Gaining Health: Be Your Best Self by Refocusing Your Goals

There are lots of fad diets that let you eat one food and not another, one kind of food and not another, fill up on this, deprive yourself of that, and so on. The fact is that if you deprive yourself of any part of balanced food consumption, you will lose weight. You will also lose health. This is why I would like to suggest that a more appropriate goal than losing weight would be gaining health. Appropriate weight loss or gain is a side-effect of a natural, healthy, balanced program of food consumption and exercise. Whether you are overweight or underweight, you will arrive at your natural, healthy weight with natural, healthy foods and activity.

When you begin thinking about gaining health, avoid thinking about what you must cut out of your daily routine. Don't plan to deprive yourself. Think instead of what you can add, what you can give yourself, to make your life better and yourself healthier. One thing you can add is pure water. Whenever you desire to drink or eat anything, drink a glass of pure water first. We are made up of mostly water, and our bodies and brains need plenty of water to function properly. Water is a natural appetite suppressant. When you feel thirsty or hungry, try water. You may find it satisfies your needs completely.

Pure water helps flush toxins out of your system. It moisturizes your skin, nails and hair and keeps your eyes bright. It helps your central nervous system function and pads your joints. If you have been experiencing joint pain, try increasing your water intake. You may be surprised to find your pain dissipating. A healthy, active person needs at least eight, eight-ounce glasses of water every day. If you will fill a two-liter bottle with pure water at the beginning of each day, you will have your daily requirement in front of you. Be sure to use a filtration pitcher like Brita or Pur to remove chemicals from your drinking water. Don't bother with bottled water. It is an unnecessary expense and is inferior to tap water because it is not closely regulated for safety as tap water is.

Eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables - at least five servings a day. Try to choose fruits and vegetables that are colorful. They contain more beneficial nutrients. Go with berries, cherries, red and purple grapes, purple cabbage, dark greens and leaf lettuce (not iceberg) broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, beets, apples, oranges, pomegranates - the richer and more colorful, the better. These colorful fruits and vegetables are pleasing to the eye and filled with nutrition and anti-oxidants that help protect you against cancer. Fill your plate with fresh raw fruits, steamed or lightly sautéed vegetables at every meal. Make your food intake two-thirds fresh fruit and vegetables and leave one third for your protein and starch.

Eat lean meats, naturally prepared -baked, broiled, steamed, or sautéed. Avoid deep fried foods, heavy sauces and excessive salt. These just add empty calories and cause you to retain water. When this happens, your system doesn't flush toxins properly and you look and feel bloated. Choose, lean beef, chicken, and fish, with occasional pork that is not too fatty. Don't deny yourself kinds of meat. Just use moderation. An occasional sausage or dollop of white gravy will not destroy your goal of gaining health, but try to lean more and more towards choosing meats prepared without heavy accompaniment and without excessive heavy oils. Of course, if you are a vegetarian or wish to be, you can always substitute beans, nuts, cheese, yogurt, and so on for meat.

Choose whole grains and breads. Avoid processed foods, white bread, rice and so on. Always choose on the side of the more natural, less processed food. You want your food as close to it's natural state as possible. Avoid having a plate full of white food since this will usually be processed and lacking in nutrition. Try to have a colorful, well balanced plate of good, healthy food at every meal. Eat as much as you need to in order to feel satisfied. Don't stuff yourself, but don't leave the table hungry. It is not necessary to be hungry in order to gain health. In fact, it is inadvisable.

If you are hungry, eat. Just choose wisely. Choose healthy, non-processed foods like fruit, nuts, yogurt, natural fruit juices without sugar or artificial sweeteners added. Don't eat if you are not hungry, but if you are, by all means, go ahead. Eat only foods that you find delicious. Don't eat just to fill up. Don't eat something that you are not delighted with. Eat the foods you truly like, in moderate amounts, when you are hungry. If you are actually just bored and not hungry, drink a glass of water and go for a walk. If you are still hungry when you get back, have a healthy snack. It is a good idea to eat three moderate meals a day with a healthy, light snack in mid-morning, mid-afternoon, and early evening.

Give yourself every opportunity to be satisfied with your food. When you eat a meal or when you snack, sit down, relax, enjoy your break free of distraction. Be mindful of what you are eating and drinking and take time to appreciate it. Say a few words of thanks before eating. You will find that this will help you to enjoy and appreciate your food more. You will feel more satisfied.

You may find that having a hot beverage makes snacks and meals more satisfying. There are many delicious natural herbal and flavored teas you can enjoy. Black, green and orange pekoe teas have been found to be beneficial. Good quality coffee is also fine in limited amounts. You don't want to get your nerves so jangled that you can't relax and enjoy your life!

If you are on a diet, you have to control your sweet tooth! How does that make you feel? Well, guess what! If you are gaining health, you will want to redirect your sweet tooth so that you can use it to help you gain health. Avoid processed sweeteners like white sugar and especially high fructose corn syrup. Also, avoid artificial sweeteners. They are not food. They are chemicals. Instead, use honey, molasses, raw sugar, or in some cases, natural fruit juice to sweeten beverages. Fruit juice is especially good added to teas, either hot or iced.

If you love chocolate, have some! Be sure it is very, very dark chocolate with as little sweetener and milk added as possible. Dark chocolate is rich in antioxidants that help prevent cancer. It also contains copper, which helps you process iron. Two ounces of very dark chocolate a day is a nice, enjoyable little tonic. Savored with a cup of good, black coffee, it is a healthy taste treat. I enjoy this every morning before anything else. It is also a good mid-afternoon pick-me-up.

Use your goal of gaining health as an opportunity to learn new ways of preparing foods. Learn about herbs and seasonings that you have never tried before. These can be healthy, delicious, beneficial additions to your meal times. Learn about all the different kinds of healthy oils that you can enjoy, like olive, walnut, peanut, coconut, and sunflower to name a few. These oils help you gain health by nourishing your skin, hair and nails and keeping the myelin sheath of your central nervous system properly coated so that it works the way it is supposed to. These natural oils also help keep your joints padded and ease arthritis pain. Avoid hydrogenated oils at all costs. They are of no benefit to your body and actually interfere with the functioning of beneficial oils. If you see hydrogenated oil on the ingredient list of a food item, pass it up.

Don't deprive yourself. Be kind to yourself. Take care of yourself as if you were a treasured child. Make sure to give yourself enough good, healthy, nutritious food to eat. Make sure that you drink plenty of pure water. Encourage yourself to get plenty of rest and to take ample breaks and time to play and enjoy your life. Sit in the sun for a few minutes every day. If it is rainy, sit near a window or on a covered porch. Give yourself time to think, pray, meditate - whatever you need to calm and organize your thoughts. Take yourself for brisk walks and bike rides or just do a bit of yoga or other stretching or maybe some dancing. Give yourself at least half an hour every day to enjoy moving your body. Treasure yourself and your happiness and well-being. Help yourself gain health, and soon you will find that you are just the right size and shape for you, and you will be satisfied with that.