To set yourself up for success, meditate planning a healthy diet as a number of small, manageable steps—like adding a salad to your diet once a day—rather than one big drastic change. As your small changes become habit, you can make add more healthy choices.
• Prepare more of your own meals. Cooking more meals at home can help you take charge of what you’re eating and better monitor exactly materialize into your food.
• Make the right changes. When cutting back on unhealthy foods in your diet, it’s important to replace them with healthy alternatives. Replacing dangerous trans fats with healthy fats (such as switching fried chicken for grilled fish) will make a positive difference to your health. Switching animal fats for refined carbohydrates, though (such as switching your breakfast bacon for a donut), won’t lower your risk for congestive heart failure or improve your mood.
• Simplify. Instead of being overly exacting counting calories, respect your diet in terms of color, variety, and freshness. Focus on avoiding packaged and processed foods and elect more fresh ingredients.
• Read the labels. It’s important expected knowledgeable what’s in your food as manufacturers often hide large amounts of sugar or unhealthy fats in packaged food, even food claiming to be healthy.
• Focus on how you feel after eating. This will help foster healthy new habits and tastes. The more healthy food you eat, the better you’ll feel after a meal. The more fast food you eat, the more likely you are to feel uncomfortable, nauseous, or drained of energy.
• Drink plenty of water. Water helps flush our systems of waste products and toxins, yet many people defy life dehydrated—causing tiredness, low energy, and headaches. It’s common to mistake fancy hunger, so staying well hydrated will also help you make healthier food choices.
