Of Healthy Eating

Living in North America you are constantly exposed to this whole world of healthy living. One of the key issues in that regard is healthy eating. Society is obsessed here for healthy and fat free products. You go to departmental store and there is fat free version of virtually everything. Everybody wants to have perfect body and weight. Everybody wants to look as young as possible. Young is good looking.
Until two years back, I was leading quite an unhealthy lifestyle. Just to give a simple example..I used to drink on an average 2-3 pepsi cans per day, was frequent visitor to McDonalds and so on. I met Hassan during that time and he introduced me to this whole world of healthy eating. I realized I was living in completely different world before that. Hassan is originally from Pakistan but lived for more than 10 years in Dubai before he moved here. He is complete health freak and his knowledge on healthy eating is astounding. One immediate thing which he tells you is that most of desi food ( Indian and pakistani both ) is unhealthy and doesnt make you strong. Basically the point is , it’s not indian food per se but the way it is cooked. The biggest culprit is oil which is so essential for most of our indian dishes. Very little oil ought to be used and that too olive oil. Then too much salt and sugar, again one of the key ingredients , are not healthy either. Both lead to ageing and all types of diseases. Rice and rotis are nothing but too much carbs. Our pulses ( dal ) which are supposedly protein rich in reality contain very mediocre type of proteins. Ofcourse what he is saying is backed by nutrition experts and doctors.
But the moot point is, what to eat then? In simple words, more proteins, less carbohydrates ( that too good ones like fruits, vegetables and whole grain breads), fat free milk products , very little fat and almost nil added sugar. On an average, we need to consume 2000-2500 calories per day. Make sure that 30-40% come from proteins, another 40-50% from carbohydrates and rest from fat etc. Over the last two years, I have developed this diet plan of my own which I try to follow..ofcourse Iam not successful all the time, but I strive for it. Here it goes..please add your own bit too..
Breakfast : One piece of whole grain bread ..omelette of 6 whites ( Mind you..no yellow!!! one yellow has more cholestrol that what your body needs for 1.5 days!!). Fat free or maximum 1% fat milk with cereals and one apple/peach
Lunch : Grilled vegetables or/and Grilled chicken/ fish prepared with little olive oil, bowl of salad, one piece of whole grain bread/little brown rice, bowl of yoghurt and one -two fruits
Dinner: Same as lunch with quantities little reduced and one orange instead of other fruits
During late afternoon or early evening eat some fruits and carrot juice etc
Apart from this, drink atleast 1.5 litres of water per day, no soft drinks ( beleive me they are killers), add some antioxidants in your diet..such as blueberries and stuff like that.
I understand in the real world, it’s not always possible to avoid junk food. But make sure you dont do that more than once in 15 days.
Rest later