Model Plan – Tips for A Model Figure
By Maryon Stewart
- In order to be able to present yourself well and to meet the day-to-day demands you will need to learn how to meet your body’s nutritional needs. This includes finding the right kind of eating plan to suit your body and taking regular exercise in order to keep your metabolic rate ticking over. The quality of the food you eat and your lifestyle have a direct link to how well you look and feel, including the appearance of your skin, nails and hair.
- Don’t bother with dieting, for weight loss diets often result in weight gain in the long term! Your body needs a regular supply of good nutrients in order to function, and it is therefore important to eat wholesome foods regularly including fruit, vegetables, salads, nuts, seeds, grains, milk, cheese, eggs, soya, poultry, fish and some red meat. As an added bonus finding the right diet for you will also help to maintain your optimum weight.
- Plan your meals for the coming week in advance, including breakfast, which is the most important meal of the day. Make a shopping list before you go out and take the list with you - making sure you stick to it! And, never do your food shopping on an empty stomach for you will be far more likely to make impulse purchases.
- Eat regular meals three times each day with one or two between -meal snacks. It is better to eat four or five small meals each day, than guzzle large meals because you are so hungry. The body needs a constant supply of good nutrients from wholesome food in order to serve you well. This is particularly true for women in the week before their period, when their calorie requirements raise by approximately 500 calories per day.
- Rather than shopping once a week for all your food, it is preferable to shop at least twice each week, especially for fruit, vegetables and salad stuff, as the shelf life of the vitamins and minerals in them is quite short. Make sure you store fresh produce in the refrigerator or somewhere very cool, to prevent them from spoiling.
- Chocolate bars and sweets may seem attractive snacks, but they contain very little good nutrients and will send your blood sugar levels soaring, only to crash again shortly after. Instead chose wholesome snacks like fresh fruit, nuts and seeds, dried fruit, or fruit and nut snack bars, cereal bars, or even strips of dried fruit, which are more likely to supply your body with many of the nutrients in needs in order to function well.
- Never skip a meal, as it will play havoc with your blood glucose levels and leave you feeling tired and light headed. In order to look and feel good you need to eat wholesome food regularly. If you are likely to be on the run at lunch time, take some lunch with you, and always have a snack bar and some fruit with you in your bag, in case you get the munchies.
- You may notice that certain foods seem to make you feel bloated or result in a rapid drop in energy or even a headache. Keep an eye on how you feel after eating and if you are suspicious about the effects that certain types of food have on your body, keep a daily diet diary and mark down the symptoms you are experiencing. After a few weeks, when you review your diary it is likely that you will see a pattern emerging which will make it easier to spot the suspect foods.
- Cravings for food, particularly sweet food, like chocolate, cakes and biscuits, are extremely common, especially in the week before your period is due. Eat wholesome food little and often in order to maintain a constant supply of good nutrients. The minerals chromium and magnesium and B vitamins are all necessary for normal blood glucose control. Make a point of consuming plenty of green leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds, bell peppers, chicken, rye, oats and black pepper.
- An excellent way of speeding up the metabolic rate, which helps to burn fat, is to exercise four or five times each week to the point of breathlessness. You can chose any exercise you like, from brisk walking, a formal workout, swimming, racquet sports or even just dancing to your favourite music. Apart from helping to burn up the fat and tone your body, regular exercise results in an incredible sense of well-being and as an added bonus promotes long-term health and beauty.
- Alcohol knocks most important nutrients sideways, leaving us feeling depleted. A lack of good nutrients will affect your energy levels as well as the appearance of your skin and your eyes. Big alcohol consumers are putting themselves seriously at risk of all manner of nasty medical problems in the long-term, so forget the binges and think twice before you have more than one or two drinks in one sitting.
- Caffeine, which acts as both a physical and mental stimulant, can be found in tea, coffee, cola drinks and chocolate, in excess can make you feel anxious, aggravate breast tenderness and prevent you sleeping well at night. It is therefore advisable to look for alternatives, to tea and coffee like herbal teas, coffee substitutes, and sparkling fruit drinks, all of which are now available in the supermarkets.
- Making time for yourself is probably one of the most important long-term resolutions you should be considering. Somehow when we are feeling and looking good, we forget how important healthy eating, exercise and relaxation are. If you lead a hectic life make sure you have time to enjoy your food and write your exercise and relaxation time into your diary like any other appointment. This way you stand a good chance of keeping your body in peak condition, with your looks positively glowing.
Taken from the Model Plan by Maryon Stewart who was the nutritionist for the Channel 4 TV programme Model Behaviour
Author site: Maryon Stewart | View all articles by Maryon Stewart
Topics: Lifestyle, Natural Health |
