Hectic schedules and erratic lifestyle is the story of everyone’s life these days. A balanced diet is something that provides your body with the nutrition it requires to function properly. It's important to make sure that your diet is well balanced in order to achieve good health and avoid long term diseases. A balanced diet must contain carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals and fiber in the required amounts.



How to Maintain a Balanced Diet:



Take a number of small steps regarding changes in your diet instead of making one big drastic change. Instead of being excessively anxious with counting calories or measuring portion sizes, think of your diet in terms of color, variety, and freshness. This way it should be easier to make healthy choices.



Focus on finding foods you love and easy recipes that incorporate a few fresh ingredients. Gradually, your diet will become healthier and more delicious. Every change you make to improve your diet matters. You don’t have to be perfect and you don’t have to completely eliminate foods you enjoy to have a healthy diet. The long term goal is to feel good, have more energy, and reduce the risk of diseases.



Serving sizes have ballooned recently, particularly in restaurants. When dining out, choose a starter instead of an entree, split a dish with a friend, and don't order mega-size of anything. At home, use smaller plates, think about serving sizes in realistic terms, and start small. Eat with others whenever possible.

Chew your food slowly. We tend to rush though our meals, forgetting to actually taste the flavors and feel the textures of our food. Ask yourself if you are really hungry, or have a glass of water to see if you are thirsty instead of hungry. During a meal, stop eating before you feel full.

A healthy breakfast can jumpstart your metabolism, and eating small, healthy meals throughout the day (rather than the standard three large meals) keeps your energy up and your metabolism going.

Try to eat dinner earlier in the day and then fast for 14-16 hours until breakfast the next morning. Early studies suggest that this simple dietary adjustment may help to regulate weight.

