Practical tips to improve your mood

By: anna124 Mood: Happy Date: 08/20/2008 02:34:45 Music: None

Practical
tips to improve your mood

Stop Dieting!

Losing
too much weight too quickly may result in a weight loss that is initially
impressive but, before you know it, progress may start to slow down, stop and
be overtaken by weight gain.

A lot of any initial weight loss is water and the body's metabolism responds to
a quick weight loss by slowing down in an attempt to adapt to this lower energy
intake.

It is possible that this slower metabolic rate will be accompanied by mental
changes in depression.

Dieting puts a lot of stress on an individual and it demands a lot of self
control. This in turn results in disturbances in our emotions and can change
how we think and feel about ourselves. Adopting a healthy eating regime is the
best way to prevent the pitfalls of stringent dieting and the best way to
brighten your outlook for the long term.

Learn the art of distraction

When you feel that moment coming on when you just 'have to have something', and
that ‘something’ is in the form of a typical naughty but nice craving, try the
following:

Fight that urge to binge on the nearest junk
foods - grab a piece of fruit or a yoghurt!

Go for a walk - take the children if
necessary

Put some music on

Drink a glass of water - often thirst and
hunger signals become muddled

Run yourself a bath and take time out

Inspire yourself - treat yourself to a
healthy food magazine

Curl up with a gripping novel and be whisked
away into another world.

Make long-term changes to your
lifestyle instead of crash dieting

We know how difficult it can be to eat well
when you're juggling one hundred and one tasks in any given day. But there are
some changes you can make to your lifestyle which aren't short-term fixes -
they will help you to really appreciate the benefits of taking the time out to
prepare and enjoy your food.

Things like lowering your alchohol
consumption and regulating your blood sugars by eating more slow-release carbs
rather than quick-fix sugar-laden snacks will make you look and feel so much
better. Here are some more general tips:

Don't forget to eat breakfast and make it
substantial. Try our porridge recipe

Eat slowly - don't bolt down your meals

Eat regularly - don't leave it so long
between meals that you get ravenous. Even those of us with the best willpower
will dive for the biscuits if we get to this state

If mealtimes are a mad rush and you always
feel that your time is spent seeing to the children or to your husband, try
preparing yourself something the night before and save it for a quiet moment

Educate yourself about healthy eating and
try to re-train the way you eat. You may soon begin to cut down or cut out
sugary foods altogether

Try shopping on-line. This helps avoid the
temptation of buying the types of foods that bring your mood down

Plan ahead and stock up on mood boosters.
Create a tin of healthy snacks eg. dried fruit bars, nuts/seeds. Stock up on
tins of oily fish

Snack on foods with a low Glycaemic Index
(GI) that release their energy slowly (see 'Foods that boost your mood'
section)

Experiment with new recipes – you may grow to love eating this
way. Involve the kids and make home-made pizzas instead of buying the frozen
type, for example. They will love choosing and putting on their own
toppings.

Remember!

Enjoy what you eat and don’t deny yourself that occasional
treat. Be kind to yourself – you deserve it!

have a nice day