The Art Of Eating Well: 5 Simple Ways To Be A Healthier Person
Nate Johnson | Unsplash Just being alive in America today is a stressful endeavor. With high levels of unemployment, the competition for jobs is intense. Young professionals have trouble leaving home. Retirement funds are being raided to cover living expenses. The stockmarket is a roller coaster.
Expenses are on the rise, and salaries are stagnant ... if you have a job. Our roads are congested with high-density living. Ugh, just reading that makes me anxious — pass me a cookie. Chronic stress can also lead to mindless munching: disconnect brain, EAT. Emotional eaters also often choose foods high in fat, sugar, or salt and tend to eat, regardless of whether they're hungry.
When acting mindlessly, the ability to recognize fullness and remain in charge of your choices is essential to managing weight. Managing a healthy weight protects you from a host of health issues, including joint degeneration, diabetes, insulin resistance, stroke, heart attack, and more. So how can you work toward better health and more mindful eating? Here are 5 steps to a healthier life approach.
Here are 5 simple ways to be a healthier person:
1. Keep a gratitude journal
Either the first thing or the last thing each day, take a moment to write down what you are grateful for in your life. Keeping those things close to our hearts and minds helps to maintain a more positive and optimistic attitude. Optimistic people, on average, are happier, maintain solid relationships, and make more money. A gratitude journal is an easy, tangible way to increase your level of optimism.
When researchers pooled data from multiple gratitude studies, they found these practices boosted life satisfaction by nearly 7%, improved mental health, and made people noticeably more optimistic. Something as simple as jotting down what you're thankful for rewires your brain to notice the good, and that spills over into every other area of your life.
2. Eat breakfast every morning
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I've heard it, and I've said it myself. 'I'm just not hungry in the morning." However, an empty stomach cannot maintain stable blood sugar levels. Without stable blood sugar, we tend to gain weight as we grab for pastries, donuts, and other less healthy choices.
How nurturing is it to expect yourself to put forth your best effort without any nutrition? (Hint: not very). You'll be riding up and down as your blood sugar spikes and plummets. You are what you eat, so what does it say about you if you eat nothing?
Whatever your rationale for not eating — no time, not hungry, etc. — it is impossible to be your best, most productive self if you're not doing it. A breakfast that stabilizes blood sugar contains a combination of healthy sources of protein, fat, and whole grain, fiber-rich carbohydrates. Try yogurt, oatmeal, or eggs.
3. Understand where your feelings come from
Be aware of what you are feeling, both inside and out. It is crucial to be mindful when taking care of yourself. Mindful eating notices that you are grabbing and gobbling. That might stop you from reaching for the first available "comfort" food and give you time to be in charge of your choices. What can you do to become more mindful? Try meditation, yoga, listening to music, or creating a personal ritual such as preparing and drinking tea.
Studies have also found that people who practice mindfulness tend to be less impulsive around food and make healthier snack choices overall. That's because mindfulness creates a buffer between the urge and the action.
4. Breathe and relax your shoulders
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When you notice that your shoulders are rising so high they become your earrings, you feel bodily tension, and your elevated heart rate is pounding in your ears. This is the time to help yourself choose to change your reaction and stop the fight or flight response.
A simple way to release tension is to breathe slowly in through the nose and out through the mouth. Try counting to five as you inhale and count back down to exhale. Fill your lungs as completely as possible with fresh air. Then exhale deeply and slowly, pushing all of the old air out. Notice how each breath releases the tension a little at a time. After your eighth breath, your heart rate and stress level should be noticeably reduced.
Intentional breathing can quickly shift your body out of stress mode. A 2023 study found that just five minutes of deep, slow breathing with extended exhales was enough to activate the body's relaxation response and reduce anxiety in people of all ages.
5. Reframe what comfort food means to you
Now that you are beginning your day with gratitude in your heart, food in your belly, and are fully aware and mindful of goings-on inside and out with a reduced stress level, you are prepared to create change in your life. So when things get crazy, and you are pulled in many directions, you can, at this instant, turn off autopilot. Imagine healthier mindsets before grabbing for the sugary, salty, or fatty food that you previously considered "comfort" food. Then just do it!
You are now empowered to rethink what comfort means to you. Is it something that will ultimately start the chatter of your inner critic? Instead, make a healthier choice and select something nourishing, such as one piece of 73 percent or higher dark chocolate, dried mango, or fresh fruit. You savor every delicious, nutritious bite. You feel great about yourself. As you become more empowered in your choices, you'll find yourself trying new recipes and even eating a variety of colorful, nutritious foods you previously didn't crave.
Congratulations: you are now caring for yourself. Your new behavior supports your new way of thinking... and your new thoughts support new habits. What a delicious achievement!
Lauryn Sires is a lifestyle coach and the CEO of Treetop Health Medicare Advisors.
