In its true essence, moderation is defined by eating foods that your body requires. At the end of the meal, you need to feel good, satisfied and full but not stuffed says Darclee Warshoff. It is all about balancing each portion of essential nutrients in your diet. Moderation is also about balance. Irrespective of what fad diets would have you believe, a balance of carbs, protein, fat, vitamins, fiber, and minerals is essential to sustaining good healthy.
Healthy eating means developing a diet that can be maintained for life. It should not be restricted to a day, a few weeks or few months until you have achieved your target weight. For most, this means consuming less than you currently do. Moderation is all about limiting consumption of unhealthy foods and replacing them with the healthy ones. This does not mean completely removing foods you relish. Eating lean meat, poultry and sea foods are highly recommended, but you can have bacon once a week for breakfast. This is what moderation is defined by unless you follow this breakfast with sausages, pizza, donuts and whatnot. If one afternoon, you decide to consume your favorite meal comprising of hundreds of calories, balance it out by subtracting a hundred calories from the evening supper and if hunger pangs strike you, have an extra serving of fresh fruits or juice.
Darclee recommends thinking more on the lines of including foods that are off your limits as a way to discipline your eating habits. When you eliminate certain foods from your meal plan, it is natural to crave for those foods even more. This is when you tend to give in to temptation. You are drawn towards the unhealthy food groups and if you are not able to handle, start by reducing the portions rather than not eating them at all and gradually faze them off from your diet. Eating a burger or a hot dog once in a fortnight will not cause detrimental effects on your health and if in a month the impact will be even lesser; however, eating them everyday can have a major impact. You must reduce intake of damaging foods, and think of them as a sporadic luxury.