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Diet Tips for the Heart of Gold

What does this phrase mean to you? If you’re like most people, your brain quickly fills with visions of a lifetime spent eating salads with no dressing, whole grain toast with no butter, and endless platefuls of plain, skinless chicken breast. Boring, boring, boring!

A healthy diet plan does not have to be boring, nor does it have to be overrun with fat free, low calorie, bland and tasteless food. In fact, you can follow a healthy plan and still enjoy a menu filled with tasty snacks, flavorful food and enough variety to try a new recipe every day for weeks at a time. All you have to do is plan your diet.

Easy Healthy diet plan and tips:

Make a move towards healthy living

To do that you need to plan a healthy diet as a small, manageable steps rather than one big drastic change. If you approach the changes gradually and with commitment, you will have a healthy diet sooner than you think.

Make cooking simple and fun:

Instead of being overly concerned with counting calories or measuring portion sizes, think of your diet in terms of color, variety and freshness—then it should be easier to make healthy choices. Focus on finding foods you love and easy recipes that incorporate a few fresh ingredients and fibers like Quaker oats. Gradually, your diet will become healthier and more delicious.

Start slow and make changes to your eating habits over time. Trying to make your diet healthy overnight isn’t realistic or smart. Changing everything at once usually leads to cheating or giving up on your new eating plan. Make small steps, like adding a salad (full of different color vegetables) to your diet once a day or switching from butter to olive oil when cooking. As your small changes become habit, you can continue to add more healthy choices to your diet.

Every change you make to improve your diet matters. You don’t have to be perfect and you don’t have to completely eliminate foods you enjoy to have a healthy diet. The long term goal is to feel good, have more energy and reduce the risk of heart diseases. Think of exercise as a food group in your diet.

Find something active that you like to do and add it to your day, just like you would add healthy greens, and whole grains like Quaker oats. The benefits of lifelong exercise are abundant and regular exercise may even motivate you to make healthy food choices a habit.

Self-control is the key to healthy living

People often think of healthy eating as an all or nothing proposition, but a key foundation for any healthy diet is moderation. Despite what certain fad diets would have you believe, we all need a balance of carbohydrates, protein, fat, fiber, vitamins, and minerals to sustain a healthy body.

Try not to think of certain foods as "off limits." When you ban certain foods or food groups, it is natural to want those foods more, and then feel like a failure if you give in to temptation. If you are drawn towards sweet, salty or unhealthy foods, start by reducing portion sizes and not eating them as often. Later you may find yourself craving them less or thinking of them as only occasional indulgences.

Think smaller portions. Serving sizes have ballooned recently, particularly in restaurants. When dining out, split a dish with a friend, and don't go for large portions of anything.

Plan quick and easy meals ahead Healthy eating starts with great planning. You would have won half the healthy diet battle if you have a well-stocked kitchen, a stash of quick and easy recipes, and plenty of healthy snacks.

Plan your meals by the week or even the month One of the best ways to have a healthy diet is to prepare your own food and eat in regularly. Pick a few healthy recipes that you and your family like and build a meal schedule around them.

Plan your meals by the week or even the month One of the best ways to have a healthy diet is to prepare your own food and eat in regularly. Pick a few healthy recipes that you and your family like and build a meal schedule around them.

It's not just what you eat, it's how you eat

Healthy eating is more than planning a balanced diet - it is also about how you think about food. Healthy eating habits can be learned and it is important to slow down and think about food as nourishment rather than just something to gulp down in between meetings or on the way to pick up the kids.

Eat with others whenever possible. Eating with other people has numerous social and emotional benefits—particularly for children—and allows you to model healthy eating habits. Eating in front of the TV or computer often leads to mindless overeating.

Take time to chew your food and enjoy mealtimes. Chew your food slowly, savoring every bite. We tend to rush though our meals, forgetting to actually taste the flavors and feel the textures of what is in our mouths. Reconnect with the joy of eating.

Listen to your body. Ask yourself if you are really hungry, or have a glass of water to see if you are thirsty instead of hungry. During a meal, stop eating before you feel full. It actually takes a few minutes for your brain to tell your body that it has had enough food, so eat slowly.

Eat breakfast, and eat smaller meals throughout the day. A healthy breakfast can jumpstart your metabolism, and eating small, healthy meals throughout the day (rather than the standard three large meals) keeps your energy up and your metabolism going. Water—a vital part of a healthy diet

Water makes up about 75% of our bodies and helps flush our systems of waste products and toxins. Yet many people go through life dehydrated—causing tiredness, low energy and headaches. A balanced and a well-planned diet is the only key to healthy heart and heart diseases

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