Switching to a wholesome diet is a daunting prospect for many people, but it doesn’t have to be. Over the years I have found that the best way to improve your diet is by not dieting. A lot of the time diets set you up for failure so this is why I always recommend changing to a healthy lifestyle rather than just trying out the latest diet trend. Try out my healthy diet tips so that you can stay on track with your health goals.
The good news is that changing your lifestyle doesn’t have to be a difficult transition. There are many small and simple ways that you can make changes that will make it easy to stick to the goals that you have set for yourself. Here are three simple tricks for those of you who want to start on your path to healthy living.
Prepare your own meals
Eating take away food is the quickest way to destroy any hope of living a healthy life. Cooking more meals at home can help you take charge of what you’re eating and help you to better monitor what you are putting into your body. For instance, if you know you are low on certain vitamins you can choose ingredients that are packed full of those specific nutrients. Preparing your own food also allows you cut down on fats and sugars, and allows you to create balanced meals. When you are eating the correct amounts of the good stuff that you need, your body feels satisfied and has fewer cravings. This in turn prevents late-night snacking and eating too much.
Even though it sounds counter-intuitive, cooking at home can actually save you a whole lot of time. Think about it – in the time it takes to drive to a restaurant, place your order, wait for your order, return home and serve the meal, you could have made an easy and nutritious meal. So for those of us (like myself) that have hectic schedules, home cooking can actually be the solution. If you’re crazy busy like I often am, try my Peanut, Snap Pea and Chicken Stir Fry recipe – it only takes 10 minutes to make!
Know your pre-packaged foods and read your labels.
I know that when you are making a big move towards healthy living it’s tempting to throw all processed food out of the window, but the reality is that you’ll probably struggle to avoid processed food entirely. Rather than chuck them out altogether, learn how to identify the healthier processed foods and make smart choices when you are doing your grocery shopping.
The first step is to always read the labels. It’s absolutely critical to be aware of what’s in your food. Often there are large amounts of sugar or unhealthy fats hidden away in packaged food – even food that claims to be healthy. Most convenience food needs a great deal of processing, which destroys many of the natural vitamins and other nutrients. On top of that, it’s often heavy on added preservatives and other chemicals to stop it spoiling quickly – just think about all the work your body has to do to get rid of all those toxins! A good technique is to try to focus on how you feel after eating certain foods. The healthier the food you eat, the better you’ll feel the next day, and the day after that…. and the day after that too.
Practice Moderation
Everything in moderation – we’ve all heard that one before, right? This is more than just a cliché, this is a very good habit to start practicing. This means eating only as much food as your body needs. You should feel satisfied at the end of a meal, but not stuffed. For many of us, moderation means eating less than we do now, but it doesn’t mean eliminating the foods you love. The occasional donut won’t harm you, but devouring a whole box of donuts in one sitting is definitely a healthy living disaster.
Try not to think of certain foods as taboo. It is a natural human reaction to want what we can’t have, so when we ban certain foods, it’s natural to want those things even more. Start by reducing portion sizes of unhealthy foods and not eating them as often. As you reduce your intake of unhealthy foods, you’ll also find yourself craving them less or thinking of them as only occasional indulgences. You can even trick your brain into thinking that you are eating larger portions by serving your meals on smaller plates or in bowls, and if you don’t feel satisfied at the end of a meal try adding more leafy greens or round off your meal with fruit.
I often write about healthy diet tips because I genuinely hope to help spread awareness around the amazing benefits that leading a healthy lifestyle can bring to you. As you can see here, the changes don’t even have to be drastic. Just a few simple changes help you to feel, look and live better.
