The start of a new year is often seen as a new beginning. In January, the gyms are flooded with people and magazine hand out tips about the newest and best way to lose weight. The start of a new year feels like the start of a new phase, in which you can start with a blank sheet. But, any moment is a good time to decide it’s time for a new phase, like when it comes to healthy living. The key is to make a habit out of healthy living. The following tips can help you with this!
Conscious eating
Maybe you spend every evening on the couch with a cup of coffee and a cookie, watching Netflix. You don’t consciously think about this, but you automatically grab the cookie jar when you turn on Netflix and smell the scent of coffee. This is called a habit; without really thinking about it, you grab the cookie jar. Just because you always do, you are used to it.
When you want to change your behaviour, you need to learn new habits that you can easily maintain in the long run. Take the Netflix example; you want to eat less cookies, so you start consciously thinking about this. When the show starts, all you take is a cup of coffee and no cookie. When you keep on consciously repeating this behaviour, you’ll eventually notice it has become a new habit. You don’t even think about the cookie anymore!
You can start by consciously thinking about your eating habits. What does your eating pattern look like and what can you improve? You can use the following tips as inspiration:
- Replace soft drinks with water, tea or black coffee.
- Eat smaller portions.
- Consciously do your grocery shopping: write down the things you need before entering the store, and don’t deviate from your list. This prevents you from bringing home unnecessary snacks.
- Try to snack less. The idea that you keep your metabolism going with snacks is a myth. Especially at night, your body needs rest and there’s no point in snacking. Unless you just had a work out.
- Enjoy your food. Try to make a mindful moment out of eating, by making homemade meals, getting inspired by new recipes or enjoying going out to dinner and drinking a glass of wine. If you have a healthy base, it doesn’t hurt to go out to dinner every once in a while. In fact: it will give you a boost!
When you know what you want to change, you can start changing things step by step. Give yourself time to get used to your new habits. Each change is one in the good direction! New and healthy habits will give you a healthier mindset in the long run.
Exercising
The same trick applies to exercising: you can teach yourself to exercise more. Working behind the computer all day; take a walk during your break. Taking the bus to work; get out a few stops early to walk the remainder of your trip. Brought your kids to school; take a walk around the block before you head home. Haven’t moved all day; take an evening stroll.
When you start walking more regularly, you’ll notice your body gets used to it and you start feeling better! It can also be motivating to monitor your steps and to set a goal for yourself. Most phones have step counters, or can be downloaded as an app. You can also monitor your steps with the NiceDay app!
Besides your daily exercise, it’s also good to work out. By working out your body produces endorphins, which make you feel happy. In addition, working out is also taking a moment for yourself.
Share your plans
Finally, it’s important that the people around you support your choices. Try to imagine staying away from snacks, with chocolate and chips laying around all over the house. If you seriously want to change your life, it’s important to discuss this with your loved ones. This way they can support you in the choices you make.
‘’You are what you eat”: maybe you’ve heard it before. And guess what, it seems to be true. Recent research is uncovering new possible links between our diet and serious mental health disorders. New research on our diet and how it affects our bodies could help us explain the cause of many neuro-diseases which have previously eluded us.
Our gut bacteria influences how we feel and think
The human body is made up of diverse bacteria colonies many of which are in the gut. It might sound absurd but evidence is emerging that our gut bacteria can influence the way we think and feel. Links have been made between gut bacteria and anxiety, depression and even Alzheimers.
Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, an irreversible disease which results in gradual loss of memory and cognitive functioning. It has been found that the gut bacteria in Alzheimer’s patients could be involved in creating the abnormal ’’Tau proteins’’ typically seen in the brains of these patients. An overload of abnormal ‘’Tau proteins’’ are thought to cause some of the symptoms seen in Alzheimers.
Depression
Large studies in both the Netherlands and Belgium compared the gut bacteria make-up of depressed individuals against healthy people. In both studies they found that depressed individuals were often lacking the same two species of gut bacteria. One of which is closely related to the dopamine pathway in our brains! Dopamine is believed to play a significant role in our motivation. Low motivation is a typical symptom of depression, illustrating how our diet may be directly influencing how we feel, our behaviour, and our mental health.
A healthy diet
It may all sound like ‘’doom and gloom’’, but it’s important to remember that this works both ways, eating the right foods can change our gut bacteria make-up and therefore improve our health. For example interventions changing someone’s diet, in the hope to change their gut bacteria, resulted in a significant reduction of anxiety symptoms or depressive symptoms. A mediterranean diet in particular has been shown to be particularly helpful for depression.
Although it is not completely clear how gut bacteria is affecting these changes in our brain, there appears to be some link! Giving us even more reasons to consider our diet if we want to improve our mental health.
If you want more information on healthy eating check out more articles on the NiceDay blog, if you want support reaching your goals download the NiceDay app.
Keeping track of what you eat during the day (in an app) is becoming increasingly popular. That is not surprising because this information provides us valuable insights. In this way you get better insight into what you eat in a day and how much protein, fats, carbohydrates and calories you have already eaten. Tracking your diet can also turn into an obsession though. How can we still have a healthy relationship with food nowadays if we also have to think about nutrient values? The answer: intuitive eating.
Intuitive eating
Intuitive eating is based on hunger and satisfaction. This means that you eat when your body asks for it. You do not exclude food products, as is the case with a rigid eating regimen. With intuitive eating you are also not concerned about counting calories or counting your macronutrients (proteins, fats and carbohydrates).
Recent research by The Ohio State University has shown that intuitive eating is linked to having a stable weight. Rigid eating (eating with limitations) is linked to having a yoyo weight. Another study by The Ohio State University shows that intuitive eating leads to fewer psychological problems, a higher adaptability and a lower BMI compared to controlled eating.
How do you eat intuitively?
Feeling and knowing when you are hungry may sound easy, but that is for most people not the case. Let’s be honest, how tempting is it to take a piece of cake when there is something to celebrate at the office (for the 10th time in a month), even when you are not hungry … Learning to eat based on hunger and satisfaction takes time. The following tips can help you with this.
- Only eat if you want to eat
Try to eat when you are hungry and not when you ‘should’ eat. For example when you are not feeling hungry around lunchtime, don’t run to the kitchen to have lunch like all your colleagues. - Eat consciously
Food is friend, so take your time. Focus on what you eat, drink water in between and take the time to chew on your food. This is how you enjoy your food. - Ask yourself why you are eating something
Before you eat anything, briefly ask yourself “why am I going to eat this.” In this way you are thinking about your motivation. Are you hungry? Then eat something nutritious, so you are no longer hungry. Do you fancy something tasty? Something sweet? Then eat and enjoy something you’d like. Especially try to eat when your body indicates it needs food. After all, that is what food is for. Fuel for your body. - Listen to your body
Listening to your body can be tricky, because your body does not say “hello brain, I am now craving a juicy steak because your body has iron deficiency and that steak enables us to fill our iron supply“. You can pick up signals though such as low energy, a rumbling stomach or dizziness. Take the time to get to know your body and recognize the corresponding signals.
Enjoy your food
Eating intuitively is of course not a free pass to eat everything because you ‘need’ it. In principle you are allowed to eat everything with intuitive eating and certainly do not have to exclude products which is the case with rigid eating regimen. Eating intuitively is about enjoying and taking good care of yourself and your body.
Disclaimer: if you have trouble eating or have an eating disorder, make sure you eat enough even though you are not feeling hungry.
Now that the new year has just started and we are all working on our New Year’s resolutions, we can not stay behind with a list that you can use to start the new year healthy. In this blog we explain a number of ‘superfoods’ with health benefits you most likely didn’t know about. Curious? We have made a top-5!
Oatmeal
First up, there’s oatmeal. If you dived into the world of ‘healthy eating’, this was probably the first ‘superfood’ you came across. And it is also the rightful number 1. Oatmeal binds to bile salt during digestion, which makes oatmeal a natural cholesterol reducer.
In addition, it is naturally gluten-free, it provides many nutritional values in comparison with its calories, contains antioxidants and constrains your hunger feeling. Due to the soluble fibers in oatmeal, your hunger feeling goes away. In addition, it contains slowly degradable carbohydrates, so that there are no peaks in the glucose level.
Avocado
The avocado: it is almost impossible to not use it if you want a healthy diet. The avocado is one of the healthiest and most nutritious fruits that exist in the world. Two third of the fruit consists of unsaturated fats. These are healthy fats that give your body direct energy and ensure that your blood sugar level stays on point. This way you can keep fat burning on a constant, high pace. Ideal if, for example, you want to lose weight.
In addition, avocado protects against the production of harmful fatty acids, and lowers your blood pressure. Besides the unsaturated fatty acids, the avocado contains about 20 essential nutrients, such as fiber, vitamins B and E, and potassium.
Whole grains
Third, the whole grain cereals. For years we were not sure, but nowadays whole grain cereals/products are indispensable in a healthy diet.
A grain is made from a bran, a germ and a flour core. Most of the healthy nutrients are in the germ and the bran. Whole grain cereals are made from all three parts of a grain. The ‘white’ variety of grains, however, is only made from the flour core.
Whole grain cereals have countless health benefits. For example, consuming 90 grams of whole grains per day gives a reduced risk of certain heart diseases, and a 10% lower risk of bowel cancer. In addition, it can help diabetes type 2 patients with regulating their blood sugar level. The fibers contained in wholemeal cereals help in digestion. Examples of whole grain cereal product are: brown rice, wholemeal bread, oats and wholemeal rye. Whole grain cereals have countless health benefits. For example, consuming 90 grams of whole grains per day gives a reduced risk of certain heart diseases, and a 10% lower risk of bowel cancer. In addition, in diabetes type 2 patients can help keep the blood sugar level at the top. In addition, the fibers contained in wholemeal cereals help in digestion. Examples of wholegrain cereal products are: brown rice, wholemeal bread, wholemeal multigrain bread, oats and wholemeal rye.
Eggs
Fourth up: eggs. In the Middle Ages, these were already consumed in large numbers. That number has only increased. Eggs contain many healthy nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and proteins. For example: vitamin D and choline: a nutrient that helps keeping the liver, heart and brain healthy.
In addition, a study by the University of Connecticut has shown that people who ate eggs for breakfast, felt less hungry and burned more calories than those who had, for example, a bagel for breakfast.
And last but not least… chocolate!
Good news for the chocolate lovers amongst us. Because if you did not know yet: chocolate is healthy for us! Chocolate, when eaten in a pure form (high percentage of cocoa mass), is a rich source of healthy nutrients for the body.
For example, dark chocolate is a powerful source of antioxidants. As a powerful antioxidant, it is a food that can eliminate harmful free radicals. In addition, it is rich in flavanols: these substances can combat diseases, such as heart diseases, lung and prostate cancer, but also asthma and type 2 diabetes.
In addition, the cocoa in chocolate has an effect on the blood and on the heart. By occasionally consuming some dark chocolate, you are less likely to have stroke or heart attack because the risk of blood clotting is reduced. Also, substances in chocolate stimulate the production of nitric oxide. This provides broad and more relaxed blood vessels, making the blood circulation better.
NiceDay app
Consuming healthy food also has an effect on your state of mind. Use the NiceDay app to keep track of whether you feel better when you consume healthy food!
I bet you recognize this situation: you are sitting on the sofa and you have cravings. Deep inside you know that you should not have done it, but you can not resist. Final position: you end up with a bag of chips on the sofa! How can you control this cravings and solve it in a healthy way? By eating healthy snacks that is not only healthy but also delicious!
What to eat?
Snacking does not have to be unhealthy. You can make snacks healthy and delicious. It does not have to be difficult with different kinds of superfood. Healthy and delicious snacks can be: little tomatoes, carrots, paprika, fruit or rice crackers. Do you prefer something that is easier to eat and does not take much effort? Making your own popcorn can be the solution: you do not have to put a lot of salt or sugar in it, this makes it healthier. Furthermore, nuts are very healthy to snack too. Read in the article of Lifestyle Coach Sanne more about nuts. Do you prefer sweet snacks more? Dark chocolate is not bad for you at all, actually it is even healthy.
How do you prepare a healthy snack
Popcorn
Buy a bag with dry mais, you can buy it in the market. Warm the pan with some oil and put the dry mais inside. You can bring it to flavour with some sugar or salt, or choose a weird combination like cinnamon. Enjoy!
Ricecracker
Buy in the market rice/mais cracker. These are delicious to eat, even if it just the cracker without anything. However, you also can put something like hummus and/or avocado on top.
Vegetable mix
Buy different kinds of vegetables that you also can eat raw, like tomatoes, paprikas and carrots. Cut the carrots and paprikas into little pieces or slices and put it into a bowl together with the tomatoes.
NiceDay: Take a snack in between meals and discuss this with your professional.
We tend to make less healthy choices on our way to our holiday destination. After all, we are on vacation, right?! On the other hand, we are sitting down all day without too much movement. Is it really wise to eat unhealthy too? Can’t we wait just a little longer to get our hands on the French fries and Italian ice cream? Is it even possible to eat healthy on your trip? With this blog post, we’d like to help!
Healthy eating at the airport
Many people take the plane to their destination. Fortunately, there are enough options at the airport to make healthy choices. Skip the Burger King, go for healthier restaurants. For example, at Schiphol you have a La Place restaurant where you can make your own salad, or go for a tasty rice dish at LEON. Snacks can be bought at the ‘AH to go’ or you can take it with you in advance. Go for fruit, vegetables or nuts. Or take a nakd-bar with you.
Eating healthy in the plane
The airport has enough healthy options, however avoid eating in the plane itself. Our taste sensitivity decreases due to the low air pressure. Airlines solve this problem by serving food that contains a lot of (saturated) fats and by adding extra salt to the meals. A lot of fat means a lot of calories that you will not burn with sitting. A large amount of salt damages the kidneys and will cause fluid retention.
The most important thing during the flight is that you drink enough. The higher you go, the lower the air pressure, this causes dry skin and lips. Also, you sit in the same position all the time. You are going to retain fluid which flows to your feet. Not so sexy! Fortunately, you can prevent this by drinking enough. Therefore, bring a refillable bottle and fill it just before you board. Choose a spot near the aisle, in case you have to go to the bathroom. Leave carbonated drinks for a while, due to the low air pressure this can cause stomach problems.
Healthy eating in the car
If you travel by car, the same ‘rules’ apply as for the flight. However, gas stations often offer less healthy options compared to an airport. Therefore take a cool box with you in the car and prepare the necessary. Take for example some hummus or chicken fillet and some bread buns or crackers. You can also make a smoothie at home and bring it with you for an energy shot when you need it. Are you looking for a substitute for sweets? Then freeze some grapes and store a bag in the cooler. A a sweet appetite after 2 hours of traveling? Then these grapes are still sweet and fresh!
Also in the car it’s important to drink enough. Most people don’t drink enough, it’s super annoying to stop every 10 minutes for a toilet right? However, we often confuse the feeling of being thirsty with hunger. You will grab a bag of candy and before you know it, that whole bag will be empty and you will not be satisfied yet. Bring a bottle of cold water and freeze a bottle of water before your trip, this way you will have fresh water at the beginning and at the end of your trip.
Healthy eating on the go
You are on the road for a long time and you may lose sense of time and structure. It is precisely for this reason that it is important to provide a little structure in the journey by eating your three meals at fixed times. Eat enough during these meals and preferably prepare them (in advance) by yourself. Occasionally sinning is not bad, but try to keep the main meals healthy. This way you ensure that you feel fit throughout the journey!
Feeling sick?
After such a long day in a stuffy car, you may not feel well. That is precisely why it is important to eat healthy and balanced. Try to eat regularly throughout the day, choose light meals without too much fats and acids. Do not drink too much coffee before and during the trip. Is it too late and are you nauseous already? Cola can help you to get rid of the nausea, drink this in moderation and preferably at room temperature.
NiceDay: Are you going on holiday soon? Describe in your diary how you are going to prepare for the journey.
