We all know that cleaning our face and looking after our skin on the outside will go a long way to keeping our skin clear and beautiful, but what happens inside also affects our skin. Eating well, exercising and not doing harmful things like smoking and excessive drinking can work better than any anti-ageing cream. Having said that, I will introduce to you a collection of articles written by JesseAnne that will delve into looking after your body, and in turn, your skin. Eating well will not only help our skin, it will helpyour energy levels, weight loss efforts, and overall health. Really, eating well is a no-brainer. Part one focuses on fruit, vegetables and fats, and she will cover protein and carbs at a later date. So lets jump into it.
xo Britt
I'm going to be writing a few articles that focus around weight-loss from a nutritional aspect, including Nutrition 101, How to Exercise and Enjoy It, and How to Feel Full and Still Lose Weight.
Today, we'll focus on Nutrition 101, what to eat for healthy and balanced weight loss.
There's lots of information out there on how to lose weight. Some of the information is valid, and some can actually be damaging to your health.
For instance, did you know that depriving your body of essential nutrient containing foods in order to lose body fat quickly dramatically effects your metabolism (the amount of food you can eat before it is stored as fat) energy and appearance, making it harder to keep weight off and ultimately contributes to future weight gain?
Your body is a living, working thing and needs to be treated well in order to flourish. If you eat for health, weight will become easier to manage.
So, what should we be getting each day?
First of all, the most important things to eat every day are 5 serves of veggies and 2 serves of fruit.
A serve of veggies is 1 cup of leafy green vegetables, or ½ a cup of all other vegetables. This can be served in the form of soup, salad, stir-fry’s, sandwich fillings, on toast in the mornings, as part of a pasta sauce etc.
Then comes fruit. Fruit contains essential vitamins and nutrients, but it also contains a high level of fructose, which your body converts to sugar if you don't burn it off. Fruit is natures dessert, and should be treated as such. Fruit juices from the supermarket are often seen as a healthy beverage. However, what you're drinking is a hit of pure sugar, without the benefits of eating a whole piece of fruit. Therefore, it's not much better than having a fizzy drink!
1 medium piece of fruit, 2-3 pieces of dried fruit, or 2 small pieces of fruit equal one serve. Other ways to eat it are to have mixed berries with yoghurt or in a smoothie, or melon for dessert in summer. Fruits are a great snack as the fructose provides enough energy to tide you over till your proper meal time.
Next on the list is water. Whilst we can survive for days and days without food, we can't go more than 2 or 3 days without water.
It is essential for flushing out disease-creating toxins, keeping us fresh and feeling good and no end of physiological processes essential to our well-being. Most people don't get enough of the stuff, preferring sugary soft drinks or caffeinated beverages.
Did you know that by the time you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated?
The minimum amount you should drink is 1.5 liters a day. That's the absolute minimum. This can seem quite boring though. Using a couple of tricks to 'fool yourself' into drinking more can help with this.
One trick is buying a 750ml water bottle and making sure you get through it twice in one day.
Your daily water serve can also be delivered via soups, mineral waters or herbal teas. Another trick is to drink it with a bit of cordial, or if you'd rather something a bit healthier, I personally pop a couple of Berocca tablets into my water to flavour it, and provide a hit of minerals and vitamins.
The final food group I'm going to discuss today is fats. They have quite a bad reputation, and some of them deserve it! I'm sure you've heard of Saturated fats, to be found in dairy, red meats, pastries, fried foods, cookies, cakes and other processed foods. Saturated fats actively contribute to cell damage and cholesterol in the body. So it's quite a big deal!
However, our bodies are designed to have other kinds of fats, called poly-unsaturated and mono-unsaturated fats. These two fats actively contribute to our feelings of satiety, and actually help us eat less! They contribute to cell regeneration, heart health, brain health and joint health. Without enough of these fats, you are more prone to arthritis, heart disease, dementia, mood swings, poor skin, nails and hair. So as is usually the case, moderation is everything.
These two fats are found in nuts, seeds, avocado, peanut butter and egg yolks. A small handful of nuts and seeds each day, 2 eggs or peanut butter on two slices of toast or rice cakes is best each day.
And finally, sleep also plays a huge role in weight management. If we are deprived of rest, we are more likely to be in a poor mood and feel exhausted. So the body instinctively reaches for high energy snacks to provide enough fuel until bedtime. You are more likely to choose the fatty options rather than the fresh options, and as you're tired, you are less able to rationalize with yourself as to what's best for you.
So make sure you get your 8 ½ hours each night.
Following the above guidelines will go a long way to making you feel good and look good. :)
Yours in Self-Love,
JessieAnne XO
