If you want your diet and exercise effort to work the way you intend for it to, then eating right has to become something that is as automatic for us as it was for our ancestors. It may seem like an insurmountable achievement, but really, it's a lot easier than you may initially imagine. According to a study from the Journal of the American Medical Association, for example, this process is much simpler and more straight forward than most diets and eating plans, because studies do not lie:
Two groups were assigned to two different diets. The first group went on a diet that was rich with foods that are good for you, including whole grains, nuts, vegetables, fruits, olive oil and other similar foods that are normally found in the traditional Mediterranean diet. The second group was not given any specific direction pertaining to what foods to eat, but rather this group was told how much fats, carbohydrates and proteins to eat, so they had to put way more thought into preparing foods based on these amounts rather than simply eating foods from a specific list.
Neither group was given any specific information regarding how much or how little to eat, but rather each member was instructed to eat based on their own natural hunger patterns. Without trying, the first group that only ate from a list of "good for you" foods ended up eating less in terms of calories, losing weight, and losing inches. So what is the point of this study and others like it? The truth of the matter is, the people that eat from the good-foods group ate the foods that would naturally keep them feeling satisfied, so their bodies would naturally find the healthy weight they were meant to be at.
The group eating the foods that were naturally good for them ate significantly more fiber than the other group, consuming on average 32 grams of fiber per day in comparison to 17. This group also ate higher amounts of omega 3 fatty acids, which are good for you fats that come from fish, nuts and olives. These fats help to increase the chemicals that make you feel naturally satiated, which contributed to less appetite and better eating patterns. Finally, the good foods group more than doubled their natural consumption of both fruits and vegetables in comparison to the control group.
Rather than obsessing about calories, fats, proteins and carbohydrates, the individuals in this group were able to focus on eating the foods that made them feel satisfied, allowing their bodies to do what they were designed to do: To regulate the chemicals associated with hunger and satiety for less appetite, less calories consumed, and a greater amount of natural, healthy weight loss. Automating your eating is all about eating the foods that are natural and healthy for you, rather than obsessing about "dieting", because your body knows what weight you should be at in order to be healthy, and will get you there if you stop obsessing about every calorie and start worrying about being naturally satiated with good-for-you food instead.
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Originally posted 2009-01-16 05:44:08. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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4 comments ↓
This doesn’t surprise me. When you eat healthy food, you can’t help but BE healthy. Like I’ve said before, no one gets fat eating apples!
- Dave
I love this article and I agree with you so much. I changed my diet a while back and at first I counted calories, but now I just eat the right foods and the weight has just fell off.
http://byebyebigguy.wordpress.com/
This is a very interesting article. However, one of the things that I consistently find is that the reason people don’t eat healthy, don’t exercise and don’t quit smoking is not because they are lacking more “how to information” but rather they need to focus on the clear-cut consequences of what “unhealthy habits” will do to them now and in the future.
If they were to focus on the benefits of quitting smoking or eating healthy today and what it would mean for them and their family they would have more motivation to perhaps pick to a healthy diet.
In addition, if they were to realize that personal level — the consequences, the price they will have to pay for unhealthy habits and how it will affect your children, their families, their friends and ultimately themselves…
Then perhaps these individuals may move towards a more healthy lifestyle.
Just my opinion
You have to condition yourself to eat healthy. It’s not easy especially in the beginning, but the longer you eat healthy it will just become part of you. So you won’t have to THINK about eating healthy.
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