While the New Year is well passed, there is no time like the present to make a New Year’s resolution. Most of the time people will make resolutions to hit the gym more often or stick to their diet, but often fail due to the unknown. If you’re going to create a goal, you’ll more than likely want to complete it, right? Wrong. You’ll complete your goal if you’ve got all the facts. Here are the top 10 tips to eating healthier without overthinking! Check them out below!
Decide Why You Want To Be Healthier
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This may seem like a silly tip, but in reality, you’ll understand why when you’re in the midst of the change. Changing your diet isn’t just to eat healthy. You could have other reasons, like wanting to get in better shape– To lose weight. Or maybe you want to eat healthier for the sole reason of declining health. Defining why you want to be healthier is just the start.
This really give you a great starting point. A great goal setter, a way to set the end goal of why you’re making this great change to eat healthier.
Cut Out Processed Foods
Image source: http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/what-are-processed-foods.aspx
If you can’t grow it, nurture it yourself (hypothetically, not literally), don’t eat it. While you’re not going to go out and buy a cow, some chickens, and grow a garden, you should not eat foods with ingredients that you cannot pronounce.
Cutting out processed foods means that you’re cutting out the store bought frozen meals, the preservatives, and chemicals that may be harmful to you and your body. Processed foods aren’t the best for you or your body so try cutting them out all together.
Clean Out Your Cabinets
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While it isn’t totally necessary, cleaning out your cabinets may help you figure out what you need, don’t need, and what you could actually throw out all together. Take an inventory of what you can use in your new meal routine.
Cleaning out your cabinets also means cleaning out your fridge too. Take out all the foods that may be processed, the foods that are processed could not only slow down your metabolism but cause weight gain.
Cleaning out your cabinets also gives you the opportunity to really make a list of things you might need to start eating healthier. The items that you clean out of your cabinets can be great for donation centers or homeless shelters. So the food isn’t going to waste!
Use the Hand Trick
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If you’re in a pinch at the grocery store or if you’re out for an occasional night out, use the hand trick to portion size. The measurements are as follows:
Fist = 1/2 cup, palm = 3 oz. meat, fingertip = teaspoon, thumb = tablespoon.
If you’ve already began eating healthier and want to take a crack at portion sizes. Your hand is the perfect way to portion size in a pinch.
Stop Eating Out
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While eating out every once in a while is ok, it isn’t something that you should all the time. You know how to prepare your food with moderation while going out, portion sizes will be wrong for every ingredient. Staying in to eat allows you to know exactly what you’re putting into your body.
Eating out also costs more money than it’s worth at times. So eating out will save you the carbs and the cash!
Have Variety
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When eating, meal planning, and prepping make sure that you’ve got a variety of foods for each meal. It’s best to have a protein, a carb, and a fat at each meal. An example of a great meal is salmon, brown buttered noodles, with a side of broccoli.
Try to meal prep to make bulk veggies and starches. This will save you time when you’re making dinner because then, you only have to make your meat for your dinner. Making enough veggie and starch for the week is a great way to also stay on schedule with your meal plan of eating healthier.
Cut Out Alcohol
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While this isn’t necessarily a large portion of your edible consumption, alcohol can cause you to have an unhealthy habit. When alcohol is digested, it converts to sugar, giving your body a sugar overload. Alcohol causes bloating and weight gain. If you’re goal is to eat healthier to lose weight, more than likely you won’t succeed with consuming alcohol on a daily basis.
Pack Your Lunch
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If you’re afraid that work will be your downfall, when the option to just run to your fridge won’t be there, pack your lunch. This gives you total control of what you’re eating. The great thing about this? You can eat it whenever you feel like it. You don’t have to wait for a designated time to go out and get your lunch. You can run to the break room and grab your lunch and eat quickly.
Use a Smaller Plate
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Trick your mind. A smaller plate will get fuller quicker tricking your brain into thinking that there is more food. While you’ll have less food on your plate, you will feel more full seeing that your plate is empty. It is also more satisfying knowing that you can “eat more” all the while eating less.
Don’t Count Calories, Count Ingredients
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Counting calories is tricky and can be confusing so instead, count ingredients. The less ingredients in the meal, the healthier it is. While you should still be aware of the calories that you’re consuming, it isn’t something you have to be too concerned about, but the lesser amount of ingredients the better.
Eating healthier does not have to be a chore. Sure, you will have some life altering changes that will occur with eating healthier, but more than likely it’s possible. Don’t worry yourself with the outcome so much as the changes. While the outcome is what makes the process worth it, you won’t get there without the changes. Tell us your journey! How you started eating healthier and what changes you made. We would love to hear from you!
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