Nutritionist Megan Crockart gives her top tips for ways in which you can start the new year towards a cleaner, fresher, healthier you over this informative 3 part series! Here is part 2…
Tip 2.1 – Regular Eating
Many people don’t eat regularly enough throughout the day to maintain good blood sugar levels. Eating 3 main meals and 2 healthy small snacks through the day every day will maintain blood sugar levels and help with those dips in energy, particularly the 3pm slump that various people feel. Eating regularly also keeps the metabolism firing. This is particularly important for weight loss – if you hardly eat throughout the day (scared you will put on weight), your body will actually hold onto the fat and your basal metabolism slows down in the event it won’t get food again for awhile. Make sure your meals and snacks are healthy options and don’t just grab things like chips, chocolates and soft drinks.
Tip 2.2 – Don’t Eat Before Bed
Avoid eating before bed, particularly large meals that are hard to digest. At least 1-2 hours before you go to bed should be your last meal. Some even recommend at least 3 hours prior to bed. If your body is trying to digest a large meal, even though often after eating a large meal you feel sleepy and can fall sleep, your sleep is not going to be the quality of sleep it needs to stay healthy as in Tip 1.4 in part 1 of this series the hormone grehlin will increase causing over eating the next day.
Tip 2.3 – Buy Organic/Free Range
Increasing awareness of organic and free range foods is really starting to increase in Australia, which is very important to make sure you aren’t getting anything extra in your food that you definitely don’t need. Buying organic is going to help you achieve your health goals as organic products are free from pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, possible hormones, and many other chemicals. Our bodies are not designed to process these levels of chemicals on a daily basis. If you can’t buy organic and the only other option is free range, then definitely get free range. Do you really want to eat a chicken that has been in a cage, has barely moved its entire life who has never seen the sun? The animals have a better quality of life which means the meat is going to be healthier for you to eat.
Tip 2.4 – Increase Omega 3’s
Omega 3 is very important for the healthy functioning of our bodies ranging from brain health (mood, memory, sleep), skin and hair to anti-inflammatory properties for conditions like arthritis and joint pain. Omega 3 is very high in animal foods such as oily fish (salmon, sardines, mackerel), kangaroo and grass fed beef. Making sure your beef is grass fed is significant in making sure you are not only getting a good amount of Omega 3 but many other nutrients that you won’t get from grain fed beef. For vegetarians flax and chia seeds have the highest levels of Omega 3’s, although without some added vitamins and minerals our bodies don’t convert the essential components EPA and DHA in our body as easily. If taking a supplement is for you, a great capsule is Herbs of Gold Omega Concentrate. If liquid fish oil is more your thing, Nutralife Fish Oil with Vitamin D tastes great. Melrose Organic Flaxseed oil is a great vegetarian option.
Missed Megan’s tips in Part 1 of this series? Click here….
Stayed tuned for Part 3….coming soon….