10 Ways to Assure Better Nutrition - Part 2

Want to start getting better nutrition. Here are the last five tips for getting good nutrition and maintaining a more healthy diet, even under stress.

Brown Bag It - Many people go out for lunch to fast food places, coffee shops or restaurants that serve less than optimally healthy fare. While this does save a bit of time, you can save money and usually eat much healthier if you take a few extra minutes to pack and bring a lunch from home.

No Caffeine After 2pm - Since caffeine has a half-life in your body of at least 6 hours, caffeine you ingest with dinner can interfere with your sleep at night.

Banish the Bad Stuff - It's easier to avoid sugary, fatty, and otherwise unhealthy foods if they're not in your home, particularly begging you to eat them! This may sound like a no-brainer, but you should go through your kitchen and throw out anything your body can't use in a healthy way. That way you'll be forced to snack on healthy food when you're stressed.

Stock Your Home with Healthy Fare - The best way is to plan a menu of healthy meals and snacks at the beginning of each week, list the ingredients you'll need, and shop for everything once a week. That way you know you'll have what when you need it, and you won't have to stress over what to eat each night; you'll already have though of it!

Tension Tamers- Adopting stress reducing techniques should also reduce your stress-induced cravings for unhealthy or excessive food. Try yoga, martial arts, journaling, laughter and meditation/deep breathing; here's a fuller selection of relaxation techniques you can use to calm down and turn off your body's stress response.

Reference:

Scott, E. (2007). Good Nutrition: How to Combat Stress with Good Nutrition. About. com. Retrieved, November 7, 2007.