You Are What You Eat, And Now You Think What You Eat!

A recent study of over 1,80,000 people in the UK proves how our diet and food preferences directly affect our behavior, intelligence, metabolism, and even our genes!

What is our diet pattern?

How much and how frequently do we eat food daily is our diet. It involves our meals as well as small snacks that we munch on without focusing on it. From the amount of water we take or an extra bite of ice cream that is our guilty pleasure, it all comes under our diet.

According to the study, an extremely high vegetarian diet can even make our genes prone to susceptibility. People with a higher intake of fatty meat can have increased stress levels. Meat eaters have more chances of having a stroke! And people with a balanced diet can improve their grey matter in the brain!

So what is the perfect diet?

There might not be a perfect diet! This is because every one of us has different needs that can be customized based on our body metabolism. The solution is aiming for a balanced diet where we can try to include all the elements in the right amount.

Balance diet

In the study, a balanced diet proves to be the most suitable form of dietary pattern. People following this diet have the least chance of acquiring mental illnesses. The rate of anxiety and eating disorders is least seen with a balanced form of diet. Along with this, well well-being level is highest in people who constantly follow a balanced diet. What is inside a balanced diet? As the name goes, each nutrient is consumed as required. A balanced diet revolves around all the 10 categories of food as per research – fruits, fish, meat, snacks, starches, vegetables, alcohol, beverages, dairy, and flavoring.

How to motivate myself to eat healthy?

We all at some point are aware of and acknowledge the need for a healthy diet, for our physical health and now for our mental health. What becomes an obstacle is how to be consistent with our diet. Let’s see some tips and tricks for this with a psychological perspective: George Doran’s SMART ways to achieve our goal, here having a healthy balanced diet.

S-Specific:

Our diet goal must be specific in nature. How specific? It varies from one person to another. For a person with a hectic job schedule, it can be as easy as a single-step instruction of having 3 liters of water intake. But a person who is more health conscious can maintain a chart of what they are eating in a day, and what it means to their mind.

M-Measurable:

Measurable is having a count on our food. Again, if you are busy, count no. of cups of coffee that you take and try to reduce it gradually. For example, instead of having 3 cups of coffee every day, I try to keep up myself with two cups. Another for people who can measure it the right way, chart the countable nutrition in the food you take daily.

A-Achievable:

This is the most important part of our healthy and balanced diet. Feeling motivated enough in the beginning, we tend to set diet goals that are not achievable because maintenance in the long run is indeed the most difficult obstacle. What is the solution for it? The answer is baby steps- to gradually move in the right direction instead of leaping.

R-Relevant:

Remember that the diet is for you. We often get influenced by social media trends consciously as well as subconsciously. For instance, a recent viral Instagram trend is eating raw garlic before going to bed. Though this might work for many people, but can be adverse for some; like few have reported severe abdominal pain after following this. So what matters is listening to what your body is asking for

T-Time bound:

Our goal of a balanced diet is possible only if we align it with our time. For instance, if you have a similar routine for the next say one month, then the diet is maintained in alignment with that schedule. Now if you have a change of daily routine, another set of diet goals can be applied with a new motivation to achieve as well as maintain it.

Cheat day:

It’s okay to cheat your diet a day. What matters is going back to the routine of a balanced diet. Many of us quit healthy diet because once we have cheated on it, instead we can see this as a reward that we give ourselves, say each month to maintain a healthy diet. At the crux of it, it’s on us- how much we believe our body and mind deserves. To control a craving or give in to it, gradually makes us what we are- both physically and mentally.