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7 Practical Tips For Improving Your Diet

Paying attention to your diet often seems like it takes a lot of time and effort. You think you’ll have to put a lot of work into making sure each of your meals are perfect and fit within certain requirements. While you’ll need to put some effort into it, it shouldn’t be nearly as complicated as you could think.

With a few tips for improving your diet, you make it much more practical, no matter how busy your life is. These seven tips can be much easier to do and more practical than you’d think. You shouldn’t have a problem working them into your lifestyle and improving your diet.

It’s more than worth taking a look through each of them.

Improving Your Diet: 7 Practical Tips

1. Stay Hydrated

Staying hydrated is an essential part of your daily life. At least, it should be, but not enough people get as much water as they should. With how important it is to your bodily functions, it’s important to pay attention to this –

You should drink at least six to eight glasses of water a day to make sure you’re hydrated. If you feel thirsty, then there’s a decent chance you’re already a little dehydrated. Be proactive with this, and you shouldn’t  have a problem getting enough water every day. I like to start the day with 16 oz of water before anything else. It starts the day off right.

2. Have More Fruits & Vegetables

Everyone knows they need to have a decent amount of fruits and vegetables in their diets. Working them into every meal can often seem a little difficult, though. It doesn’t have to be too much of a problem, especially if you’re willing to get a little creative with it.

Fruits are easier than you think! Smoothies [1] can be a great way to get more fruit in your diet, and you can make these relatively quickly. I enjoy a smoothie for breakfast and sometimes for dessert! With a little bit of effort, you shouldn’t have a problem getting enough fruit and all the vitamins it offers. Vegetables can be worked in easily too – like a spinach omelet, or one of those delicious sheet pan dinners. 

3. Have Less Salt

Most people don’t realize how much of an impact salt has on their health. It’s been linked to higher blood pressure and similar conditions. In time, this leads to heart conditions and strokes. The less of it you have in your diet, the better. Even if you don’t add salt to your meals, you could still be getting a lot more than you think.

Most of the salt you’ll usually have in your diet comes in the food itself. Some of the more notable foods with high salt levels include soups, breads, processed foods and yes, breakfast cereals. Check the labels for any products you’re considering buying. Anything with 1.5g of salt for every 100 grams of food is considered high in salt.

It’s worth choosing alternative options with lower salt levels – like fresh herbs or herbal blends.

4. Don’t Skip Breakfast

When many people try to lose weight, they think of cutting down on the food they eat. There’s some logic in that, but not when it comes to skipping breakfast. There’s a reason why it’s considered the most important meal of the day [2]. The trick to this is making sure it’s actually healthy. And I have personally found that eating breakfast helps not to over eat the rest of the day.

Low- or no-sugar cereal with milk or yogurt can be a decent option. I love a bowl of granola with fresh fruit and plain Greek yogurt. You’ll have a healthy and tasty breakfast before you know it.

And with how quick and easy these are to make, you shouldn’t have a problem working it into your morning routine.

5. Eat More Fish

Protein is an essential part of  a healthy diet. When you’re improving your diet, it’s always worth making sure you’re  getting enough. Fish, that’s quick and easy option and it makes for a great meal. Besides the protein, it’s packed full of minerals and vitamins that help with your health.

Try to get at least two portions of fish a week, with oily fish being the better recommended option. It’s packed full of omega-3 fatty acids. [3] These fatty acids help to control cholesterol and keep your body running smoothly. Some of the more notable oily fish include:

With two or three portions of these a week, you’ll have a better diet before you know it.

6. Get More Fiber In Your Meals

Fibrer is an important part of everyone’s diet, and it helps make sure your digestive system works properly. The same can be said for certain carbohydrates. Thankfully, foods high in either of these tend to be high in the other, too. Getting both can be relatively simple, but you’ll need to actually plan for it.

Whole wheat pasta and brown rice are some of the more notable high fiber carbs, and they’re more than worth working into your diet. These don’t provide nearly as many calories as similar foods, all while providing you with the energy you need during the day. Also, the whole grain helps to regulate your blood sugar.

7. Cut Down On Saturated Fat

Everyone believes that they should cut out fat from their diet to improve it. While that’s somewhat true, it’s only the case for a particular type of fat. There are two main types: saturated and unsaturated fat. It’s the first of these you’ll need to cut down on, while the second could be relatively healthy for you.

You can find saturated fats [4] in plenty of foods, including:

By cutting down on these, you can reduce your saturated fat levels. Avoid them as much as you can. Pick options with unsaturated fats instead, such as olive oil, nuts and avocados.

Improving Your Diet: Wrapping Up

diet

Improving your diet often seems like it’ll take a lot of time and effort, but doesn’t have to be the case. With a few practical tips, you make it much easier. Getting more fiber in your meals, not skipping breakfast, having more fruits and vegetables, and similar tips all help.

All you’d need are a few small adjustments to your lifestyle, and your diet will be much better and you’ll even be feeling healthier before you know it.

Healthy Eating: Tips For Cooking At Home

Posted By HelenFern On In Informational | 2 Comments

Cooking healthy foods at home doesn’t always feel like an easy thing to do. You have to source the perfect ingredients yourself, and then make sure you’re getting a full nutrient profile from your plate, and then have to do it all again! After a few weeks, you can get exhausted! 

But we can still make this process a little easier. When you know the general ins and outs of what foods are good for you and what a healthy plate should look like, you won’t ever find shopping for healthy foods difficult again. Here are some tips you should know about. 

Make Your Vegetable Portions Just a Bit Bigger

The vegetables on your plate should be doing a lot of the heavy lifting. Sure, you need to pair them with something more substantial, like a carb or protein, but they should make at least a third to half of your plate. Carrots, kale, broccoli, peppers, other leafy greens; they’re all great choices for any and all meals, even at breakfast time! All in all, try to make your vegetable portions a bit bigger week by week until you can reach that recommended amount – simple!

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Buy the Right Snacks

The right snacks in between meals go a long way! So let go of the bags of chips and the sweet chocolate; invest in some healthier alternatives such as dark chocolate, or sweet potato fries you’ve made yourself in about 10 minutes. Eat for your body and health. A bag of Delta 9 THC Gummies [8] can help with various ailments you may be feeling, including muscle pain from a hard workout.

Swap Out Your Usual Grain for the Whole Grain Variety

Carbs are nearly in everything we eat, which is why they’re so hard to use less in your diet. And even when you do try to eat less, you’re going to be craving them before long! From rice to pasta to bread and cereals, carbs are where we source the majority of our energy, and that’s actually quite good for us. You just need to be sure about the quality of the carbs you’re eating. To do this, swap out the usual grains you buy for the whole grain varieties [9] instead. 

Vary the Colors on Your Plate

When your plate is colorful, your meal is going to be incredibly tasty and full of a variety of nutrients – and healthy food doesn’t have to be bland and boring [10]! So if there’s something beige or yellow on the plate, such as some chicken, pair it with greens and reds and a tasty condiment to bring in the full flavor palate. A good meal is always one you want to go back and eat all over again, so aim to make these from here on out. Or more simply put, if it’s boring, and if you didn’t like it, don’t force yourself to eat it!

Healthy eating is much easier to manage out of your own kitchen, despite what people might say. Remember this for your future health goals. 

 

Being Healthy Doesn’t Have To Be Boring

Posted By HelenFern On In Informational,Lifestyle | 2 Comments

One of the most common misconceptions about being healthy [14] is that it means things have to get boring. This is not the case at all! In this article, we’re going to be taking a look at some of the things that you can do to make being healthy a little more exciting. Keep reading down below if you would like to find out more.

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Exercise With Your Friends

The first thing that we are going to suggest is that you can exercise with your friends. When you are exercising alone, it can feel as though you have no motivation to continue. It’s easier to get to a point where you give up. But when you are exercising with friends, you can do workouts together that you might not do on your own. You can motivate each other to keep going. And you can catch up on all of the news that you may have missed over the last couple of days.

Some people get embarrassed by the idea of working out with their friends, but there is no reason to be. You are all in the same boat, needing to get more exercise into your life and doing it together. It can be a lot of fun, and you never know, it might become the part of your week that you look forward to the most.

Try New Recipes

Another problem that people seem to encounter is the feeling of eating the same things over and over. This doesn’t have to be the case.  If you are willing to try new things and work out how you can fit them into your new diet. For example, a traditional bolognese recipe [15] can be done as is, or it can be changed a little by adding different herbs and flavors to the mix. If you ever feel as though you are going round in circles with what you eat and never feel as though you are mixing it up, you can always find new recipes online. There are some amazing bloggers [16] out there!

There are a ton of different ideas on the internet. Social media has groups going through the same thing as you.  And there are websites that specialize in giving you healthy recipe ideas. It’s not true that you have to stick to only lean meats and vegetables if you’re trying to be a little healthier, and a little bit of adventure in your meals can do wonders!

Get your friends and family over to enjoy some of the new meals as well, as it’s always more fun to experience new things with other people, rather than just on your own.

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Sort Out A Sleep Routine

While this might not sound that exciting, we bet the idea of getting seven or eight hours of sleep every night rather than four or five is.  To achieve this goal, you are going to need to sort out a sleep routine to train your brain [17] to know when bedtime is. It’s important to keep a routine around the same time each night. This can help to work your brain into the routine. For example, if you decide to go to bed at 10pm and get up at 6am, your body will be rested enough to remain  healthy.  

A good sleep routine could be washing your face and brushing your teeth. Then do whatever else you need to do in order to get ready for bed. As soon as you have finished this, you should get into your bed without the distractions of technology and work on getting some sleep. In the beginning this might be frustrating as you might not feel it working, but over time your brain will come to realize that this means it’s time to go to sleep.

 

We hope that you have found this article helpful. And we hope you have found some ways that you can make being healthy a little more exciting. It may mean you have to make changes to your lifestyle, but this doesn’t have to mean that things have to get boring. So we wish you the very best of luck, and hope that you manage to get healthier, without getting bored.

Foods To Build Up Your Immune System

Posted By HelenFern On In Nutrition | 2 Comments

Your immune system is really important, especially if you want to make sure that you are likely to live long and to be as healthy [20] as possible. It’s a good idea to try and build up your immune system as much as possible, and the good news is that there are plenty of ways you can do just that. One way is to eat foods that are designed to help build up and boost your immune system. So which ones are those? Here are some of the best of these that you might like to consider.


Fruits

First of all, a special mention for fruit. Any fruits out there are basically going to be good for building up your immune system so this is something that you should definitely try to eat as much of as possible. As long as you are eating plenty of fruits, you’ll find that you are a lot healthier on the whole. One way to get more fruit into your diet is to do as Smoothie King [21] does and make juices and smoothies out of oranges, kiwis and apples and more. That way, you can get loads of fruit in your system right away.

Garlic

There are not many passionate home cooks or professional chefs who don’t love garlic. It is truly delicious, it goes in a huge number of savory dishes, and it’s easy to use. And it happens to be one of the very best foods you can eat in order to boost your immune system so that is another  reason to eat plenty of it and cook with it. It has antibacterial and antiviral properties, so make sure that you always have some in the house and you should benefit from it in a huge way.

Mushrooms

Who doesn’t love mushrooms [22]? Again, they are an ingredient that you can use in so many dishes and in so many ways, and they are actually a lot more versatile than people tend to give them credit for. They are especially useful if you are trying to ward off a cold or flu, so consider adding some mushroom to your chicken soup next time you are feeling a little worse for wear. You’ll be amazed at how much of a difference this can make to your health in general, and all just by eating some delicious mushrooms.

Brightly-Colored Vegetables

They say that you should aim to eat a rainbow of vegetables. What they mean by this is that the more you eat of different colors, the more likely it is that you will be getting all the nutrients and minerals that you really need. In particular, brightly-colored vegetables are likely to be particularly good for this, so those are the ones to aim for as much as possible.

With more of those in your diet, you will be able to expect a much stronger immune system in general – and it’s definitely worth doing it for that reason.

Everything You Need On The Morning Menu To Start Your Day The Right Way

Posted By HelenFern On In Breakfast | 1 Comment

Are you looking for ways to improve your morning routine? If so, then we have some great choices that could suit you. If you start your day the right way, then you could see fantastic benefits for your body as well as your mind. 

breakfast

A big glass of water

morning menu

First, you should think about starting your day with a large glass of ice water. You need to drink about two quarts of water today to ensure that you are staying healthy. While this includes the water in your foods, a glass first thing in the morning is a great place to start. A big benefit of starting the day with a glass of water [26] is that it acts as a detox and will clear all the nasty things out of your system, which is great news. This isn’t the only benefit of course. Cold water may also kickstart your metabolism which is great if you are working on your fitness goals. 

Coffee

morning menu

Caffeine may get a bad rap in the media but contrary to popular belief, it’s not bad for you. In reality, caffeine can be a great choice and give you the little buzz you need to start the day right. There are lots of choices for coffee so make sure that you choose the right type for you. In the summer, you can even start with a nice blast of ice coffee and you can make treats like this at home. You don’t need to pay the extortionate prices of Starbucks. 

You can even take your coffee with you on the go in something like a Tervis Tumbler. If you are worried about how to remove coffee stains from Tervis tumbler [27] you’ll be pleased to know that it is quite easy. There are various guides online that will ensure this doesn’t take you hours. 

Fruit

Next, you should think about what you’re going to eat in the morning. If you love variety, then a great choice would be a fruit salad. Alternatively, you could just focus on a few of your favorite fruits that will go down a treat. You can mix it up too and have fruit with yogurt or even cream if you’re feeling sinful. Make sure you try to use the best fruits that provide some antioxidants. 

Cereal or Oatmeal 

morning menu

Finally, you might want to think about adding some cereal to your morning routine [28]. One big benefit of cereal is that it is often considered brain food. So, if you want to ensure that you can think more clearly, and avoid a blank mind when you get to the office in the morning, then this is definitely a smart choice. You can even enjoy your cereal with fruit like bananas and even grapes for a delicious taste. And the fiber is excellent for your gut health.

We hope this gives you some great ideas of what should be on your personal menu in the morning. If you explore these options then you are going to discover the fantastic benefits that can be gained by eating the right food early in the day.