How to Kickstart a Healthy Diet

You’ve finally decided to make your health a priority and want to make some serious changes in your diet. First off, congrats for jumping on the health train! You’ll find that eating healthy doesn’t have to be hard or require you to give up any of the foods you love. It’s all about making smart choices that essentially lead to a balanced and healthy dieting pattern.

These are some of my favorite tips for maintaining a clean and balanced diet.

ADD:

• fruits and vegetables
• whole grains
• beans and legumes
• nuts and seeds
• lean protein: chicken breast, lean beef, turkey, salmon, tuna
• low fat/fat free dairy

Tip: When including these goodies to your meals choose the foods that best appeal to your taste buds. You don’t need to chow down spinach if it makes you want to puke. Instead opt for something you enjoy.

LIMIT:

• sweets and added sugars
• sodium
• saturated and trans fat
• fatty and processed meat

Tip: You don’t have to completely eliminate these out of your diet but limiting them will keep you on a  balanced clean diet it won’t have any effect on your health in the long run.

AVOID:

• trans fat and partially hydrogenated oils

Tip:  Trans fats are created in an industrial process that adds hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid. The primary dietary source for trans fats in processed food is partially hydrogenated oils. Look for them on the ingredient list on food packages.

TIPS

1. Choose mindfully: Select foods that humans had access to throughout evolution and limit processed, unnatural foods with artificial chemicals.
2. Read labels: compare nutrition information on label packages.
3. Watch your calories: to maintain a healthy weight, eat only as many calories as you use up through physical activity. If you want to lose weight, take in fewer calories or burn more calories.
4. Eat reasonable portions: large food portions expand your belly. Try eating smaller portions 5-6 times a day.
5. Cook and eat at home: you have more control over ingredients and food preparation.