A Healthy Body Matters

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Introduction

Having a slim and healthy body is very much on people’s minds today. Most people think a healthy body is about being fit. In reality a healthy body is a combination of many factors, of which exercise is a small part. A healthy body is achieved not only with physical well-being but also with a healthy mental and spiritual attitude. The key to good health and a healthy body is directly related to what is put into that body and how the body is treated.

Diet

For many people the word “Diet” means food restriction of any sort, such as skipping meals, eliminating certain food groups, etc.  For years, a “healthy diet” has been largely defined by foods that should be avoided.

However, this kind of food restriction puts its host at risk to develop an eating disorder.

I am of the belief that “diets” don’t work. I believe that the best way to lose weight and keep it off is to eat a lot of the right foods, foods that are nutritious and varied, and to eat them regularly at mealtimes, this keeps the metabolism working efficiently to burn fat and provide energy naturally and healthfully.

Yes, essential food groups and nutrients should not be ignored, but for me a healthy diet is one that gives you a wide variety of foods, allows for treats and that will help you live longer, be healthier and happier.

Diet, fitness, exercise, and proper nutrition combined fine tune your body to not only look great, but feel great. It starts from the inside out with a healthy diet. Of course, exercise and a fitness program will help you look better, but if you want real vitality and unstoppable energy, nothing beats eating a healthy, balanced, nutrition-rich diet.

The best advice for losing weight safely and maintaining it is to eat a healthy balanced diet and to make small, active, and consistent lifestyle changes. A lot of fad diets rely on depriving the body of food, but if you look at creatures in nature you will see that you need to eat regularly for healthy dieting.

Weight

You don’t need to “go on” a diet to lose weight… what you need is to “change” your diet. As hard as it is to believe, you do not keep putting on weight because you are eating regularly. Once at the ideal weight, the body will stabilises by itself, and will maintain this weight for as long as you continue to eat healthy food on a regular basis.

Myth: The best way to lose weight is through no carbohydrate diets or low carbohydrate diets.

There is little doubt weight loss is experienced in the short term, mostly due to loss of water weight as well as muscle mass. A balanced diet is the most effective way to lose weight and is a healthy alternative to fad and crash dieting. Once at the ideal weight, the body will stabilises by itself, and will maintain this weight for as long as you continue to eat healthy food on a regular basis.

So the best advice for losing weight safely and maintaining it is to eat a healthy balanced diet and to make small, active, and consistent lifestyle changes.

Kids who do not understand what healthy eating is, assume, as they watch their dieting parents, that fat is the enemy, that food is fattening, that restriction and dieting are the best and only way to lose weight and are key to health and thinness. Childhood dieting is, in fact, the worst way to lose weight, and is a primary risk factor for the onset of eating disorders and obesity in adulthood. Statistics show that children who “diet” have a greater tendency to become overweight adults.

The best way to lose weight and keep it off is to eat lots of nutritious foods, including all the food groups, in the form of meals, and at least three meals a day.

Exercise

Moderate exercise is necessary for good health. Of course, exercise and a fitness program will help you look better, but if you want real vitality and unstoppable energy, nothing beats eating a healthy, balanced, nutrition-rich diet. Diet, fitness, exercise, and proper nutrition COMBINED fine tune your body to not only look great, but feel great.

Exercise reduces the chances of obesity and thus the risks of diabetes, joint problems and heart disease.

Whatever form of exercise you choose, it will only be beneficial to you if you participate frequently and consistently. A little bit of exercise more often is better than a marathon workout every blue moon.

Eating

It is not surprising that in our society today, the average age of eating disorder onset has slipped from 13 to 9, and that obesity in both kids and adults is on the rise. Healthy eating has nothing to do with food restriction, dieting or thinness.

My belief is that if you trace “convenience eating” or “fast foods” back to their source, you will most probably find hurried parents who spend too much time away from home and their children, and far too little time valuing, creating and nurturing family connections through cooking, and eating meals together. The notion that parental laissez -faire is the best way to create an independent child is a widespread and defeating myth.

When parents are not there to cook and provide for kids who are left to fend for themselves, it’s easy for everyone to lose track of what healthy eating is and what healthy bodies are.

In my experience the whole coming together of families to choose, discuss and experience the preparation of “slow” food and the sharing of that experience in the consummation of the food, provides the best diet in the world for the healthy body and mind.

Healthy bodies are not overweight or underweight. Healthy bodies are beautiful, some are thin and some are short, yet many more are plentiful; Healthy bodies are strong, they work, they play, and endure many storms; Healthy bodies move, they run, they walk, and like to groove; Healthy bodies are smart, they know that thin does not mean squat.

Just as a healthy mind is supported by a healthy body, a healthy body is supported by a healthy mind.