When people talk about a "healthy diet",what exactly do they mean?

Question

Can anyone give me some good,clear,easy-to-understand advice,as I am only a beginner to this health&fitness stuff!

Answer 1

just eat sensibly. a nice balanced diet with plenty of fruit, veg, meat, fibre and everything else. don't pig out on sweets and fatty things, just have stuff like that in moderation.

Answer 2

I do understand that all the diet and nutrition information and misinformation must be confusing to the beginner.

For healthy food, the principle is: the closer it is in state to when it came off the plant, out of or from the animal, the better. The more processed it is the worse it is. It doesn't hold absolutely but it's a good rule of thumb.

So, you are much better off with a fresh fruit salad than with trifle, with a grilled lean steak than with a burger (made with fatty ground meat and fried in fat). Get the gist?

(Probably the biggest exception to this is milk where milk straight out of the cow is very creamy and therefore high in saturated fat and may also contain harmful organisms. If the milk is skimmed and has been pasteurised, the fat is reduced if not eliminated and the harmful organisms are killed off.)

Keep at it, you'll get into it all in the end and you'll feel a whole lot better.

Answer 3

They mean well balanced . By all means eat some junk food ,but don't go mad. Eat lots of fruit, veg, nuts, seeds. Cut the amount on your plate down gradually. Do not cut out the naughties straight away as you will crave even more. Eat as near to the original form of the particular food as u can. i.e raw. Have protein, carbs, vitamins at a meal time. For example mash, lamb chops and at least 2 veg. The meal should look colourful. Vary fruit and veg as much as u can. If u don't fancy eating for some reason have a smoothie. Good luck.Also write what u eat down so u can keep an eye on what u are eating. Take it day by day. If u have a really unfit day don't punish yourself too much just start again. Rome was not built in a day. Also don't forget there is always someone who is worse off than u in the fitness department. Don't be discouraged believe in yourself, and don't give up.

Answer 4

It's easy. Meat, veggies, fruit, nuts, and whole wheat breads and grains. We are animals and our bodies were not meant to eat cookies, chips, candy, etc. Millions of years ago there was no such thing. We created them ourselves, they are not natural. Eat oatmeal for breakfast or eggs, have fruit or nuts as a snack or some yogurt...cottage cheese w/ fruit. I often have hummus w/ whole wheat crackers for a snack. Eat a turkey sandwich 4 lunch w/ carrots and some baked chips. South Beach diet makes some tasty oatmeal choc.chip cookies. Dinner have meat, veggies, and a healthy carb. Its easy once you start. Eat a lot throughout the day but remain healthy. I eat 6 times a day and I weigh 115 pounds!! You have 2 keep your metabolism up...eating does that. Once u start eating this way u will crave less junk food. Ur body feels better and so will you!

Answer 5

A healthy diet is basically making sure that you diet is well balanced and that you get all the vitamins, minerals and nutrients that you need.
Like making sure you eat 5 portions of fruit and veg a day and eat a wide variety of meats, grains, dairy etc.
You can still have all the nice things though, like chocolate and takeaways, just in moderation.

Answer 6

This is easy to remember and follow:
***Your breakfast should be whole grain, so it can keep you feeling full all day (ie whole wheat toast, whole grain cereal with at least 20% fiber on label)
****Your lunch and dinner should start with a salad first which has a small amount of olive oil and vinegar dressing (you can sub lemon juice for the vinegar). After the salad, your plate should look like this:
Picture half of your plate as having fruits and vegetables and the other half is devided equally into 2 quarters: one quarter is lean meat (chicken breast, lean beef or pork, egg, etc. These meats should not be fried) and the other quarter of plate is whole grain (a slice of wheat bread, brown rice, whole wheat pasta etc)
That's it. Just picture your plate and put 1/2 fruits and veggies and the other two quarters are lean meats and whole grain. SIMPLE and healthy. ;o)

Answer 7

A healthy diet implies the following:
Eat 6 small but balanced meals per day. Your carbs should be high in fiber, your proteins should be lean, and your fats should be sparing but high in the omega 3 & 6 fatty acids. Avoid greasy foods, alcohol, and candy.

Here is a sample meal plan and a healthy foods list:
http://www.spartafit.com/nutrition/sample%20meal%20plans.php
http://www.spartafit.com/nutrition/preferred%20foods.php

Answer 8

ok here are some tips and tools. Basically they can be adapted to lose, maintain, or gain weight. Basically You want your Basal Metabolic Rate - calories consumed - exercised calories to be negative to lose, 0 to maintain, and positive to gain. Helathy is relative and uaually equates to a low body fat% and a healthy blood pressure and BMI. Just do the research and then use that information to live how you want to live and eat what you want to eat but in moderation and according to the scientific reasons for why people game/lose weight.

Step 1: Find out what your basal metabolic rate is. Goto http://health.discovery.com/tools/calculators/basal/basal.html
This is the amount of calories you need to eat to maintain your current weight.

Step 2: Do you exercise? Do you exercise right? Exercising right means that you monitor your heart rate and make sure that you reach your target heart rate and maintain it for the longest period of time while exercising. You have two targets a fat burn zone and an cardiovascular zone. The fat burn is usually 60% of your maximum an d is easier to achieve and maintain and if your goal is weight loss this is where you want to be. Just walking/excising is a good start but if you want to get the most out of your work out find out what your target range is. If you don't belong to a gym then I recommend the
Polar Fitness F11 Heart Monitor Watch.

Step 3: You need to decrease your caloric intake or increase the amount of calories your body uses in a day by 500 calories a day for a week to lose 1 pound. So you can decrease that basal number you got in step 1 by 500 calories and exercise very little(yes you still need to exercise). Or you can decrease it by 250 and exercise off 250 calories or any other combination. Remember that your basal number is the amount of calories you body needs to live. If your number were 2400 then your body burn 100 calories per hour. So if you walk for half an hour and burn 300, 50 of that is your basal.

Step 4: Count your calories, it's not hard and you'll find out that you eat a lot of the same things on a daily basis so you won't have to research everything over and over again. Balance what you eat(equal parts carbs and protien whenever possible) . One of the best websites out there is one from the FDA. http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/
This database has almost every food on the planet counted and weighed. (Hint: they do a lot of their weights based on 100grams. If you put 0.28 in the serving size this equals 1 ounce). Get a reliable food scale, preferably digital. Weigh everything that you put in your mouth that is not prepackaged. You need to know what you’re eating and how much you’re eating. The number one mistake is "eating healthy". Everyone thinks because it's "healthy" the portion isn't that important. A handful of peanuts is "healthy" and has nearly 250 calories! Eat enough calories and it won’t matter how "healthy" it is your going to gain weight.

Step 5: Adjustments and Variety. If you are doing your best and losing weight but your starving, increase the amount of calories your giving yourself by 100-200 calories a day. Losing weight and starving are not good bedfellows. If you starve eventually you will crack and lose the battle. The more types of exercises you do the more weight you will lose. You will work more muscles and keep your body guessing.

Step 6(optional): If you belong to a gym or have some free weights at home. Use them! Muscle takes up less space in your body than fat (pound for pound). A pound of fat sits
around and does nothing all day, while a pound of muscle, even at rest burns calories(increasing your basal metabolic rate).

Step 7: Sleep, Never underestimate the power of a goodnight sleep. Will power can crumble in a second if your going through your day tired. You end up with a diminished sense of self control and tend to “give in” to temptation.

Step 8: Find a distraction. Read a book, Ride a bike, Play a game. Whatever takes your mind off of food, do it. You will need something that you can turn to in a moment of weakness. Something that will distract you for a half an hour so that your will can reassert itself and help you to make a rational decision.


Good luck!!!

Answer 9

A healthy diet is eating foods rich in vitamins and minerals and that aid digestion such as fresh vegetables, fruit, whole grains and lean meat such as chicken and fish.

Answer 10

Do not buy anything that says healthy or diet on it.

Make as much of your food at home as you can.

Use sugar not substitutes.

Eat lots of vegitables and fruits.