11 - Eat Healthy . . .
and all the reasons why eat healthy!

Reason for why eat healthy goals:  To accomplish your 100 Life Goals, you will need to eat healthy to support you in your quest for health and fitness.  To feel good and happy, we need to be in good health.   Without good health, not much else matters.  

One of the primary determinants of good health is what you put in your body.   There are other determinants of good health, like exercise and positive attitude, but what you eat is near the top of the list.  

What you eat also effects your moods.  You can easily get fooled into thinking that what you eat is not important, especially when you eat junk food and it doesn’t seem to impact your health.  

Why eat healthy . . . here's why!

Why eat healthy when its so much more fun not to??

1. Food nourishes the body - The daily operation of your body is derived from the food you eat.   There are millions of body functions that occur at a cellular level that need to perform at top efficiency to keep you running properly. Why jeopardize that with unhealthy junk food.
2. Increased energy - Good quality food and eating is essential to develop and maintain your energy level throughout the day.  
3. Improved body image - Much of our personal confidence is derived from what we think of ourself when we look in the mirror.  Eating healthy is likely to result in the body image which matches your expectation.  Not just body weight but the healthiness of your skin, eyes, hair and everything else you see. 
4. Live longer - Life is short but there is so much to do.  What if eating healthier could enable you to live another 5, 10, 20 or even 30 years?  More time to achieve all your life goals!

The impacts of poor eating will eventually catch up with you.    Most of us, know what eating healthy entails, although there is so much conflicting information.  

It's impossible to know who has the best information on eating healthy, however there are some very common beliefs and principles which I recommend based on my own research and experience:

My recommended food goals for eating healthy:

Seven food goals for you to consider after you understand why eat healthy. . . 

1.       Minimize or eliminate junk and processed foods . . . foods with white powders: processed sugar, excessive salt, white flour.  

• Sugar in particular is viewed by many people to be the cause of so much illness and disease. So many processed foods and fast food restaurant meals contain sugar.   Often when you buy a food that is reduced in fat, the sugar content of that same food is increased to improve the taste.

2.       Eat fruit, nuts, vegetables, and salad (raw, as much as possible).

• The healthiest food is food which is consumed in its natural whole food state, such as fruits and vegetables.  Eating fresh whole fruits and salads is one of the best ways to consume.  As our society is becoming more focused on eating healthy, the availability to order healthy meals at restaurants with a wide range of healthy and tasty salads is now easier.
• My family has a jar of mixed nuts (unsalted) on our breakfast counter which we grab a small handful to snack on when we are hungry.  

3.       Eat reasonable portions, and only when your body is hungry (very important to long life). 

• So much of disease and illness today is believed to be linked to obesity. Eating reasonable portions and not the "supersize" portions served in restaurants, is a key factor in maintaining an ideal body weight, and long life. 

4.       Drink plenty of water.

• There is no better liquid for your body than water. Your body is made up of more than 60% water.  Being properly hydrated by drinking water is critical to your body's function.
• Add fresh lemon juice to your water for an even better way to consume your daily water.

5.       Buy a blender or juicing machine, and use it daily.

• My wife and I have been using a vita mixer for more than 30 years.  Every morning we make fresh breakfast shakes with water or almond milk, frozen fruit (bananas, strawberries, mixed berries, cherries, pineapple etc.), nuts and a date for sweetness.  It is a great way to start the day.

6.       If you eat meat, choose poultry, fish, or seafood, and minimize red meat.

• Chicken and turkey are a great way to consume protein, especially of the free range type if possible. 
• Note that some experts say that our bodies were not designed to process a lot of meat through our digestive track, especially that of red meat. 

7.       Stop eating, 2 hours before bedtime.

• You don't want your body focusing on digesting when it should be focused on all the things it does during sleep to restore you for the next day.

There are hundreds of health principles written by credible doctors, authors and health researchers on why eat healthy.  Your food goals may be entirely different than mine.  

Eliminating or reducing the amount of dairy products in your diet is another important principle that many health practitioners recommend.  I myself eat dairy products but I don't drink milk.  My dad taught me add a young age to not drink milk and I followed his advice.  

A key factor for not drinking milk is that animals in nature don't drink milk from their mothers once they are past the infant stage, and nor do they drink milk from other animals.  Some health practitioners argue that is not healthy to drink milk from cows, period.  

I have another principle I’ve tried to teach my children: to “eat an apple a day;” however, it’s not necessarily a proven health principle, but it is one I endorse.   What if it is actually true that "An apple a day keeps the doctor away"!

If you are like most people, you will go through life in phases, where you follow a good, eat-healthy regiment but then fall out.   The important thing is that you get back on track.  Food goals will help you do just that.

Suggested Target Goal:  Develop your list of health principles to support why eat healthy and stick to it.
Outrageous Goal:  Totally eliminate processed food from your diet.

Return to health and fitness life goals. 

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Last updated: May 3, 2020