Get It!. Jacqueline Laurita
and ultimately feel better.
1. Control Your Portions and Fill Half Your Plate with Veggies
It’s no secret that food portion sizes have increased over the years, and unfortunately, so has the percentage of Americans who are overweight. Let’s get back to the basics! As a general rule, portion sizes should be the size of your fist or fit into your cupped hand. (That equates to about one cup, or 3–4 ounces.) Using smaller plates can also help you decrease your portion sizes. The smaller the plate you serve your food on, the less food you will pile on.
When you serve yourself, be sure to fill half of your plate with veggies! This will help you get the vitamins, minerals, and fiber your body needs for optimal health. The other half of your plate should contain a lean protein or a whole grain option.
For more detailed information on portion sizes and how many calories you should be eating daily based on your age, sex, and level of physical activity, ask your healthcare provider, or go to ChooseMyPlate.gov and create a basic daily food plan based on your personal information.
2. Eat More Slowly
The more quickly you eat, the more weight you are likely to gain. When you eat fast, your body doesn’t have enough time to receive, process, and send back the signals that tell you when you are already full. It takes about twenty minutes for your brain to register that your stomach is full. By eating more slowly, you are giving your body time to process the signals and let you know when you are full; as a result, you will eat less. Avoid eating while watching TV because it’s harder to pay attention to how fast you’re eating. And always wait a few minutes before going back for seconds to be sure you really need them.
3. Drink 64 Ounces of Water throughout the Day
Drinking a lot of water is the one thing that every diet (and doctor!) recommends. Sixty-four ounces sounds like a lot, but trust us on this. It helps you feel fuller longer and makes for gorgeous, glowing skin to boot. Water eliminates food cravings and also helps prevent sugar cravings.
The Skinny on Dining Out
Studies show that many of us eat an additional 200 calories when dining out with friends.
When dining out, ask the waiter to portion half of your order before your meal is served and to bring you the other half in a to-go bag when you are ready to leave. This will help you to decrease your serving size and prevent mindless munching away long after you are full. Plus, you get a gourmet lunch already prepared for the next day!
Also, ask for food that is baked, grilled, or steamed and avoid added oils, fats, and butters. Season with lemon instead.
Try drinking a glass twenty minutes before eating so your body has time to absorb it. Make sure to drink upon awakening because that is when you are the most dehydrated, and always rehydrate after working out or spending time in the sun. Jené likes to add lemon juice to her water to give it a little natural flavor!
If you often forget to drink enough water, here’s a tip that we learned from famed TV anchor Joan Lunden. Buy a pack of plastic bracelets, like the kind little girls wear. Put eight of them on one wrist. With each glass of water you drink throughout the day, transfer one bracelet to the other wrist. It’s a fun and fashionable way to remind you to stay hydrated and keep track of how much you’re drinking!
4. Stay Away from Refined Sugars, Sugar Substitutes, and Salt
Many experts are now suggesting that sugar is the leading force behind America’s obesity epidemic, heart disease, and cancers. Sugar substitutes, some say, are also dangerous because they can increase cravings for regular sugar.
High salt intake increases blood pressure, which can lead to stroke, heart failure, and heart attacks. It also increases the risk of stomach cancer, osteoporosis, obesity, kidney stones, kidney disease, vascular dementia, and water retention! Try to stay away from table salt and get out of the habit of shaking it onto everything you eat. Adults should really not have more than 1 teaspoon of salt a day. (Most of the salt you eat is found hidden in processed foods under the name sodium chloride.) Himalayan pink salt is a much better option because it really packs a punch—so you need a lot less of it than regular table salt. It’s one of the purest salts on earth and is naturally pink because of its high iron content. It also contains high amounts of trace minerals, which bring many health benefits. Surprisingly, it can be found at many grocery stores and it grinds just like sea or kosher salt.
Fine-Tune Your Diet
One way to help fine-tune your diet is to get a blood test to determine if you have any food allergies or intolerances (it may or may not be covered by your health insurance). You will feel much better if you stay away from the foods that bring your body discomfort internally. Not everybody processes food the same way, so it’s good to know the foods you should limit or avoid putting into your body.
5. Limit Alcohol Consumption
Have that glass of red wine at night; there are plenty of health benefits touted! Red wine has a high concentration of antioxidants called polyphenols, including resveratrol, that may improve and protect heart health by increasing the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, which is considered the “good” cholesterol. It also reduces “bad” (LDL) cholesterol levels, which contribute to heart disease. However, avoid overindulging. Everything in moderation! It’s recommended that women drink a maximum of one or two glasses, up to three or four times a week.
The 5 Basic Food Groups
There are five basic food groups in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans: fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy, and protein. We’ll break down each of these groups below. And though they aren’t major food groups, we will discuss healthy beverages, herbs and spices, and oils, because they provide essential nutrients.
Food not only makes you feel good, it also makes you look good! Here we’ll also share the beauty bonuses that come from eating from each food group.
Fruit
Eat plenty and a wide variety. We suggest going fresh and organic when possible. When not possible, your next best choice is frozen, rather than canned. Canned fruit tends to be higher in sodium and sugar.
Fruit travels through the digestive tract much more quickly than other foods (within an hour!), so eating it on its own will give you the maximum nutritional benefits—even more so than combining it with vegetables in a juice or smoothie.
Fruits, and especially berries, contain high levels of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agents, vitamins C and E, potassium, and magnesium, all of which help protect the body against environmental toxins and neutralize UV damage and free radicals (which can damage the DNA of healthy cells).
Beauty Bonus: Fruit can help stimulate collagen production, which helps with skin renewal to keep it firm and strong. Free radicals can accelerate premature aging (including wrinkle formation), so neutralizing these can help slow the visible effects of aging. Antioxidants support hair strength because they increase circulation to the scalp and support the tiny blood vessels that feed the hair follicles. Fruit also helps the body maintain healthy bones and teeth; the vitamin D in some fruits improves calcium absorption.
“If you keep good food in your fridge, you will eat good food.”
—Errick McAdams
Veggies
We suggest you eat a variety of dark green vegetables, especially dark leafy greens, as well as the brightest-colored veggies, such as ones that are red and orange. Try to always eat fresh and organic when possible.