Since school finished a month and half ago, I have gone back to being a gym-junkie and hopefully go back to my pre-mba
size that I was in September '05 :-) However, as everyone knows, losing
weight can be hard. This time around, I have done a lot more research
while hitting the gym and eating right. I am also trying different
techniques in my exercise regime and diet to see what works for me.
Anyway, have decided to share some of my research with a series of
blogs, hopefully this will also help keep me focused on my fitness goals
:-)
So,
for this blog, I am going to talk about a concept, surprisingly, few
people know about - "clean" eating. No, this does not mean just eating
food cooked in hygienic conditions, but eating food that is "whole" and
minimally or not processed. This is also having a good idea of what
exactly is in your meal and what is the nutritional value of what you
just ate.
So
what is unprocessed or minimally processed food? It is basically food
that is preservative-free and cooked from its most natural form. For
example, instead of eating white bread, which is missing the wheat husk,
eat whole wheat, or if can you do it, freshly baked whole wheat bread.
Here's a few pointers I got off the net:
- Does the food look like it once lived on this planet? Lettuce, eggs, yes. Marshmallows, NutraSweet, no
- How many ingredients does it have? Whole foods have one ingredient—itself
- What has been done to the food since it was harvested? Read the label. If the label reads more like chemistry, don’t eat it
- Is this product “part” of a food or the “whole” food? Juice is only part of a fruit. Oil is only part of the olive. When you eat partial foods, your body craves the part it did not get, because for millennia, the whole food has been the only food it has known
As
an example: eating instant noodles versus making some at home. First of
all, instant noodles ('instant" anything for that matter) is loaded
with preservatives and secondly, there is usually no nutritional value
in it. So what you are basically eating is junk. Another reason not to
eat processed food is that it doesn't take the body very long to digest
it and you will end up feeling hungry soon after. In simple terms, when
you could eat a 100 calories of processed food and a 100 calories of
unprocessed food, the caloric intake is the same but chances are you
will be hungry 2 hours after eating instant noodles and start snacking
on something else; effectively adding more calories to your daily
intake. The most important reason is ofcourse nutrition. The main aim of eating, besides satisfying your taste buds, is nourishing your body.
So how do we do this? How do we eat unprocessed nutritious food that tastes great and that we can fit into our very busy schedules? Here are a few tips that I have tried personally and have worked:
1.
Figure out what you like eating and plan your food shopping
accordingly. If you love Kraft Dinner, possibly the worst of the lot,
you can incorporate this in too. KD
is basically macaroni and cheese. Buy some whole wheat macaroni from
the supermarket and some low-fat cheese. This provides a source of good carbs from the whole-wheat macaroni and protein & fat from cheese. Ofcourse, this does require you to do some cooking. However, plan ahead and cook ahead, it does not take that long to cook. Ofcourse, considering you have read this article so far, you have bought the concept somewhat ;-)
2. Make small changes initially.
If you decide that all you are going to eliminate sugar completely from
tomorrow, chances are it is the sugar that you took today doing the
talking :-) Do it gradually, and you can really accomplish a nutrition
goal.
3.
Try it. Stay away from processed foods and eat right for a week, you
will notice a HUGE difference. Higher energy levels, less mindless
snacking and if you keep at it, shedding some extra pounds.
4. I surf the net a lot for information on nutrition and great recipes, keeps me motivated. Ofcourse,
I caution here, putting up a website is really easy (that's why I have
one :-) ) so make sure the information is from a reliable source
Getting
the body you want is not easy and I think the only way to do it for
good is to make a lifestyle change that you can live by. Exercise and
good eating are both equally important.
