BEING healthy is not all about having the perfect or fittest body. A person can spend hours at the gym in a day and still be considered unhealthy.
People often mistake this as depriving themselves from eating just to attain a thin body type. Some just focus on the exercising part and do not give proper attention to the food that they eat.
In reality, what we eat affects us just as much as how we perform our physical activities daily and even more. It is not about having strict limitations to oneself just to achieve an idealistic and unrealistic body. Being healthy does not only come physically, but also emotionally and mentally.
Having a healthy diet should not stress out a person. It should be something that you enjoy, and something that would make you feel great, rather than something which will consume all your energy.
In having a healthy diet, you should be disciplined when it comes to the balance and quantity of your food intake. It is also important to choose your everyday meals wisely.
Let’s go back to the basic rule where we cut off unhealthy food including junk food and soft drinks. Say no to too much sweets and carbohydrates.
Fruits and vegetables are your best friends. These can help develop not just a healthy body, but also a healthy mind.
Eating healthy can have a good effect on your mood and sense of well-being. So, if you want to prevent the higher risk of stress, depression, and anxiety, better erase food which are too salty or too sweet, or those which contain preservatives, from your diet.
“Eating an unhealthy diet may even play a role in the development of mental health disorders such as ADHD, Alzheimer’s disease, and schizophrenia, or in the increased risk of suicide in young people,” Dr Jeanne Segal said in her article about the tips for planning, enjoying, and sticking to a nutritious diet.
Fast food meals, canned goods, and processed meat – these are the types of unhealthy food which most Filipinos consume every day. For instance, we usually eat hotdogs for breakfast, which is a processed meat, and is not good for our health because it contains a high level of preservatives. Most of the Filipinos also rely on canned goods, some even has it as their viand paired with white rice almost every day.
“Instead of emphasizing one nutrient, we need to move to food-based recommendations. What we eat should be whole, minimally processed, nutritious food. Food that is in many cases close to its natural form as possible,” Darius Mozaffarian, a dean of Tufts University School of Nutrition, said.
Why is it very important to eat healthy? Every day, we undergo different experiences, work, activities, and challenges in our lives. If we choose to eat what’s good for us, then we will most likely succeed in everything we do, because the food that we eat is our main source of energy and nutrition.
As what many would say, “You are what you eat.” Start planning out your meals. As you go to the grocery, get rid of those foods which you think will not be good for you. Try making your own vegetable salad, make fruit juices, and lastly, never forget to hydrate and drink plenty of water.
You will see noticeable changes within yourself, not just with your body, but also with your way of thinking and feeling.
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Kimberly A. Jimenea is a student of the Ateneo de Davao University.