Monitor Your Intake of Vitamins and Nutrients

I never paid much attention to my vitamin and nutrient intake at any point in my life until now. Realistically, that’s the way the majority of people are and I think I knew that the entire time. This is likely what led me to not care that much, and it’s what made me not care about any of my diet’s numbers. Calories, macronutrients, and more just never mattered much, since I always considered my diet to be “okay.”

To be honest, I don’t know if I knew much about my diet before. I think I would just look at my body and judge how I was doing. If I was still relatively thin, well, I couldn’t be too bad off, right?

The problem with that thinking is that I’m 6’4”, meaning it would take me a long, loooong time before I would see negative results on my body such as added fat. In reality, I had some pretty faulty thinking with my diet and the nutrients I took in on a daily basis.

However, since overhauling my diet and physical workout routine, I’ve started to see my body slim down while also noticing effects in my waking thoughts, ideas, and moods. These were all positive, and I attribute that to my plant-based diet.

When it comes to certain aspects of our health, it’s important to know what we’re putting in our bodies. For example, some people often think they’re destined to have osteoporosis or bad teeth/gums. That doesn’t have to be the case so long as you get the right nutrients and vitamins in your body.

In fact, you could have a relatively poor dental hygiene routine, but if do all the right things with your diet and make sure to get exactly it is your body needs, your teeth and gums may be far better off than the next person who brushes twice daily but has a bad diet. That’s how important diet is for the different aspects of your health, and it’s why we should all be taught to track what we eat and drink in order to spot deficiencies and bad habits before they actually cause harm.

I know that tracking your diet is incredibly tedious, but once you start to get it down, it’s not nearly as bad as you would think. All it takes is getting started, just like a new diet or a new workout program. The longer you put it off, though, the shorter your life could end up being.

Healthier Alternatives to Sugar

Sugar, as we all know, can be quite a bad thing if you don’t keep it in moderation. Too much sugar can lead to weight gain. Too much can be bad for your blood sugar levels. And too much can cause other complications in general.

Does this mean we should cut out all sugar? Of course not. It just means we need to be more conscious of these sorts of things and monitor our intake of sugar a lot more than we’re accustomed to. While it can be a pain to look at those things all the time and have to keep track of what you’re eating, the health benefits will pay off once you notice the excess sugar you’re taking in from certain foods. From there, it’s as simple as cutting them out of your diet.

Anyway, let’s look at a few alternatives to table sugar that you can start using that are natural and have lower calories than what you’re used to.

Honey

Everyone knows honey is as natural a sweetener as they come. Honey tends to be better because it’s natural, but it’s also a very solid sweetener that you can use in hot drinks in the morning. Make sure not to overload your drink with honey, though. It’s still a bit higher in sugar content than you’d realize.

Agave nectar

Ahhh, one of my favorites. Agave nectar can be used if you’re vegan and don’t want to use animal byproducts. It may have a few more calories than table sugar, but it’s glycemic index is a lot better off than granulated sugar. You can use this in tea, you can use it in baking, and you can use it in your margaritas! (Fun fact: Did you know that agave nectar is used in margaritas for au natural margs? It compliments tequila quite well because, you know, they’re both from the same plant!)

Maple syrup

Last but not least, we have maple syrup. This is a very common substitute for sugar when baking sweet treats. Try not to get hung up on the notion that syrup is only used for pancakes and waffles. Instead, give it a try yourself and you’ll understand why it’s so often used in baking! In a pinch, it can be used in your hot drinks as well, though I’d recommend sticking to the above two items for that instead. Still, it’s another natural option to table sugar when you need it for various reasons.