“Healthy eating” can be a pretty loaded term.
It’s packed with so many different (and often contradictory) ideas, making it challenging to know what kind of diet is really the best. And as with many other things, setting unrealistic food goals can lead to a feeling of failure and then reversion to poor eating habits. Trying to be too strict about food intake or following an unsustainable, trendy diet can often cause more problems than it solves.
So what are some reasonable steps to take if you want to move toward healthier eating in 2021? Here are two of my best tips:
Choose Whole Foods
A straightforward way to improve your overall eating choices is to opt for whole foods over processed foods whenever possible.
Instead of frozen meals, crackers, chips, candy, deli meats, fast food, and other highly processed items, choose foods like fresh fruit, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains more often. They are full of essential nutrients, fibre, healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals. Processed foods, on the other hand, tend to have high levels of things we don’t want: Saturated fat, sodium, and empty calories.
Here are some easy ways to eat more whole foods:
- Ensure that you’re eating fresh vegetables and/or fruit at each meal.
- Read ingredient labels when you’re shopping.
- Stick to the outer ring of the grocery store as much as possible; a lot of the processed food is located in the middle aisles.
- Cook at home more often.
Make It Convenient
Another great way to keep yourself on track with eating more healthy foods is to make it more convenient!
Both at home and on the go, having easy access to healthy snacks and meal components can help you stay on track and avoid the temptation of quick but nutritionally poor choices.
When you get hungry away from home you can end up eating whatever is available, and often that’s processed food that doesn’t satisfy hunger and is full of sugar, saturated fat, salt, and refined carbs.
Keeping some portable, healthy snacks on hand means you are more likely to make a sensible choice. Easy options are unsalted nuts and whole fruits. If you can take a small cooler or lunch bag with ice packs, add in some cut-up raw vegetables, hard-boiled eggs, or low-sugar Greek yogurt.
The temptation to choose quick but unhealthy foods is also present at home! Stocking your fridge and pantry with easy, healthy options can help keep you on track. Doing some prep ahead of time makes these foods easy to eat as snacks and easy to use as the basis for healthy meals.
Here are some good choices:
- Low-sugar yogurt
- Whole fruits (such as apples, bananas, pears, peaches, grapes, plums, oranges, berries, and watermelon)
- Cut up fruits or fruit salad
- Prepared raw vegetables (such as carrots, celery, peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, snow peas, grape tomatoes, and radishes)
- Vegetable salads
- Bean salads
- Unsalted nuts
- Oatmeal
- Roasted vegetables
- Broth soups with vegetables and beans
- Homemade protein snacks
- Nut butters
- Hummus
- Homemade, unsweetened fruit popsicles
Another top recommendation for convenience and balanced nutrition is doTERRA’s brand new line of protein products. The Chocolate, Vanilla, and Vegan Protein options are quick and easy to use — and sugar-free! You can learn more here:
Chocolate: https://www.doterra.com/US/en/p/chocolate-protein?OwnerID=2561037
Vanilla: https://www.doterra.com/US/en/p/vanilla-protein?OwnerID=2561037
Vegan: https://www.doterra.com/US/en/p/vegan-protein?OwnerID=2561037
We all lead busy lives, and convenience can often win out over health when we’re pressed for time. Set yourself (and your family!) up for better food choices by keeping easy, healthy options on hand.
And keep in mind: No one should be aiming for perfection because there is no “perfect” diet! Making healthier choices more often than not, and aiming for incremental change, will lead to better health.
