You will never be satisfied with what you eat if you deprive yourself of food and especially the tastes that make you happy. In today’s world, a lot of alternatives are there to keep us committed to a healthy lifestyle; it all starts with your groceries selection and what are you normalizing.
In the Arab world, we have a very common proverb: “we eat to live”. For me, there is nothing that makes sense more than this proverb! Yes, we eat to live healthier and happier, and we eat to charge ourselves every day so that we can be stronger to function our daily life tasks properly.
When it comes to a healthy lifestyle, each one of us needs a trigger and a driver to direct him; for me, it was my health that I needed to prioritize the most as seeing my father suffer from chronic diseases in his mid of 40s wasn’t easy and energy-draining on both the emotional and financial level, especially the fact that he didn’t put his health first and was pulled by poor habits. This was a turning point for me, and I decided that I will move on with my healthy routines and spread them as much as I can and more importantly enjoy them.
When taking the healthy lifestyle path, you must know that eating habits do not stand alone and it’s all connected to your whole life; there are major elements that need to be taken into consideration, and I can brief them as below:
• Time
• Food types
• Movement
• Being updated with the most recent health and food studies
The reason why I list the four above elements is that they all complete each other, and we can’t ignore one over another. Hereunder, I will share my personal journey choices that I have found best for my body, and I hope it will be of great value to anyone who will read it:
Coffee preferably between (8:00 – 9:30):
Avoid creamers and sugar and substitute it with black coffee or coffee with milk and if you like to have sweet aside, go for the below options:
- One date
- Dark chocolate (60% to 70%)
For breakfast you can have one of the below options preferably between (10:30 – 12:00):
- A hot bowl of oatmeal with milk or water and you can add banana, strawberry, cinnamon, maple syrup or honey, any kind of seeds: chia, hemp seeds, etc.
- Two or one boiled eggs with olive oil, and you can spread Thyme leaves, preferably without bread as the eggs are already nutrient-dense
- Half sandwich of bread, preferably the bran or multigrain bread for better digestion
- Feta cheese salad with vegetables, olives, seeds… Focus on antioxidant vegetables like celery, red cabbage, radish, and arugula.
- During the week, you can have a one-time heavy breakfast if you wish.
Snacks preferably between (2:00-4:00):
- Fruits: cherry, cactus, apple, any type you like, and make sure to eat them seasonal basis.
- Coffee with a granola bar or one date.
- Wholegrain crackers with Humus or light yogurt
Soaked almond or dried fig is very recommended.
Lunch:
- Any type of homemade meal where you must pay attention to the rice and pasta portions to be around 3 or 4 serving big spoon or alternate it with lentil source pasta and rice and cook with vegetables and chicken.
- Every week, try to omega3 sources like fish or beans
- Every week, try to have at least twice soups prepared with organic chicken broth or beef broth
- You can have once every two weeks junk food, but try to choose places that serve sandwiches or dishes with fewer sauces and oily ingredients
- When you cook use alternatives for oil like nonaromatic coconut oil, canola, olive oil.
- Don’t use readymade broth cubes from the store that have many preservatives and instead, alternate with spices that you have, freeze the chicken broth, or look for organic stoke cubes.
- Try to use always add spreads of fresh ginger and Curcuma to the food.
Choices of drinks:
- Always pay attention to the amount of sugar and sodium when you go for a drink; the best options are:
- Cranberry juice (only ocean spray brand is organic)
- Sparkling water where you can add lemon to it
- Lemon with ginger juice
- Avoid soda drinks you can have a quarter can every two weeks if you want
- During the day, try to have at least 2 liters of water or more
- Drink herbs like sage, anise, and matcha green tea, etc.
- Try to drink every day or every two days organic apple cider with water
Dietary Supplements:
- Vitamin D (if recommended by your doctor/nutritionist)
- Zinc, Magnesium, omega3 every day or every two days (this is my personal need; check if this suits you and is recommended by your doctor/nutritionist)
- Probiotics early in the mornings (consult your doctor/nutritionist)
Wheatgrass powder that you can spray over salad or integrate into juice (this can be ordered online, and it has so many benefits!)
Choices for weekly or monthly detox:
- Mix parsley, spinach, ginger, and lemon.
- Mix cucumber, green apple, and beetroot.
We must remember one last and important thing that food might not be a clear part of our past, but it will shape our future and how we will age; if you want to age younger, stick to healthy life habits, and you will be there.
