Think about what you eat
Are you pleased with your decisions? Do you slip up once in a while? Every day?
The good news is, regardless of your answer, it’s never too late to improve your eating habits. Our diet directly affects our health; it’s common knowledge, yet it’s knowledge that millions of Americans cast aside as unimportant on a daily basis.
Today, I’d like to draw your attention to an article featured on Yahoo! News in which I was asked about the importance of healthy eating habits vs. an exercise routine. The facts in this article and the positions taken by Director of Medical Weight Loss at the University of Cincinnati Health Weight Loss Center Angela Fitch and by myself will help put into perspective just how important our dietary choices are.
Before we get into the statistics, though, let’s make something abundantly clear: Exercise is important. It’s crucial. Walking routines and the NEAT points system are included in my books and in my Stop.Challenge.Choose. 12-Week Health Transformation because these activities help us maintain health now and into the future.
However, if forced to choose between diet and exercise (which you hopefully won’t have to do!), the true benefits of eating healthily shine brightly.
The only way you’re going to lose weight is to be more mindful of your calories, because we are notoriously poor at estimating how many calories we consume,” Fitch said. “The key to sticking to that limit is eating many more fruits and vegetables.
Here, Fitch touches upon the fact that we oftentimes eat past the point of feeling full. To put the dangerous effects of doing this another way, I state in the article that a pound of fat contains 3,500 calories. On the other hand, running a marathon burns 2,600 calories—almost 1,000 calories less than just one pound of fat!
You get so much more bang for your buck,” Fitch said. “You’ll lose weight and get all the health benefits of these foods.
When you choose healthy meal options instead of fat and sugar-loaded conveniences, you’re not just avoiding an unhealthy choice, you’re creating health.
By aligning your diet with your goals and choosing fresh veggies and fruits over chips and cookies, you’re pushing aside an unhealthy choice, but you’re also lo
ading your body with vitamins and nutrients. By selecting the quick snack instead, you’re robbing yourself of the chance to nourish your body.
Once you’ve made eating healthy foods a priority and begun to revamp your diet, then start looking to add exercise to push your results over the top. Don’t, however, think that because you went to the gym for 30 minutes you can scoot through the drive-thru for a quick treat.
Your choices matter, and when it comes to the foods you eat, they can directly lead to health or sickness.