Healthy eating is not about strict dietary limitations, staying unrealistically thin, or depriving yourself of the foods you love. Rather, it’s about feeling great, having more energy, improving your outlook, and stabilizing your mood. Here are some tips for achieving that goal:
• Set yourself up for success: Make your own food, drink a lot of water and make sure to read the label.
• Moderation is the key: eat smaller portions, take your time and try not to think of certain foods as off limits.
• Fill up on colorful fruits and veggies: try to double the amount of greens, sweet vegetables and fruits that you consume everyday.
• Eat more healthy carbs and whole grains: these include gains, beans, fruits and vegetables. Try including whole grains in your diet and you can start doing that by mixing whole grains with your favorite grains.
• Enjoy healthy fats and avoid unhealthy fats: you should try to include natural oils like olive oil, avocado and omega-3 and omega-6 in your diet and cut back on saturated and trans fats.
• Reduce sugar and salts: start this process slowly, avoid processed or packaged foods and be careful when eating out. Also try some sparkling water and juice instead of sugary drinks.
• Add calcium for bone health: as you might be eating less food when on a diet, try having more dairy products and beans to ensure your bone health.
• Put protein in perspective: protein supplies the energy for our day-to-day life so it is hard and risky to reduce our protein consumption. However we can choose to have healthier proteins like fish, chicken and beans to help our body stay healthy.