by E. Kerns

Created on: May 20, 2008   Last Updated: December 01, 2011

How early can you remember being told, "Eat your vegetables!" If your mum was anything like mine, it started from quite early on in childhood and progressed to "If you don't eat your vegetables, you won't grow up big and strong... etc." Seems more and more we're finding out that mum was perhaps smarter than we might have given her credit for being, even if she was only following family tradition.

More and more doctors and nutritionists are imploring people to incorporate larger amounts of vegetables into their daily diets. Fresh fruits also add a myriad of nutrients we need to maintain good health and strong bodies. Eating healthy is not only a mix of 'rabbit food' and 'bird food' and you do not have to become a vegan, merely keeping in mind one of the most important words in the English language, your life, in all aspects, can change almost over night.

Moderation
The secret to nearly everything... moderation. In life, food, and drink, to name only a few, moderation is what keeps everything in perspective. For instance, completely eliminating sugar from your daily diet might show you a small amount of weight loss, or increased health benefits, but at what later cost? With research finding out the negative side effects to using artificial sweeteners including, but are not limited to: decreased memory ability, possible cancer causing properties, etc. How healthy is that?!

Use sugar if you must, but in moderation. If you prefer no sugar, and you maintain the use of natural sweeteners, kudos to you for already keeping yourself on the straight and narrow. There are so many other issues that are involved in diets and "proper eating habits" that it is impossible to take any one of them as the absolute truth. With every single person being different, our bodies are different as well. I ask you, how can one diet work for another person yet guarantee success for you? It can't... period.

Know Your Body
Knowing your body and it' signs is the first way of learning to control your eating habits. It won't be easy when you start, but try to remind yourself that it is a learning process, and will take time to become an ingrained habit. Listen to your body. When you are tired, sleep. When you are hungry, eat. Babies follow those simple rules because they don't know any better. You can follow them as well, but returning to your natural state of being is a requirement.

Portion Control
If you're dying to have that piece of chocolate cake, have it, but try to savor each morsel, and lessen the amount you would normally eat. Opt for 5 - 6 small meals each day as opposed to 3 large ones. i.e. one small meal would constitute a piece of fruit and a few crackers. Give your body about 3 hours to burn that, and have another small meal. These small meals are geared toward "snack" sizes and encourage your metabolism to burn frequently and longer.

Ultimately the control of what goes into your mouth and body is held by you. Although you may not like hearing it, and you've certainly heard it before, we are what we eat. Practicing self-control is not always easy, but neither is losing weight. It takes determination and dedication, the same as living and working in general. Give yourself the credit you deserve. You've made it this far in life, sweat a little more, push a little more, and maintain a healthy diet high in fresh vegetables and fruit... you will learn to love the new lifestyle as you see your inner beauty begin to emerge.

Learn more about this author, E. Kerns.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.