Physical Fitness Diet

The old saying goes “You are what you eat.” When it comes to your health nothing could be more true. Physical fitness requires dedication to not only exercise, but to healthy eating habits. Everything we ingest determines how well the intricate systems in our body will function. This reason is why maintaining a healthy everyday diet is of the utmost importance.

When you say diet to many people today their thoughts instantly go towards thinking of a restrictive way of eating to lose weight. A lot of this thinking is due to the fact to so many people are obese in modern times, that most mention of diet is indeed someone trying to get thinner. Losing extra pounds is essential to a healthy body, but a “healthy diet” is the correct way of eating everyday, that will not only keep you at a good weight, but help your body receive proper nutrients and keep you feeling fantastic all the time.

Although you could fill and entire library on better eating habits and eating for physical fitness, the basic rules are pretty simple and easy to follow for almost everyone.

This first rule to follow is to eat plenty of high-fiber foods. These foods such as vegetables, fruits, legumes and whole grains are considered your “good carbohydrates”. There are many carbohydrate restrictive fad diets today, but these types “good carbs” should make up 20 to 30 grams of your fiber intake daily. They will help you to slow your body’s carbohydrate absorption which will help with your insulin and blood sugar levels.

According to USDA surveys, most people are receiving far less than this amount (around only 12 grams a day). Getting enough dietary fibers keep your digestive system healthy, reduces cholesterol levels, improves blood sugar levels and reduces the risk of type-2 diabetes.

The second rule goes hand in hand with the first. This rule is vegetables, vegetables and more vegetables. Not only do they help you in getting adequate fiber, but the vitamins, minerals and photochemical they provide the body is essential to good health. For quite a while health organizations have recommended at least 5 servings a day of fresh fruits and veggies.

It is becoming more common that they are now suggesting around 7 to 9 servings a day. Getting a good variety of vegetables is also important. An easy way to remember this is that you want your veggies to have a lot of colors, go for green leafy veggies, dark red, orange and yellow. Same goes for your fruits. This way you get a wide range of the nutrients needed, as well and powerful antioxidants that protect against many types of cancer.

The next rule to remember is that you want to reduce your intake of animal fats as much as possible. The heavy saturated fats found in animal products raise cholesterol levels and are directly linked to increased risk of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease.

Consume dairy in moderation, choose lean cuts of meat and skinless poultry. A good option is to choose fish, which contains healthy unsaturated fat (which your body needs) as well as being rich in Omega-3 fatty acid which is an added health benefit.

Water is an essential part of life. Our bodies are comprised of 61.8 percent water. Many people do not get nearly enough on a daily basis to prevent dehydration, however. You should aim for around 90 to 100 ounces of water per day. Lack of water causes all of the systems in our body to function poorly; everything from our skin all the way down to our endocrine system suffers drastically when not getting enough water. Things such as coffee and sugary drinks DO NOT count as water.

Although there are many rules to follow with healthy eating, there is one tip that helps tremendously. That is keep driving past the fast food place! Many people stop and grab a bite when they are short on time. Fast food is highly processed, high in fat, high in preservative chemicals, high in hydrogenated vegetable oils and the portion sizes offered are way too large.

If you are going to take the time to make sure you are getting the correct foods in your diet, you will need to make sure they are fresh and prepared properly, this means using fresh preferably organic ingredients at home. Learning to prepare your meals at home is not only fun and rewarding, but you will be able to follow all the above rules much easier, resulting in a much healthier diet that will help you to be physically fit.