise.

Now I’m not going to talk much about animal products here because again it is something that I don’t believe is good for our system especially if eaten every day, but still, if you are wondering how to classify it, here is a sneak peek:
Meat – Fish: sources of protein (eat the organic ones grown with no antibiotics or pesticides)
Eggs: contain a combination of protein, fats, and micronutrients. (eat the cage-free pasture raised type)
Dairy products: sources of protein and calcium.

There are tonnes of products that you can buy today as substitutions for meat, fish, eggs, and dairy products. You can commonly find those in any grocery store now. Here some brand I love: Gardein, Quorn, Beyond Meat, Violife, Follow Your Heart, Miyokos, Field Roast, Califfa. They are delicious!

Keep in mind the 5 essential categories of food to have:

• Good Fats: protects your brain and heart, essential to improve your mood, and to boost your well-being.
• Fibers such as fruit, nuts, grains, beans, and vegetables have key benefits as helping regulate your intestine, improve your skin, monitor your weight, and more importantly lower the risk for heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
• Proteins which are the fuel for your system and give you the energy to get up and go through your days and also support your mood and cognitive function.
• Complex Unrefined Carbohydrates like for example legumes, whole grains, fruit, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, whole grain barley, quinoa, peas, and oatmeal. These foods will help meet your daily needs for nutrients and are an excellent hand to lower the cholesterol level, prevent anemia and maintain your overall health. They also contain vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
• Calcium intake is necessary to lower the risk of getting depression anxiety, osteoporosis, and sleep problems. Take it among vitamin D and K that help the absorption of Calcium in your system.

Eating healthy doesn’t have to be complicated as you can see.
These are basic pieces of information to start considering a change in your routine if you are not eating overall well. Of course, there is much more to say about it, like for example gluten, soy, sugars, carbs, fat, proteins and so on, but again this newsletter is meant to be a kick starter to inspire you to abandon your processed-canned food and begin to have an idea on what you should have instead. I purposely wrote this article because something happened last week. I was having a conversation with a sweet person I know, and I know she will appreciate reading this newsletter.

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