Healthy eating is a huge part of maintaining your body weight and living well. By being healthy you can have more energy, feel better, and possibly live a longer and richer life.
We all know that it doesn’t feel good to be sick, or tired, but being healthy goes far beyond getting a good night’s sleep and avoiding a common cold. One of the most important places to look at improving is your diet.
Many people consume more calories, prepackaged foods, and unhealthy fats than they may realize. While these foods may be easier to prepare and cut down on time spent in the kitchen, they also cut down your health by filling you up with unnecessary chemicals and fillers that provide almost no real nutrients.
Why Should I Eat Healthy?
Eating healthy is a way to give your body the proper nutrients and calories that it needs in order to sustain itself in a way that it’s meant to. When you eat filler items your body misses out on key nutrients that it needs in order to function and while you may not notice, it does take a toll on your overall health, a little at a time.
Many people find that when they start eating more healthy, their body begins to heal itself. Those with chronic pains, asthma, early diabetes or any number of issues begin to feel fewer symptoms or even correct an issue as a result of diet and lifestyle changes being made.
Another added benefit is that eating healthy can help you to melt the weight off your body as you try to meet your weight loss goals. By eating the proper amount of calories for your fitness level, and eating the right foods, you can have the energy to finish your workouts and your body can feel better about shedding some of the unwanted fat it’s been storing.
Unfortunately, a lot of people think that they can lose weight by simply not eating at all. While this might be true, it happens at extreme risk to your body. When you stop eating, your body starts to store the fats you take in because it doesn’t know when the next meal will be. It then begins to slowly shut down as it isn’t being fed properly. By eating healthy, you can lose weight without harming yourself.
How Can I Start Eating Healthy?
Following along with almost any weight loss or gym program and you’ll see one of the most stressed points is that weight loss happens in the kitchen. While losing weight may not be your health goal, the truth of this statement is that your health begins in the kitchen.
Many people take this to mean that they have to remove everything in their current diets and switch to a completely new diet in order to eat healthily, but when you take away a hot dog and replace it with a carrot, you can see how disappointing it may be.
It doesn't have to be! Start one day at a time and choose healthier options. Let me help you with this FREE Nutritional Challenge Printable.
Stay Motivated to Eat Healthy
Switching your diet completely may actually demotivate you and have you wanting to stop this new lifestyle before ever seeing any of the benefits. You can make the change much more gradually and do it in a way that doesn’t leave you feeling blue.
By cutting down on the processed foods and adding in more whole foods, you’re already doing a huge part of the work. Simple food substitutions can easily replace your family’s favorite boxed meals and copycat recipes can replace the fast-food line and deliveries.
For example, remove the box of Hamburger Helper and make your own meat and pasta dish. By doing this you cut down on a ton of sodium and can name every ingredient in the dish. You can take it one step further and switch the pasta for a healthier variety.
Instead of calling for a pizza to be delivered, you can turn pizza night into a fun event for the whole family. Make your own crusts, and have everyone decorate a personal-sized pizza with pre-cut healthy topping options like ham, pineapple, bell peppers, mushrooms or onions.
Eating Healthy can be Easy
Healthy eating doesn’t have to be a chore, and you don’t have to do it alone. It also doesn’t have to be an all or nothing experience. Your entire family can join in on the fun, get healthy together and spend more time together with these simple substitutions to your current diet.
As you adjust to these changes and develop an appreciation for healthy eating, you may begin making more gradual changes to your diet to make it even more healthy. You may not even miss the “old foods” in your diet!
What Snacks Are Healthy?
Eating whole foods as snacks is a great way to keep yourself full between meals without ruining your diet. While it can be easy to open a package of Oreos, grabbing a cheese stick can be just as filling, without all of the unnecessary fats and sugars.
Other healthy snack options can include:
- Whole-grain crackers
- Orange slices
- Apples- eat with a yogurt dip or peanut butter for more protein
- Yogurt parfait with berries and granola
- Fresh grapes
- Bananas
- Carrot sticks and celery
- Boiled eggs
Tips for Staying Healthy
While I listed some great healthy eating options above, there is still so much that you can do to live a healthy life.
Stay Hydrated
Drinking water is the best thing you can do for your body because it’s mostly made up of water. The average person should be consuming about 8 glasses a day, but many of us don’t do that.
By drinking an adequate amount of water you can help your weight loss goals, remain healthy, avoid headaches and fatigue as well as have your skin looking great.
Water affects so much more than you may realize, and by staying hydrated, you can also avoid feeling thirsty.
Cut Down on the Salt Intake
You’d be surprised at how much salt goes into different foods. A single box of Hamburger Helper can easily contain a day’s limit. Canned vegetables are no different, the amount of added salts in some canned veggies are pretty high as well.
I highly recommend reading and comparing labels on foods to make sure that you select the lower sodium options. This is a very simple thing that can make a big difference in your health.
Don’t Skip Breakfast
You’ve no doubt heard the phrase “breakfast is the most important meal of the day,” and it’s true! Not just because it helps to set your body up with a full stomach and give you a boost of energy to start your day, but it also helps your metabolism.
When you wake up and eat breakfast, you wake up your body’s metabolism as well. From then on, it’s working hard to use your fats and convert them to energy. This is also a great way to lose the extra fats, so if you’re looking to lose weight- don’t skip breakfast!
Be Active
Being active can help you use up the calories your intaking while helping your body to grow in strength. Not only that, but research shows that maintaining an active lifestyle can make you happier as the chemicals in your brain release endorphins that make you feel good.
Feeling good can lead to higher self-esteem and the desire to continue being healthy. Being active is something that helps you in so many ways that it is definitely a great tip for being healthy
Avoiding Some Sugars
Avoiding all sugars is impossible because it’s naturally created in many different foods such as apples. Obviously, apples are healthy, so why would you avoid one?
Make smart choices with your added sugars. Select the ones naturally found in foods and not the ones where it’s been added in- like children’s cereals. They might taste great, but they aren’t great for your body.
Reducing Saturated Fats
Saturated fats are found in many processed foods, and can be another thing that’s keeping you back from reaching your health goals. Finding foods with unsaturated fats is a much healthier option. Foods like avocados have these unsaturated fats, making them very good for you.
Eat Healthy Proteins
Proteins like fish, eggs, and beans are all great ways to meet your protein needs in addition to regular cuts of meats. Selecting a nice variety of proteins to add to your diet is a great way to keep from feeling like mealtimes are bland and boring. It’s the exciting dishes that keep you coming back for more.
Choose the Fibrous Options
Pasta is a huge part of many different dishes because it’s cheap and filling. In fact, if you’re feeding a family full of hungry kids, you may find that the pasta dishes are the ones that please the masses more so than others.
Instead of removing these dinner dishes from the table, swap the regular pasta for a more fibrous variety. By doing this you’re making it healthier, and all you did was swap one box for another! A simple effortless change like this can have you feeling the health benefits without sacrifice.
Healthy eating is a lifestyle change worth making. Healthy eating begins at home and with small changes you can make a large difference. Differences that affect your brain, body, self-esteem, family, and lifestyle.
There is more to being healthy
- Drinking Water for better Health
- Healthy Habits to Exercise
- Portion Foods
- Mindfulness Being Purposely Present
Devour Dinner does not make any claims or guarantees for health or a healthy lifestyle. Nor will Devour Dinner be held accountable for the choices of those who wish to participate. Always consult a physician before starting any exercise routine or change of diet. Please consult a dietitian for dietary needs.
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