There are three things that you must have if you want to achieve permanent weight loss. They are: good nutrition, regular exercise, and the right mind state. What you eat and how you eat affects, to a large extent, your weight gain/loss. In this article, I present 5 habits that make for healthy eating for weight loss. Gradually, but steadily, make each of them a habit that you live by each day. Before you know it, you will have developed a much healthier eating lifestyle. Healthy eating for weight loss has a lot to do with forming the right habits.

1. Breakfast is Your Most Important Meal of the Day

You’ve probably heard this before, and it’s true. After about 10 hours of fasting, your body needs fuel to get you going through the day. Breakfast is a way to supply your body with the energy it needs to function for the rest of the day. You will have more energy and will be more alert after eating breakfast.

So, before you rush out each morning, take a few minutes and give your body the treat it so much deserves – have a healthy breakfast. Your body will thank you for it.

Also, make your children eat breakfast as well. They will be more alert in school and they will concentrate better.

2. Don’t Miss Lunch

it sounds logically correct that when you skip lunch, you lose weight faster right? Wrong. When you skip lunch, your blood sugar levels drop, your metabolism slows down to compensate for the missing fuel and when you finally get home you are starving so you eat anything in sight. That’s a perfect recipe for weight gain.

One of the requirements of healthy eating for weight loss is; never skip your lunch or any meal for that matter.

Have small, but frequent meals each day. That way, your body doesn’t run out on energy, and you don’t eat too much. Savvy?

3. Snack Frequently

As a rule of thumb, never allow yourself to go hungry at anytime. You need to have something in your stomach at all times. Your body needs energy to burn more fats so you need to supply it with the energy it needs. Yes, you can’t eat whole meals frequently. So, snack – not on junks though. You can have healthy snacks: Apples, Oranges, Nuts, Pretzels etc. Eat anything you want (in small quantities), just make sure you have something in your stomach at all times. Don’t go hungry.

4. Drink Plenty of Water

70% of your body is water, so it is only natural that water becomes your natural source of refreshment. To perform at its best, your body has to stay well hydrated. Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day.

Water contains no calories; so your body uses up more to raise it to your body temperature. This increases your metabolism and elevates your weight loss progress. In fact, research has shown that you can speed up your metabolism by 1/3 just by drinking several glasses of ice water each day.

5. Don’t Eat Late

Having an early dinner gives your body time to digest most of the food before you shut down for the 7 hours. But we are so busy that we are always tempted to put off dinner until the last minute.

Remember, you need to make each of these tips part of your daily habits to succeed. Now, it takes approximately 21 days to form a new habit. So when you slip, don’t kick yourself – you may, just don’t do it hard – know that you need to pick yourself up, and continue. You will be doing this probably for the rest of your life so you can as well get used to it.

Finally, healthy eating for weight loss is not complicated or difficult at all. One step at a time brings you closer to your goal. All the best.