5 tips to make a switch to healthier eating habits
Things like “I don’t have time to eat healthier,” “A healthy lifestyle is too restrictive,” and “I’m too broke to make the right food choices” are commonplace, and you may have even uttered them yourself at some point. All these beliefs arose mostly from the marketing and advertising of processed and fast food as a timesaving and low-cost solution, ignorance of what foods are healthy and unhealthy, and even societal influence.
This post will provide you with affordable, simple-to-follow advice on how to improve the way you eat and demonstrate how even tiny adjustments may have a significant impact.
1- Reflect on your current eating habits
Determine what you are doing incorrectly before making any modifications. What aspects of your eating habits would you like to change, such as which food groups you would like to include more in your meals or a meal you skip that you would like to reintroduce in your diet? This will enable you to pinpoint the precise areas of your diet that need improvement.
2- Organize cooking time during the week
Choose any day of the week where you have some free time to dedicate to your meal’s preparation (this can be a Sunday for example), decide what you want to eat this week, make grocery shopping list, then you have these techniques that you can follow to cook in the most effective way for the week:
- Batch cooking: cook large quantities of rice, pasta, quinoa, roasted vegetables, backed chicken……
- Prepare your ingredients for coming days: wash and pre-cut vegetables, meat and separate them into different portions in storage boxes.
- Prepare your sauces and dressings: salade dressing, sauce for rice or pasta, garlic sauce… to accompany your meals.
3- Make gradual changes
If you have multiple issues in the way you eat, let’s say for example: you don’t eat enough protein and you skip breakfast. First, try to have breakfast every day. Once you grow accustomed to these new routines and they start to flow naturally, try moving on to another objective. If you make drastic changes, your body will tell you with extreme desires and you won’t be able to maintain it long-term.
4- Have snacks with you
When we are hungry in between meals, we typically reach for easy-to-get things like chocolate, chips, pastries, sweets, or fast food. To prevent this, try eating healthy easy to get snacks like:
- Whole-grain crackers with cheese,
- Nuts and seeds.
- Fresh fruits
- Tuna sandwich or some delicious homemade
- Homemade energy balls,
- Smoothies
- Whole grain energy bars,
- Vegetables sticks with hummus,
- Boiled eggs.
5- Choose a healthy cooking method!
We typically choose to fry because it’s a quick and simple method of cooking, however, it’s not the best cooking technique (big amount of fat absorbed by the food). Instead, try air-frying, baking in the oven, pressure cooking, or sautéing.
Try these tips for a week or two and you will realize how it will be easier, more effective, and healthier from the first week of changes. You may use these suggestions to help you make the shift to a healthy diet, and over time, you can make more choices to create a diet that works for you and improves your quality of life.
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