Top Tips for a Healthy Diet
If you are seeking some easy to implement tips for a healthy diet you may want to scroll down.
Healthy eating is not just about strict nutrition philosophies, staying unrealistically thin, or depriving yourself of the foods you love.
Rather, a healthy diet is about having more energy, feeling great, stabilising your mood, and keeping yourself as healthy AND happy as possible.
Eating healthy shouldn’t have to be extremely restrictive if you’re not chasing a certain goal, moreover, your diet should include healthy nutritious food that will make you feel better from the inside out and aids your workout recovery.
Whilst prepping for my first bodybuilding competition, my diet was very restrictive which sent me a bit crazy at times, yet I achieved my goals and was totally over the moon with the outcome.
I learnt that hard work and dedication pays off yet to live a healthy and well balanced life you can implement some simple strategies to work towards healthy from the inside out.
Below are my top tips for a healthy diet that you can easily implement.
1. Eat A Variety of Nutrient-rich Foods
You need more than 40 different nutrients for good health, and no single food supplies them all.
Your daily food selection should include bread and other whole-grain products; fruits; vegetables; dairy products; and meat, poultry, fish and other protein foods.
How much you should eat depends on your calorie needs.
2. Eat Moderate Portions
If you keep portion sizes reasonable, it’s easier to eat the foods you want and stay healthy.
I love eating 4-6 small meals during the day instead of 2 or 3 larger meals which make me feel too full and sleepy.
3. Eat Regular Meals
Skipping meals can lead to out-of-control hunger, often resulting in overeating. When you’re very hungry, it’s also tempting to forget about good nutrition.
Snacking between meals can help curb hunger, but don’t eat so much that your snack becomes an entire meal.
4. Reduce, Don’t Eliminate Certain Foods
Most people eat for pleasure as well as nutrition. If your favourite foods are high in fat, salt or sugar, the key is moderating how much of these foods you eat and how often you eat them. Identify major sources of these ingredients in your diet and make changes, if necessary.
Adults who eat high-fat meats or whole-milk dairy products at every meal are probably eating too much fat. Use the Nutrition Facts panel on the food label to help balance your choices.
Choosing skim or low-fat dairy products and lean cuts of meat such as flank steak and beef round can reduce fat intake significantly. If you love fried chicken, however, you don’t have to give it up. Just eat it less often. When dining out, share it with a friend, ask for a take-home bag or a smaller portion.
5. Balance your food choices over time
Not every food has to be “perfect.” When eating a food high in fat, salt or sugar, select other foods that are low in these ingredients.
If you miss out on any food group one day, make up for it the next. Your food choices over several days should fit together into a healthy pattern.
6. Know your diet pitfalls
To improve your eating habits, you first have to know what’s wrong with them. Write down everything you eat for three days.
Then check your list according to the rest of these tips. Do you add a lot of butter, creamy sauces or salad dressings?
Rather than eliminating these foods, just cut back your portions. Are you getting enough fruits and vegetables? If not, you may be missing out on vital nutrients.
7. Make Changes Gradually
Just as there are no “superfoods” or easy answers to a healthy diet, don’t expect to totally revamp your eating habits overnight.
Changing too much, too fast can get in the way of success. Begin to remedy excesses or deficiencies with modest changes that can add up to positive, lifelong eating habits. For instance, if you don’t like the taste of skim milk, try low-fat. Eventually you may find you like skim, too.
8. Remember, Foods Are Not Good Or Bad
Select foods based on your total eating patterns, not whether any individual food is “good” or “bad.” Don’t feel guilty if you love foods such as apple pie, potato chips, candy bars or ice cream. Eat them in moderation, and choose other foods to provide the balance and variety that are vital to good health.
I’d love to hear from you, what’s your best strategy for a healthy diet?
Follow me: @AmazonWarriorAU
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