by Diana Coman

Created on: May 23, 2009   Last Updated: May 29, 2009

It's not only what you eat that counts, but especially when and how you eat. Healthy eating is not about going hungry, depriving yourself of tasty food or having to constantly worry about how much calories are on your plate. Even more important, healthy eating is not primarily about staying thin, but about staying healthy and fit. When healthy eating habits are combined with proper daily exercise, you will get the main benefit of a healthy body with the side effect of weight maintenance. Healthy eating is primarily about taking the time to eat properly and relaxed, choosing fresh, natural, and variate food, drinking enough water, having several regular meals of small size rather than fewer big meals at irregular intervals, and respecting your body's daily rhythm. And if all these are indeed your usual habits, then you can allow from time to time exceptions to them and eat for instance that huge yummy ice cream, provided that the exception occurs indeed rarely as any exception should. So adopt healthy eating habits and enjoy your health, your life and your food.

Eat properly and relaxed

If you thought that healthy eating is a fast, frugal serving on the run while counting worriedly the calories on your table, think again. Healthy eating means taking the time to eat slowly and chewing well your food, thus taking the time to realize when you are not hungry anymore. Healthy eating is also about being relaxed when you eat, because stress can make you eat more than you need. Take a short break from work before starting your lunch and put on some soothing music in the background when having dinner. Don't watch TV while eating as your attention will focus on the TV and you might not even realize when you are full.

Choose fresh and natural, variate food

Your body needs a large variety of nutrients to function properly. There is no single food item that will contain them all so the key is to eat as variate as possible, choosing fruits and vegetables as well as diary products, lean meats, whole grains, nuts and seeds. It is always better to choose fresh and natural ingredients for your meals. Avoid salted beans and fruit juices because they contain large amounts of sugar and salt.

Drink enough water

Food is not only what you eat, but also what you drink. Healthy eating means also choosing freshly squeezed juices or plain water instead of packed fruit juices that can contain up to 10 teaspoons of sugar per cup. Drinking water frequently throughout the day is extremely important for your health. Water helps your body to eliminate toxins, to maintain the temperature on hot days, and to deliver nutrients to organs. So do your body a favor and drink at least 8 glasses of water during the day.

Have several regular meals of small size

Do you like to eat? Good news then: eating often is actually good for your metabolism. Just remember to have small portions each time and to keep them at the same time every day. Have three main meals of small or medium size per day, and add in between them 2 healthy snacks such as fruits, vegetables or whole grain crackers with cheese.

Respect your body's daily rhythm

Each morning you wake up and each evening you go to sleep. Give your body the energy it needs in the morning by taking a healthy consistent breakfast. Give your body the time to digest the food and prepare for sleep by having dinner the latest three hours before going to sleep.

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