One of most famous lines in health industry is that good bodies are built in kitchen and that we are what we eat. No doubt about it. But then things get difficult with so many different approaches to what to eat, when to eat, how many times, what to avoid, what should be ratio of protein, carbs and fat and so on and so forth.
Following diet plans is difficult.period.
When we start on path of healthy living, this is easy initially, but then all these calculations becomes like a chore and we fall back. Mostly, because we are dealing with so many other things in life, or to say, life gets in our way. Now, of course, we can not have the excuse of busy life to stay unhealthy, or put efforts in our yoga practice and then see that hard work paying little due to dietary habits.
Simple guidelines works best.
This little post is about how, this doesn’t have to be this difficult. When we have simple guidelines based on fundamental understanding of how things work, they are easy to follow. All it takes is few simple simple guidelines, which are easy to follow too. Let’s look into them:
- Eat good breakfast. Our elders were not wrong when they said “Eat Breakfast Like a King, Lunch Like a Prince, and Dinner Like a Pauper”. In morning, we have empty stomach and it is all fired up with digestive juices. Plus, we have been without any food since last dinner. A good breakfast ensures the supply of required nourishment to start our day in effective manner.
- Eat light dinner. In continuation or previous point, we should have a light dinner. As day comes to an end, our body system also tends to slow down. This means, our body’s ability to digest food is also slowed down. A good reference point is to have dinner, around 6–7 PM. Yeah, this is early but this is when dinner used to be, before we have artificial lights to extend our days. For human body, this is still good time to have dinner. But then having dinner this early also means that you sleep early or on time too. For more details you can read: does early dinner help in weight loss ?
- Drink a lot of water. Our body need fluids for blood circulation as also for good bowl movement. This doesn’t mean you drown yourself in water though. Moderation is the key.
- Take small servings. Most of time, we overeat because serving size is big. It is indeed true. Just reduce your serving size. You can always take more later.
Yes, the list is finished and as you see, this is as simple as that. So is everything related to staying healthy.
Happy Practice :)
Om