1. Be a conscious eater
-prepare your own food (make it simple people)
-sit down when you eat and don't multitask!
-taste your food (this seems stupid but you wouldn't believe how many people simply shovel food into their mouths) and CHEW it slowly. Stop eating when your next bites lack the luster of the first perfect bite.
2. Be active
-Shoot for 30 min. a day minimum (Take your cat for a walk, play with your dog, walk around your neighborhood and check out what your neighbor Bob is doing to his garage, humans were not programmed to sit like vegetables, give your brain some stimulation! At work get up from your desk and take a stroll around the office or walk up and down the staircase, your spine will thank you.)
3. Sleep
-8-9 hours of shut eye is incredibly important. Inadequate sleep alters your body's metabolism, appetite regulation, and decreases your energy levels (study link).
4. Processed foods be gone!
-Put down that box of cake mix, instant mashed potatoes, or frozen meal.
-Eat real food, yes this means a couple more minutes of preparation, or gasp, planning ahead.
-If you don't know what the ingredients are on the back of the box, don't buy and don't eat it.
5. Go Meatless
-Decrease your red meat intake to once a week or if you want to be a superstar, say bye-bye for good or at least for the occasional affair.
-Eat fish high in Omega-3's. Fish like salmon are Omega-3 rockstars, add it to your meals at least once a week. (Omega-3 reduces the inflammatory pathway on a cellular level in your body, this is good!)
-Try a new vegetable or two, or three, I dare you.
-Check out a vegetarian cookbook (My favorites are any of the Moosewood Restaurant series or The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen by Donna Klein)
Happy New Year from the Urban Domestic Girl!
