You think you’re eating healthy meals…but are you sure?
If your weight or fat loss has slowed, or even stopped, then there’s a good chance that you haven’t been eating as healthy as you should be. I’m going to end the guesswork for you, once and for all, with my 5 steps to a healthy meal.
By following these 5 guidelines you’ll know that your meals are healthy and fitness friendly, as a result you will experience healthy weight & fat loss.
Here are the 5 Steps to a Healthy Meal:
Step #1: Quality Ingredients
These are the building blocks to a healthy meal. While you certainly don’t need to dine in gourmet restaurants in order to ensure quality ingredients, you should pay attention to the quality of the foods you eat.
Choose foods that are:
- Fresh and organic
- Free of toxic chemicals, antibiotics and hormones with pronounceable ingredients
- Whole foods
Step #2: Cooking Method
The way a meal is cooked determines how many bad calories and how much added bad fat you consume, and the number of nutrients that survive. This simple factor will make or break your weight loss goal
Avoid foods prepared like this:
- Fried and battered
- Processed and packaged
- Doused with cream sauce
- Cooked in high heat
Choose foods that are prepared like this in low heat:
- Grilled
- Baked
- Steamed
- Crock pot
Step #3: Think Protein First
The meal should be based on a quality source of protein. With the first 2 guidelines in mind, these will be high quality, healthfully prepared.
Good choices of protein include:
- Fish
- Chicken
- Turkey
- Egg
- Lean red meat
- Beans
- Raw dairy products
Step #4: Lots of Fiber
Fiber is a huge part of eating healthy and being lean. Fibrous foods will fill you up while delivering vitamins and nutrients in low-calorie packages. Fill at least two thirds of your plate with fibrous vegetables.
Try these forms of fiber:
- Salad
- Seasonal vegetables
- Fruit
- Legumes
Step #5: Lay Off the Starches
Here’s where many well-meaning dieters lose it. The facts are simple, in order to maintain the low-starch, moderate to high protein diet required for healthy weight and fat loss, there is no room for nutrient deficient, starchy foods.
Starches to Avoid:
- Potatoes
- Pasta
- Rice and cereal
- Bread and crackers
For faster results, pair your clean eating with a challenging exercise routine.
Brien Shamp brings you 22 years of experience as a Body Transformation Expert, Personal Trainer, Nutrition & Lifestyle Coach, Massage Therapist, Strength Coach for College & Pro Athletes and Reiki Practitioner. In 2011 he was nominated one of the top ten trainers in the country. Brien has a degree in Biomechanics from UC Davis and extensive graduate studies in Exercise Physiology from SF State. Brien won first place in the Met-Rx World's Best Personal Trainer Contest in 1999 and was nominated Best in the Bay by KRON 4 for Weight Loss in 2009. He is an active author in Parenting on the Peninsula, Ms. Fitness Magazine and his FREE Blog with thousands of subscribers at www.BrienShamp.com
