1) Eat protein with each meal
Making sure you eat protein with each meal is one of the easiest and best ways when looking to lose body fat. Protein is very satiating, which means it makes you feel fuller when eaten. It also helps in maintaining your lean body muscle which helps with your metabolism.
Great protein sources are meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy, as well as chickpeas, quinoa, beans and other pulses for vegetarians.
2) Stay hydrated throughout the day
It is vitally important to stay well hydrated at all times. Dehydration causes a number of side effects and thirst can often be mistaken for hunger. Starting the day with a glass of water is a great habit to get into as it rehydrates the body after a good night's sleep.
If you currently drink a lot of fizzy drinks, start by switching to squash or diluted fruit juice first to keep the sweet taste before moving over to water when you can.
3) Eat whole foods
The majority of foods that you are eating on a daily basis should be based around whole foods, that is foods that are as close to their natural form as possible. Many health experts believe that eating more whole foods is our best bet for improving health and preventing disease or illness.
Whole foods are as nature made them, without added fat, sugar, or sodium. Eating more whole foods will help you cut down on calories from the added fats and sugars we get from processed and fast foods.
4) Eat single ingredient foods
As well as focusing on eating whole foods, concentrate on eating mainly single ingredient foods too, things like meats, eggs, fruit, vegetables. Eating whole, single ingredient foods doesn’t mean you are confined to boring and bland chicken and salad meals. We want real food. Good food. Meals bursting with flavour and packed with the nutrients your body needs.
Cut out the ingredients and you cut out the processing. It's that simple.
5) Eat healthy fats
The fact is that fat is an essential part of a balanced diet and provides a host of benefits for the body, including vitamin absorption, organ protection and reducing inflammation.
You should aim to include plenty of healthy fats from foods such as fatty fish (e.g. salmon, mackerel), steak, avocados, nuts, seeds, full-fat dairy (e.g. yoghurt and cheese) and cold-pressed oils such as extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil.
The true ‘bad’ fats are hydrogenated fats which are poisonous to the body and commonly found in processed foods. Limiting the number of processed foods in your diet will help to avoid them.
6) Eat regularly throughout the day
One of the most important healthy eating habits you can create, is to ensure you eat regularly throughout the day, while being in tune with your hunger and fullness cues.
By missing meals we tend to under eat, which leads to a lack of energy and performance. Drastic under eating also causes a reduction in your metabolism, and can actually slow fat-loss. Snacking can all also reduce our natural hunger cues and ruin our appetites. This can result in irregular eating patterns and lack of eating routine. For some people, this is the key reason as to why they gain weight.
7) Sleep well
Getting good quality sleep is vital not just for our health and wellbeing, but for our mood and food choices. Studies show that people who don't get good quality sleep have less energy throughout the day, and then in turn make the wrong food choices. This is a vicious circle that many people are in.
By making sleep a priority and getting to bed at a good time, rather than staying up watching TV it can make a massive impact on our lives.
8) Eat vegetables with every meal
By eating a wide variety of fruit and vegetables you will get a ton of micronutrients also known as vitamins and minerals. They boost our health and vitality while promoting growth, reproduction and energy.
By simply eating fresh fruit and vegetables, you get heaps of calcium for your bones, iron for your blood, and vitamin C for your immune system. You do this by adding nutrient-dense leafy greens, seasonal vegetables, fruit and berries to your plate at every meal. It will make you feel sharper, stronger and more capable than ever.
9) Stress
Assess the stressful areas of your life. Family, friends, career and money issues can all be stressful issues at times, and it’s important to manage these as much as possible. Find the root cause(s) of stress and then put a simple daily habit into place to reduce, manage or eliminate them.
It could be taking more regular breaks at work, or getting more exercise in daily, or socialising more with friends and family.
Remember to relax, laugh, sleep and have sex as much as possible, as these reduce stress levels in the body. Reduce the main stressors in your lifestyle and remember not to take life too seriously all the time.
10) Consistency is key
Now you've learnt why all these are important the last thing to do is BE CONSISTENT.
Try and focus on these as much as possible and incorporate them into your daily life and you will reap the benefits.
MAKE IT A LIFESTYLE!!