How To Eat Healthy ~ 10 Easy Steps

I get a lot of questions about proper nutrition, eating right and finding a sustainable way to eat healthy. Often times people will start an exercise program under the impression that they need to eat only salads for the rest of their lives. That's not very fun OR sustainable, is it? Can you see yourself eating only greens for the rest of your life? Of course not. Eating this way is not only unnecessary but it's also unhealthy! You cannot succeed in a nutrition program that you completely ban foods (or whole food groups) from. You need to find a balance.

Throw out the word "diet" from your vocabulary. You will not be on a diet. This is a lifestyle. The word "diet" has such a negative connotation that referring to your nutritional approach as “dieting” is basically setting yourself up for failure.

Getting started on the path to eating right can be downright complicated. With all of the fad diets available and the foods in the grocery store that are labelled as “healthy”, I do not blame anyone for being confused about where to start. I admit that when I started my wellness journey, I made it all about calories in VS calories out. I figured if I was eating low enough calories, I’d lose weight. I would buy all of the low calories and low fat foods in the supermarket because I figured that “low calorie” and “low fat” meant that they were healthy. This is NOT the case at all.

 

Ninety-nine percent of the time, the foods that you see at the store with labels on them claiming they’re low calorie or low fat are chock full of chemicals. The chances are, when the producers of these food products take out the fat from the products, they’re putting in even more artificial flavourings and chemicals to make up for the fats they removed.

So, if the food industry is tricking us into eating chemicals by passing them off as “healthy” foods, what IS a person to eat? Here are some of my favourite healthy eating tips.

(1)  Start in the grocery store. The next time you go to the store, try to shop as much as you can in around the perimeter of the store. This is where most of the fresh, healthy finds are. Think about your local grocery store. What foods do you find on the perimeter of the store? Fresh meats, fruits, vegetables, dairy products right? Only go into the aisles of the store to find frozen healthy foods like meats, veggies and fruit and grains like brown rice.

(2)  Buy a reusable water bottle and refill it as the day goes on to keep you accountable for how much water you’re drinking. I have a 32 oz bottle that I refill 2-3x a day usually so I know that I’m drinking in the 64-96 oz range every day.

(3)  Watch what you top your salads with. Salads can be a delicious, healthy option in your lifestyle change but if you’re topping your salad with creamy dressings, cheese, bacon bits and other fatty options, you’re doing more harm than good. Play with different salad toppings and get creative. Try adding nuts like slivered almonds and cashews, different types of vegetables (peppers, mushrooms, celery, onion, broccoli, beets, sprouts, etc...the possibilities are literally endless) & add in some protein to make it more filling (chicken breast, hard-boiled egg slices, salmon, tuna).

(4)  Get creative with your meals. The great thing about living in the technology age is that we don’t have to shell out big bucks on cookbooks to find new recipes to add to our arsenal. A quick Google search of “healthy recipes” will bring up something like 220,000,000 results. The best thing about experimenting with recipes at home is that you know exactly what’s going into your meals. Some of my favourite recipe websites for healthy meals are:

         Spark Recipes

         Skinny Mom

         Eating Well
         Skinny Taste

         Eat Clean Diet

I like to go through these websites every Sunday and find new recipes to try every week. I make a meal plan on Sunday’s for the week’s dinners and while I find recipes online to try, I write out a grocery list that consists of only the ingredients I need for the recipes and meals I’ll be eating. This eliminates most impulse buys at the grocery store while also lowering the amount of food that goes bad before we get around to eating it because I’m only buying what we need and will eat.

(5)  I like to live by the 80/20 rule. If I am eating whole, nutritious foods 80% of the time, I can allow the other 20% some leniency. Do I sometimes eat 75/25? Of course. I'm only human. I'm not perfect. Do I beat myself up over a "bad" meal? Of course not. One bad meal isn't going to make me overweight again. Obsessing over that one bad meal is going to set me up for failure because I will beat myself up, think myself a failure as then end up putting MORE junk into my body.

(6)  Don’t deny yourself what you’re craving. If you’re craving a piece of pizza, have a piece of pizza. But try to limit the amount of treats you have every week. In our household, we have one cheat meal every week (usually Friday nights) and then we allow ourselves one other treat per week, usually in the form of Tim Horton’s iced cappuccinos or hot cappuccinos. BUT (you knew there was going to be a BUT), we only allow ourselves these cheat meals if we EARN it. That is, if we eat well every other day of the week and keep up with our exercise programs, we earn that one meal and one snack of foods/drinks that we wouldn’t usually eat.

(7)  Don’t use phrases like “I can’t eat that” when you’re referring to foods that aren’t necessarily healthy. Instead, putting a positive spin on your choices like saying “I don’t eat that” makes you feel more empowered and in charge of your choices.

(8)  Have a plan. This is SO important. Like I mentioned earlier, I always plan out our dinners on Sunday nights. That way I know what we’re having for dinner every night of the week. We also do our grocery shopping on Sunday’s so we have all the ingredients necessary for all of our meals that I’ve planned for the week. This eliminates the “hmm..what should we have for dinner?” discussion my husband and I used to have every night (which, for the record, often resulted in not-so-great fast food decisions). I often eat the same meals every day for breakfast and lunch as well as my snacks so I always know what I’m going to be eating and when. If you get bored of eating the same foods every day, keep your fridge stocked with many healthy choices so you always have something nutritious to reach for.

(9)  Play with spices. Eating healthy doesn’t have to be boring. Buy an array of spices at the grocery store and play around with them, trying different spices out on different meals to see what your favourite combinations are. I love putting Mrs. Dash on my chicken breasts. My husband always makes fun of me because I often just throw random spices onto our meals just to see “if it tastes good.” Check out this spice chart to see what spices go good with what foods (but don’t be afraid to make your own spice concoctions)

(10)     Make a grocery list and stick with it. When I first started eating healthy, I printed off “clean eating” grocery lists from the internet to take to the store. This is a GREAT idea for people who are just starting out and don’t know what food choices to make. Check out this list, print it off and make it your best friend when you go to the grocery store this week.

    

     The important thing to remember when you’re starting out eating nutritiously is that you should be EXCITED about it. You should look forward to the changes that are going to take place to and IN your body. If you’re less than thrilled about following the above tips and eating better foods, then you’re just going to get frustrated down the road. You need to approach healthy eating with enthusiasm and excitement! If you’re shuffling your feet down the grocery store aisles, sighing dramatically as you pass the Pop Tarts, then maybe you’re just not ready to make a change yet. And, you know what? That’s fine. Everyone has their own journey to embark on when it comes to making a lifestyle change. Just remember this, however:

The reason we need to eat nutritious foods isn’t just to lose weight; it’s to help you feel better from the inside out. If you feel exhausted, tired, and all around crappy all of the time, then maybe it’s time to change your attitude towards healthy eating and start doing it properly?

I want to hear from you! Respond here with your thoughts, on my Facebook page or e-mail me!