Here we go right? The holidays are here. Every food, we know we shouldn't eat, is going to be prepared just the way we like it and placed on a silver platter, calling our name! Will we give in or not? Hell yes, we will! You know and I know a person has to have willpower of steel, to resist eating their favorite comfort foods. Really. For the great majority of us, it's not so much about losing weight as it is, about being at a healthy weight. The scale can't tell us our cholesterol is high. When it comes to dropping unhealthy pounds it comes down to what we put in our mouths. I am going to challenge myself, and pose this same challenge to you, to commit to 3 daily eating habits.

HEALTH is the keyword here. You can be skinny and have super high cholesterol, skyrocketing blood pressure, diabetes, or congestive heart conditions. Good health isn't measured by a person being skinny. However, being obese is absolutely not a healthy place to be. When it comes to our relationship with food, it's about balance. Balancing our diet, watching the portion sizes, incorporating water into our daily hydration, and adding a few extra steps to our day-to-day can go a long way in improving our health and lowering our weight.

For me, it's cardio and exercise. Don't get me wrong, I eat some of the worse things ever sometimes. Yet, when I am at my heaviest it almost always means I've cut down on working out. No matter your age or weight, good health is worth striving for. In a search for ways that I can improve and maintain my body and health naturally, I found 3 major things we can do to dramatically change our lives. An get this! We could actually improve our mood with the food we eat. It's true! The tips were gathered from various health websites and reputable nutritionists. I hope they inspire you to do better, as much as they have for me.

1.) PROTEIN

Protein is essential for wellness and helps to maintain muscle mass while working to lose weight. If we eat an adequate amount daily, it will reduce our cravings for food especially at night by 60%! In one study, people who added the proper amount of protein to their diet ate 441 fewer calories per day. This one change can have an enormous impact on our overall weight and health.

Males should eat 56–91 grams per day
Women should eat 46–75 grams per day

FOODS HIGH IN PROTEIN

meat: beef, chicken, pork, and lamb
fish and seafood: salmon, trout, tuna, and shrimp
eggs: whole eggs with the yolk
plant-based proteins: beans, legumes, quinoa, tempeh, and tofu
greek yogurt, cottage cheese, milk

2.) ADD LEAFY GREEN VEGGIES

It goes without saying...they are good for you. Here's another fun fact, you can eat all you can eat and not have to worry about calories or carbs!
broccoli
cauliflower
spinach
tomatoes
kale
Brussels sprouts
cabbage
Swiss chard
lettuce
cucumber

3.) FAT

Would you believe fat is a crucial part of our overall health? GOOD FAT or essential fats protect our nervous system, guards our heart against disease, help our bodies absorb vitamins A, D, E, and K which promote growth and protect our reproductive organs. If that's not exciting enough, GOOD FAT will also prevent belly fat! So, here's the skinny on what fats we should be eating. Be careful though, there is a limit. We don't want good fat to go bad. Watch your portions.

olive oil
walnuts
almonds
cashews
peanuts
peanut butter
sesame seeds
avocado
herring
mackerel
cheese
flaxseed and canola oil

LOOK: 50 famous memes and what they mean

With the infinite number of memes scattered across the internet, it's hard to keep track. Just when you've grasped the meaning of one hilarious meme, it has already become old news and replaced by something equally as enigmatic. Online forums like Tumblr, Twitter, 4chan, and Reddit are responsible for a majority of meme infections, and with the constant posting and sharing, finding the source of an original meme is easier said than done. Stacker hunted through internet resources, pop culture publications, and databases like Know Your Meme to find 50 different memes and what they mean. While the almost self-replicating nature of these vague symbols can get exhausting, memes in their essence can also bring people closer together—as long as they have internet access.

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