Food is very important. You probably knew that already. But its not only important in terms of survival.
It’s important that the food you do eat is good for you. For maximum performance, there is no good in eating only junk. After a while your body won’t properly work, but your mind will slow down very quickly if you fuel yourself with sugar and lots of processed crap. Both will suffer, but your mind will take the first real hit, then your body will take a more ‘permanent’ hit.
Eating healthy and smart is not just something you do. You actually have to know HOW to do it too. If you are not properly educated on the topic, you will probably make bad decisions (and not even know it!). Sure, everyone knows McDonalds is not healthy, but are you aware of how much sugar is in different kind of foods? How much carbs is in the food you eat? How much unhealthy fat? How many calories? (especially important if you want to lose weight as well). Do you know which foods are good for you and will help you perform your best? If you never have taken an interest, then probably not.
Not only for loosing weight
You should care about food even if you don’t need to lose (or gain) weight. Even if you look in shape, but fuel your body with sugars and fast food, you won’t perform very well in any context. Perhaps for a little while, but mark my words, it will catch up to you soon enough! And when it catches up to you, it’s way harder to do anything about it.
I will not put out a guide on what you should or shouldn’t eat. I am not an expert, and I will not try to be one. Not yet, anyway! However, it is an important topic, and I think many people has a lot to gain from learning more about this. I want you to go out and learn about it on your own. Form your own opinions and get educated on one of the most basic and important aspects of your life.
How to learn?
So how do you learn about this stuff? There are many ways to do that, but I can suggest a few:
Read a book
Newer books on the subjects are a great way to get started. Just do a quick search on Amazon and you will probably find a lot about this.
Surf the interwebs
You can also search the web for tips and guides for eating healthy. But keep in mind the sources you look at. Some random blogger telling you that low-carb diets are the bomb might not be the best source (low-carb can be good, but I personally don’t like the extremeness many advocate in these diets).
Speak to a nutrition expert.
There is probably a local nutrition expert where you live. This is probably the absolute best option, as a nutrition expert can give you advice that corresponds really well to you and your goals. You can get custom diets and food plans that you can actually follow and live with.
My current ‘system’
My current food plan is very simple. It’s not even much of a system. It’s just a general plan with my own guidelines. These are things I think I can actually follow and that will benefit me.
- I try not to eat fast food.
- I try not to eat or drink stuff with lots of sugar in it (artificial or otherwise).
- I try to eat organically to the extent that it is practical.
- I try not to over-eat.
- I make as much as possible from scratch
These points are simple, but they do take some willpower, and I certainly fail often enough. The key point is to strive to do better all the time (this goes for everything in life, btw ;)).
Do the research
Take the time to research eating healthy food. Research the food you already eat.
This is one of the best investments you can make for yourself, it it will certainly pay off in terms of health, happiness, productivity and lots of other great stuff.
Just…
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