If you feel like eating healthy is just too boring, too time-consuming, and too expensive, think again. You don’t have to only eat brown rice, tilapia, and broccoli for every meal to have a healthy diet. Eating healthy is all about eating a wide variety of fresh, whole foods. Whole foods can be just as convenient and so much more delicious than your go-to frozen pizza.
If you find it hard to eat healthy foods, start with these five simple healthy eating tips to jump start your healthy diet!
Eat colorfully
Did you know that different color foods have different nutrients? Eating a rainbow of different colored foods will help you to get all the vitamins and minerals essential to the body!
Red colored foods contain lycopene, which may reduce risk of prostate cancer. Lycopene is abundant in tomatoes, papaya, and watermelon. Green foods like kale, spinach, collard greens, lettuce, brussels sprouts, and broccoli contain Vitamin K. Vitamin K plays a key role in helping the blood clot. Purple foods contain anthocyanins which benefit brain health, lower inflammation, and fight cancer and heart disease. Foods high is anthocyanins include concord grapes, eggplant, plums, purple asparagus, and purple cauliflower.
Choose whole foods instead of processed
Processed foods are foods that typically come in a box or bag and contain more than one item on the list of ingredients. Processed foods contain high amounts of salt, sugar, and fat that are added to make their shelf-life longer. Often, that high salt, sugar, and fat content is highly addictive and usually void of essential nutrients.
Whole foods are superior in nutrition and in satiety—meaning that whole foods will nourish your body and help you feel fuller than processed foods. Instead of packaged microwave meals, use real vegetables, grains, and meats to create your own meals!
Keep healthy food readily available
When you’re hungry you’ll grab anything that’s in sight. If you have packaged, processed foods on hand, you’ll grab those when you need a little pick-me-up. Instead of keeping cookies and chips, keep fresh fruit and vegetables to snack on.
Make a point to find things that you love and keep them on hand. It might take a little more preparation, but it will be so worth it. For example, if you love to snack on fresh blueberries, go to the store each week and make sure you have a stock for the week.
Shop the perimeter
Stick to the perimeter of the grocery store while you’re out shopping! Most unhealthy, processed foods are found in the aisles. The perimeter of the store houses all the fresh, whole foods like produce, meat, and dairy. Steer clear of the candy, chip, cracker, and frozen food aisles!
Where possible, stock up on whole grains, nuts, and seeds from the bulk barrels at your local grocery store! Put them in big airtight containers and keep them in your pantry so you always have them on hand. You’ll spend less money, get a good supply of pantry staples. That way, when you go grocery shopping, you can focus on grabbing perishable items and stick to the perimeter!
Drink water instead of soda
Nearly half of American adults drink soda every single day. Those who drink soda every day consume 2.6 glasses on average! Soda is one of the worst things that you can put in your body. Aside from being full of sugar and empty calories, soda is also addictive! Swap your soda with lunch to a glass of still or sparkling water.
Drinking enough water can also stop you from overeating. Before each meal, drink a big glass of water. It will help you to feel fuller quicker!
Conclusion
Healthy eating doesn’t have to be hard! Try out these five simple healthy eating tips to kick-start your healthy eating habits!