Putting It All Together
What does this all come down to? Simply put, it's important that you eat a balanced diet. Each meal should contain a certain amount of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Depending on what you do throughout the day and how actively you live your life, the amount of food or calories you need per day will need to be changed to accomodate your specific needs.
Again, think of your body as though it were a car. In order for the all of the parts to work efficiently you need to give it the proper maintenance. A car needs fuel in the tank, oil to lubricate the engine and other parts, air in the tires, fluid in the brakes, and so on. You may be able to drive the car for a while without changing the oil or putting air in the tires, but at some point neglecting its maintenance is going to become problematic.
After you have eaten a meal, you should never feel completely full, “so full you could burst,” or as though you have eaten too much. If you feel as though you have eaten too much, then it most likely means that you have. Remember: too much food equals too many calories. Too many calories plus not enough exercise equals unwanted weight gain.
Your body needs high-quality, nutrientdense foods. A balanced diet consists of three meals per day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with maybe two to three small snacks throughout the day. This is not to say that you can never go to a dinner party and enjoy yourself. Just enjoy such things in moderation, not every single night. If you eat well and make good dietary decisions even 80 percent of the time, then there is nothing wrong with splurging the other 20 percent. As long as you are honest with yourself when you are making that rationalization, you should be just fine.
