You can find all the advice you could possibly want to seek on proper nutrition, and everyone has a different opinion. You can find both sound eating plans and fad diets that play havoc with the body. Any proper nutrition plan will include a balanced diet.
Proper Nutrition – Well… Naturally!
The nutrition plans that exclude whole food groups, such as carbohydrates, are not healthy. Proper nutrition means choosing and eating foods that supply energy needs to maintain balance. Depriving your muscles of protein or your body of fat, for example, can result in serious illness.
People who go too far one way or the other by being too thin or overweight, are jeopardizing their health. People who are anorexic or obese risk debilitating disease at the least and early death at the worst. Proper nutrition should start at birth, but obviously that doesn't happen because over half of the US population is overweight.
When you decide you want to lose and then maintain weight, the first step is referencing the unglamorous food pyramid. It has been revised in the last few years to incorporate the newest findings such as trans fats and is now called My Pyramid, but the basis for proper nutrition has not changed. It is all about balance and eating the proper amounts of nutrients including vitamins and minerals.
Don't eat 3 big meals and deprive your body of sources of energy it needs to function throughout the day. You should eat 5 small meals and keep supplying your energy stores so the body does not call upon the wrong reserves looking for energy, such as muscle tissue. This is one of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to lose weight – they starve themselves believing you have to be hungry to lose weight.
No Pesticides for Me!
There is an unbelievable amount of choice at the store and sometimes it's difficult to know what to believe. Boxes and cans scream they contain exceptional nutritional value, but when you read the label closer there are long lists of chemicals named. It's great they list all the ingredients, but most of us have no idea what the chemicals are or how they affect the body.
The solution is to make organic food as much a part of your diet as possible. Organic food must meet strict government guidelines to qualify as natural. Organic food has been grown and packaged without the use of artificial pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers. The food has not been genetically altered either, so you can eat it not wondering if science has gone too far.
Proper nutrition also includes drinking plenty of water – preferably 64 ounces or more per day. Water is not only necessary for maintaining proper system functioning, it will help you feel full so you don't eat when not really hungry. Dehydration can trigger feelings of hunger.
It is easy to see that proper nutrition means using a lot of common sense. Eat balanced nutrients throughout the day, choose chemical free foods and drink lots of water. Don't forget to exercise regularly also. Fitness is a combination of diet and exercise and you should not just do one without the other.
Losing weight is simply a result of using more calories than you consume.