Eating Best Practices

We all have “that one friend.” The one who beats the gym's desk clerk to the door at 5 A.M. each morning, and is on the Stairmaster by 5:05. The one with the bottle of water holstered at her hip like a highly-hydrated Annie Oakley. The one who runs every meal's calories through a smartphone app like a hedge fund manager calculating expense ratios.

We all have “that one friend,” that is, unless we have already murdered her and buried the body beneath her own organic vegetable patch.

Sure, we rationalize that we would eat nutritiously, take better care of ourselves, if we just had more time. If we didn't have a family to raise, or have to work two jobs. If we weren't taking those two extra courses this semester, or volunteering every night at the homeless shelter. Or if we weren't compelled to binge watch Orphan Black...

This, then, is a Health and Nutrition Guide for those of us with normal, modern lives. Put away the apps, unholster the Poland Spring, and just gently re-jigger your mindset to follow these few general lifestyle guidelines. I guarantee you'll be happier and healthier, and never once have to wait outside in the cold for your gym's morning shift to show up.

Eat whole foods. Wherever possible, avoid the boxed and packaged noshes in favor of the fresh, whole ones. Ready-to-eat meals may be convenient, but make them the meal of absolute last resort. Keep grapes and strawberries on hand for sweet treats, in lieu of cookies and jujubes.

Eating “whole” is especially important when it comes to your carbs. The processing which white bread, pasta and white rice must endure before it reaches your table strips them of much of their natural nutrition. Substitute whole wheat for white bread and pasta, and wild rice for its white cousin. Several studies have even shown that a diet high in whole grains can lower your risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and colon cancer. Even raw or cane sugar is (marginally) better for you than their more common processed version.

The “Big Food” companies believe they know what you like, and that is “sweet” and “salty.” Consequently, they will add sugar and salt to just about everything they are pushing, with commensurately terrible effects on your health. Check the labels on the foods you buy. There is no good reason why yogurt should have “added sugar,” or ketchup “added salt.” Avoid these products, while spicing and sweetening your foods with natural substitutes.

Eat your fruits and vegetables. It's as simple as that. If you don't like broccoli or asparagus, find something green you do like, and eat it, regularly. And remember: everything tastes good with hot sauce on it...

Drink water. You don't have to walk around dangling a bottle like an I-V patient, just make sure you get enough hydration that your urine is clear. If it is too yellowish, drink some more. Avoid soda, and, yes, most juices, as these contain unnecessary amounts of sweeteners. If you absolutely need something sweet, flavor your drink with a slice of lemon or a sprig of mint.

You don't need to become a vegan or vegetarian (although it certainly helps) but at least be aware from whence your meat and dairy is delivered. You're likely eating meat and cheese that have come from animals loaded up to their eyelids with growth hormones and antibiotics. Limit your meat and dairy intake ingeneral, and buy that food from local farmers' markets. Afraid you won't get enough protein? You ought to be getting most of that from nuts, beans and legumes anyway.

Get up and move. Instead of buzzing the intercom to talk to the guy in Marketing, make a point of dropping by his office instead. Not only will this make you less annoying by interrupting fewer of your co-workers throughout the day, it will give your co-workers more opportunities to compliment you on how good you look now that you're taking better care of yourself.