In the first week of the holiday a little while back, I ate whatever I felt like whenever I was in the mood for it. I just kinda enjoyed myself slightly too much! So, since then I've been working on getting back on track and towards leading an overall healthy lifestyle. Emphasis on the word ‘lifestyle’. A nutritious way of life rather than a quick-fix diet.
I’ve always loved eating healthy buuuut have found myself having weeks where I take a week long break from ‘being healthy’ and eat everything... sometimes even binge!! My goal now is to live nutritiously overall. This means enjoying healthy and unhealthy foods in a balanced way so that I never feel the need to binge. Anyone relate!? Instead of starving myself from anything yummm, and trying to force a “cheat-meal” into my diet, I’m letting my hair down, relaxing and learning to enjoy food, being healthy and all the benefits that come with eating these nutritious foods... It’s funny how when we stop focusing on ‘being healthy’ and rather listen to our bodies, we actually think less about food and end up enjoying our meals more. Eating healthy should be FUN and MAINTAINABLE, and if it’s not fun, it definitely won’t be maintainable.
To maintain a fun nutritious life & make this healthy livin' easier are 6 relating steps below!
1. Drink loadsa water 💧
I read in an article that our bodies can last weeks without food but barely even a few days without water. This, in itself, proves the necessity of water in our lives.
Water cleanses our insides and acts as a fluid medium carrying substances around our bodies. Drinking a healthy amount of it helps in reducing headaches and migraines aaand can also assist in the overall performance of our exercise and workouts! Also according to an article I read, water decreases sugar cravings + assists in weight loss!
Add some extra H20 to your smoothies too, ya'll!!
2. More specifically, carry a water bottle around with you 🥤
I've always preferred the taste of water when sipping from a water bottle, and I think it’s because I feel more 'healthy' & motivated when I’m carrying a cute water bottle around with me.
Find yourself a beautiful bottle that you love + are proud to carry around (funny, I know, but so helpful 🤣) and sip on fresh water all day to keep your internal system clean and hydrated. I promise, this step has seriously helped me improve my water intake, and, being someone who used to get frequent headaches, has almost completely gotten rid of them!
I love water bottles with straws and definitely recommend Kmart’s bottles - only $5 and such great quality.
Find Kmart on ig @kmart.nz
3. Up your fruit + veggie intake 🍊🥥🍒🍌🥑
All fruit contains natural sugars. More specifically, apples improve lung capacity and protect our hearts. Bananas (one of my favs) strengthen bones and avocados clear and smooth skin!
Similarly, vegetables have many health benefits, too. They are low in calories and fat, and provide our bodies with countless nutrients and vitamins, none of them containing cholesterol - YAYA.
Vitamin A from vegetables improves skin and helps fight against infections, and the fiber in the vegetables makes us feel fuller, with fewer calories as discussed above.
Overall, a diet rich in fruit and vegetables improves skin health and radiance, helps fight against diseases and cancers, assists in digestion and boosts memory, just to name a few.
Grab one of these instead of a bag of chips or slab of chocolate which, if we're honest, often leaves us feeling bloated and uncomfortable. I'm sure you've heard the saying... eat a rainbow!
God made fruits + vegies... they're natural, wholesome and beautiful. Let's enjoy them to the full.
4. Grab a fruit or veggie on your way out the door to snack on later 🍎🍏
Whether you pick an apple, a carrot, or a handful of blueberries, grabbing a fruit from the counter on your way out means that when you feel peckish or even bored (anyone else eat when they’re bored?) later on, the nutritious fruit is right there waiting for ya! Then, there’ll be no need to reach for a super unhealthy, heavily processed food... thereby maintaining an overall healthy lifestyle!
5. Reduce intake of artificial, processed foods 🍩🍟🍔
Eat burgers, pastas, pizzas, cakes and ice-cream in moderation - don't cut them out completely though of course! :)
6. Find healthy replacements for unhealthy foods 🥑 > 🧁
I use the emojies ‘🥑 > 🧁’ above because both carry fat... exceeeept one carries HEALTHY, helpful fat, whereas the other is what we call 'fattening’. Now obviously one cupcake isn’t going to make you ‘fat’, and eating unhealthy foods is by no means wrong. Who doesn't love a generous piece of chocolate. Gosh, I do! My point here is more about the lifestyle. Don't let one cupcake turn into five. Let's find the balance!
An easy way to do this is finding healthier alternatives for unhealthy foods! For example, a cauliflower pizza base instead of a normal one. A bag of rice crackers instead of a packet of Simba chips. Nice cream instead of ice-cream.
With saying this, still enjoy unhealthy foods, too. Remember it's a lifestyle and not a 'quick-fix', because quick-fixes never last.
Aaaand, a bonus tip: ... find some healthy cafes which inspire and excite you!
I promise you, having a few places you love which excite and re-inspire you daily helps you keep up and even more ENJOY that healthy lifestyle. For me personally, a few favourite cafes include Crop Cafe in Milford, The Smoothie Bowl in Takapuna, Fieldscafe in Albany, Tank all over NZ and Bowl and Arrow in Commercial Bay and New Market (I've never been here personally, but have heard some great reports about them + follow them on ig @bowl.and.arrow).
Visiting new cafes, ordering your all-time favs and/or trying out new recipes, snapping a few pics and having a laugh with friends and fam are great ways to adding an element of FUN to your healthy livin'.
Below are a few snaps of places I've been too + foods I've LOVED! X
Happy day, ya'll X
grace charlotte
gg blogs
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