or depriving yourself of the foods
you love. Rather, it’s about feeling great, having more energy, stabilizing
your mood, and keeping yourself as healthy as possible—all of which can be
achieved by learning some nutrition basics and using them in a way that works
for you. You can expand your range of healthy food choices and learn how to
plan ahead to create and maintain a tasty, healthy diet.
Healthy
eating tip 1: Set yourself up for success
To set yourself up for success, think
about planning a healthy diet as a number of small, manageable steps rather
than one big drastic change. If you approach the changes gradually and with
commitment, you will have a healthy diet sooner than you think.
§ Simplify. Instead
of being overly concerned with counting calories or measuring portion sizes,
think of your diet in terms of color, variety, and freshness. This way it
should be easier to make healthy choices. Focus on finding foods you love and
easy recipes that incorporate a few fresh ingredients. Gradually, your diet
will become healthier and more delicious.
§ Start
slow and make changes to your
eating habits over time. Trying to make your diet
healthy overnight isn’t realistic or smart. Changing everything at once usually leads to cheating or giving up on your new eating plan. Make small steps, like adding a salad (full of different color vegetables) to your diet once a day or switching from butter to olive oil when cooking. As your small changes become habit, you can continue to add more healthy choices to your diet.
healthy overnight isn’t realistic or smart. Changing everything at once usually leads to cheating or giving up on your new eating plan. Make small steps, like adding a salad (full of different color vegetables) to your diet once a day or switching from butter to olive oil when cooking. As your small changes become habit, you can continue to add more healthy choices to your diet.
§ Every
change you make to improve your diet matters. You don’t have to be
perfect and you don’t have to completely eliminate foods you enjoy to have a
healthy diet. The long term goal is to feel good, have more energy, and reduce
the risk of cancer and disease. Don’t let your missteps derail you—every
healthy food choice you make counts.
Think of water and exercise as food groups in your diet.
Water. Water helps flush our systems of waste products and toxins, yet
many people go through life dehydrated—causing tiredness, low energy, and
headaches. It’s common to mistake thirst for hunger, so staying well hydrated
will also help you make healthier food choices.
Exercise. Find something active
that you like to do and add it to your day, just like you would add healthy
greens, blueberries, or salmon. The benefits of lifelong exercise are abundant
and regular exercise may even motivate you to make healthy food choices a
habit.
People often think of healthy eating as
an all or nothing proposition, but a key foundation for any healthy diet is moderation.
But what is moderation? How much is a moderate amount? That really depends on
you and your overall eating habits. The goal of healthy eating is to develop a
diet that you can maintain for life, not just a few weeks or months, or until
you've hit your ideal weight. So try to think of moderation in terms of
balance. Despite what certain fad diets would have you believe, we all need a
balance of carbohydrates, protein, fat, fiber, vitamins, and minerals to
sustain a healthy body.
For most of us, moderation or balance
means eating less than we do now. More specifically, it means eating far less
of the unhealthy stuff (refined sugar, saturated fat, for example) and more of
the healthy (such as fresh fruit and vegetables). But it doesn't mean eliminating
the foods you love. Eating bacon for breakfast once a week, for example, could
be considered moderation if you follow it with a healthy lunch and dinner—but
not if you follow it with a box of donuts and a sausage pizza. If you eat 100
calories of chocolate one afternoon, balance it out by deducting 100 calories
from your evening meal. If you're still hungry, fill up with an extra serving
of fresh vegetables.
§ Try
not to think of certain foods as “off-limits.” When
you ban certain foods or food groups, it is natural to want those foods more,
and then feel like a failure if you give in to temptation. If you are drawn
towards sweet, salty, or unhealthy foods, start by reducing portion sizes and
not eating them as often. Later you may find yourself craving them less or
thinking of them as only occasional indulgences.
§ Think
smaller portions. Serving sizes have
ballooned recently, particularly in restaurants. When dining out, choose a
starter instead of an entree, split a dish with a friend, and don't order supersized
anything. At home, use smaller plates, think about serving sizes in realistic
terms, and start small. If you don't feel satisfied at the end of a meal, try
adding more leafy green vegetables or rounding off the meal with fresh fruit.
Visual cues can help with portion sizes–your serving of meat, fish, or chicken
should be the size of a deck of cards, a slice of bread should be the size of a
CD case, and half a cup of mashed potato, rice, or pasta is about the size of a
traditional light bulb.
Healthy eating is about more than the
food on your plate—it is also about how you think about
food. Healthy eating habits can be learned and it is important to slow down and
think about food as nourishment rather than just something to gulp down in
between meetings or on the way to pick up the kids.
§ Eat
with others whenever possible. Eating
with other people has numerous social and emotional benefits—particularly for
children—and allows you to model healthy eating habits. Eating in front of the
TV or computer often leads to mindless overeating.
§ Take
time to chew your food and enjoy mealtimes. Chew your food
slowly, savoring every bite. We tend to rush though our meals, forgetting to
actually taste the flavors and feel the textures of our food. Reconnect with
the joy of eating.
§ Listen
to your body. Ask yourself if you are really hungry,
or have a glass of water to see if you are thirsty instead of hungry. During a
meal, stop eating before you feel full. It actually takes a few minutes for
your brain to tell your body that it has had enough food, so eat slowly.
§ Eat
breakfast, and eat smaller meals throughout the day. A
healthy breakfast can jump start your metabolism, and eating small, healthy
meals throughout the day (rather than the standard three large meals) keeps
your energy up and your metabolism going.
Avoid eating at
night. Try to eat dinner earlier in the day and then
fast for 14-16 hours until breakfast the next morning. Early studies suggest that
this simple dietary adjustment—eating only when you’re most active and giving your digestive system a long break each day—may help to regulate weight. After-dinner snacks tend to be high in fat and calories so are best avoided,
check out for the next series.
Authors: Maya W. Paul, Melinda Smith, M.A. and Jeanne Segal Ph. D.
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