Have you ever wanted to incorporate healthier food choices into your diet? If you don’t want to change your eating habits drastically, you can become more healthful by switching options one meal choice at a time. When you start eating healthier little by little, it’ll make it easier to keep your commitment over time. According to Dominique Fradin-Read, better nutrition in your diet can help you live a longer, healthier life.
Then, how can we start eating more healthily?
The following is a complete explanation that you can apply as a healthy diet.
Drink More Water
Instead of grabbing a soda or sweet drinks every time you’re thirsty, a better choice would be a glass of water. Many people don’t drink enough water. Soda and sugary drinks are full of empty calories, which can cause your blood sugar levels to spike and then drop back down instantly. This will leave you feeling tired and dissatisfied.
If you regularly drink a few soft drinks every day, try switching one of those drinks to a bottle of water instead. This way, you’re not depriving yourself of the soda or sweet drinks, and you’re also getting some proper hydration. Water is also perfect for your body because it has no calories. Make it a habit to drink about 1.6 to 2 liters of water every day.
Substitute the Fries
Most popular fast-food chains have been starting to offer healthier options on their menus in recent years. For example, you could substitute apple slices instead of ordering french fries with your meal. Some chains offer a choice of grilled meat versus fried meat for sandwiches, and this is another way to make your favorite lunch a little healthier.
Actually, on a diet program, it’s okay to eat junk food once in a while. Sometimes, nothing feels worse than trying to replace what you really want with the “healthier version.” The important thing is that you don’t do it very often.
Choose Healthier Snacks
Maybe some of you think that you are prohibited from snacking while on a diet. However, this doesn’t seem right. It would help if you actually had snacks for energy intake between large meals. Besides providing energy, snacks can also maintain your appetite and ensure fat metabolism continues to run well.
You can still eat snacks and be healthy. There’s a wide variety of snack foods available that are better for you. For example, instead of a bag of candy, you could choose a bag of dried fruit. You may be surprised that you end up liking the fruit better after all. Trading out your bag of potato chips for some popcorn is also a more holistic snack option.
Limiting Sugar and Salt Consumption
Many people don’t realize the sugar they consume in a day has far exceeded the recommended levels. In fact, excess sugar in the body will be stored in fat, resulting in weight gain. Sugary foods and drinks, including alcoholic beverages, are often high in calories.
Apart from sugar, the salt content in the food you consume must also be maintained. You can still consume a lot of salt even if you don’t add salt to your diet. This is because the packaged foods we buy contain a lot of salt.
You can avoid this by checking food labels before you start consuming them. For sugar, if it is written that the sugar content is 22.5 grams per hundred grams of food, it means that the food is included in the high sugary food category. As for the salt itself, if it says more than 1.5 grams per hundred grams of food, it means that the food is included in the category of foods that contain high levels of salt.
Avoid Processed Foods
You may have heard this before that the less processing, the better. Processed foods like fast food are indeed full of empty calories. But whole foods provide essential nutrients like protein, fiber, healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals that can help boost your immune system.
Processed foods are everywhere, and you may not be aware that your favorite foods are indeed processed. One way to help with this is to read ingredient labels. The more ingredients you can’t pronounce, the more processed a food is. A simple everyday staple like a loaf of bread is a good place to start the switch. Bread with whole grains is much more nutritious than processed bread, and you might find they taste better too!
You don’t have to stop going to the restaurants you love or stop buying yourself snacks to get better nutrition in your life. Healthy choices that won’t cramp your style are all around you. From a bit of water to a healthier type of bread, better nutrition can be yours one step at a time.
Don’t Forget Breakfast
Some people often skip breakfast because they think that doing so can speed up weight loss. But that thought is wrong.
According to several studies, breakfast can actually help a person to control their weight. With breakfast, we will eat less during the day and at subsequent mealtime. Breakfast is also a “medium” that can help meet nutritional needs in the body.
Get used to breakfast with delicious and highly nutritious menus such as whole-grain cereals with yogurt or low-fat milk. You can also drink green tea without sugar, which can increase energy and trigger fat burning in your body.
However, keep in mind that eating healthier when dieting above will produce more effective results when accompanied by exercise. Make sure you accompany your diet with regular exercise or a structured program. The types of sport you can do are cardio sports such as jogging, swimming, or aerobics.
Besides, make sure you get enough sleep. If you are not getting enough sleep, hormone production, especially hormones related to decreased appetite, will be disturbed. This, of course, will make us want to eat more often.