Conquer Eating Healthy
One of the biggest struggles I always hear from my clients is that eating healthy is too expensive, too time consuming, and too overwhelming. It’s not true! Eating healthier doesn’t have to be hard, stressful, expensive, or inconvenient. It also doesn’t have to happen overnight — so don’t start clearing out your pantry and fridge just yet.
If you want to make lasting, sustainable changes to how you eat, those changes are more likely to stick if you start slow, and just try to add one or two healthy habits at a time. Once they become part of your regular routine, add one or two more the following week or month.
To help you get started, I’m giving you some of my favorite tips:
1. Learn what a serving of each type of food looks like
Since the 1950s, food portions and tableware have been increasing in size. Research reveals that people tend to consume more food and drink when served larger-sized portions and packages, and when using larger plates or bowls. It’s even easier to have that temptation when it’s only 10c more to “supersize me.” Researchers from the University of Cambridge and University of Oxford suggest eliminating larger portions could reduce average daily caloric consumption by 22 to 29 percent in U.S. adults.
2. Start by adding a serving of vegetables to at least one meal every day
Did you know that you should be eating at least 2.5C of veggies per day? Veggies provide so many valuable vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients, and when you start adding high-fiber veggies, it tends to crowd out some of the junk food because you’re just too full to fit any more. If you don’t like veggies, don’t worry - the key to liking veggies is cooking them in a way that makes you want to eat them! Try roasting them, making a veggie soup, or a nice hearty chili.
3. Make breakfast ahead of time
Yes, mornings are hectic for everyone which makes it super tempting to turn to processed cereal, frozen waffles, granola or breakfast bars that are loaded with sugar and additives. If you can plan out a little bit of time on your weekend or even the night before, you can create a nutritious and delicious breakfast that you can still grab on your way out of the door. Look up some recipes (or check out my social media accounts!) for overnight oats or egg cups to get started! Batch cooking will greatly decrease your meal prep time.
4. Drink more water
When you’re well-hydrated, you may notice a difference in how you feel, look, and perform.
But that doesn’t mean you have to start carrying a gallon-sized jug of water everywhere you go. Start by drinking a glass of water for every non-water beverage you consume. If you don’t like plain water, add some sliced lemons, cucumber or even fresh mint. But it’s not all about drinking water: You can also eat fluid-rich fruits and veggies such as celery, lettuce, bell peppers, watermelon, pineapples, and oranges to up your daily water content.
5. Snack smart
Snacks can be a part of an overall healthy diet — you just have to make sure you’re choosing snacks that will fill you up, not out. An ideal healthy snack is one that contains fiber, protein and fat that will help you feel satisfied without the crash between meals.
Try implementing one or two of these tips this week and see how you feel. If you’re doing well, try adding another one. Keep going until these new habits change your old pattern of eating - but remember, it takes time! When you’re ready to take your process even further, let me know and we can have a free discovery call to determine your personalized best next steps.