Take Time to Eat a Good Meal

Are you in the habit of rushing running around from place to place? Do you find that eating meals is always done on the run? Taking the time to prepare a healthful meal and sitting down and eating it is beneficial in many ways. When you eat a healthy balance of complex carbohydrates and good quality fats, you help maintain a metabolism that operates smoothly and reduces erratic cravings for unhealthy sweets and other junk foods.

When you take time to make and eat a healthy meal, you also enjoy a sense of peace and feel more satisfied from the foods you eat. Rushing and feeling stressed while eating also causes malabsorbtion of nutrients, and you are not receiving the benefit of eating healthy foods in the first place.

Here are some tips for making your meals count and having time to eat them:

• Plan shopping trips ahead of time so you are not guessing in the store and having to make additional, unnecessary trips
• Decide on some healthy recipes to make for yourself or your family, and be sure to pick up all the proper ingredients ahead of time
• Make time to cook and prepare meals
• Sit down with family, friends, or loved ones at the table at least once a day
• Don't have distractions while you are eating such as the television turned on or a cluttered table
• Don't take phone calls while you are eating
• Don't plan so many other activities in your day that you fail to have time to prepare good meals; good meals should come first, activities can always wait. If your health suffers because you have not been eating well, all other items on the agenda will suffer as well.
• Make sure you have lined up good sources for healthy foods - natural grocery and health food stores, local food sellers and farmers, or reputable merchants both local and mail-order or from the Internet
• Healthy food choices should be organic, whole, raw, and local, if possible. If you have never considered foods such as raw dairy, read this article to learn about its benefits.
  
• Share responsibility in your household with a spouse, roommate, children, or other family members for getting meals shopped for and cooked
• If you have friends or family who don't live with you, plan regular nights weekly where you have a "family" or "group" dinner where you get together and prepare and share a healthy meal
• If you have children and would like ideas about how to get your children more involved in learning about nutrition and health, read this article about nutritional wellness for families.