This is a million dollar question.Isn't it?
If you google the same question you will end up with more than 30 million results!!! Almost every week or month a new diet pops up!. It makes it extremely confusing to know what is the best diet.
Unfortunately we are lost in this mystery of diet world as we have distorted the original meaning of diet. Diet is not about calorie counting, or carb counting or low fat or high protein. In fact, diet is not only about food but it is about our life.
To understand this we have to go to the origin of the word 'diet'.The word diet comes from the Greek word- diaita which means ' a way of life.'
Literally, a balanced healthy diet means a balanced healthy way of life. And that is the only way to attain a healthy and happy life in long-term.
And it is not complicated at all. Rather a healthy diet or a healthy way of life is much simpler than following any other complicated so-called ' fad diets'.
The premise of the healthy diet is based on simple rules as below. ( I have also included links to good books and resources for you to explore over the holidays. Click on the picture to open up the link.)
1) Eat regular meals that are balanced in all macronutrients and micronutrients.
This healthy plate one page hand out is all that you need to know about a balanced meal. Look up Harvard website for more detail,healthy recipes and other good articles.
2) Avoid processed/refined foods- which includes refined sugar, processed meats, foods with lots of ingredients.
Read Michael Pollan's book food rules for further insight.
3) Keep yourself physically active.
'Use it or lose it'- this saying is so true for our body. If we don't say physically active then we are going to lose this body very fast.
Read this book by Dr Jordan Metzl about the importance of exercise for our overall health and happiness.
4) Manage your stress and sleep.
Stress plays a very big role in our health. Balancing stress and having adequate sleep are must if we want to enjoy a long and healthy life.
This book by Dale Carnegie gives us excellent tools to manage our stress.
5) Most importantly be mindful of your habits.
Our habits shape our life, our body and our health. No plan will last long if we don't change our habits. Being mindful of our habits, our actions, our reactions helps us understand our behavior and in turn helps us to change it for better outcome. This book' The power of habit' is the excellent one to read to understand how habits influences our life.
Happy Holiday reading !
