Tips For Starting To Eat Healthier

In my last post I listed tips on how to start your fitness journey, and if you remember one of my points was about diet. This week I am going to give a few tips on cleaning up your diet. Now when I say diet, I do not mean "a diet", I mean the way you eat. Diets are stupid and usually not sustainable. I think we should be able to eat healthy and not feel like we are restricting ourselves, and eating things we just don't like. 

1. Eliminate processed food 

Any fitness guru,doctor or nutritionist will tell you that these "foods" are not good for our body. Most of these products contain so many ingredients, many that we can't even pronounce. Eating these products will not only be harmful to your health, it will make your fitness journey more difficult than it should be.  Some of the additives such as high-fructose corn syrup, colorants, and artificial flavorings have been linked to numerous health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity and cancer. So when these processed foods come out, added and refines sugars should also be cut out too. Foods can be sweetened with natural sweeteners such as maple syrup, honey and agave. Fruit is also pretty sweet itself. Natures candy, if you will. Try replacing your sugary sweets with a piece of fruit.  I will link an article stating 9 reasons why processed foods are harming people. If you can't even say the ingredients, I don't think I would recommend putting them into your body.

Article: 9 Ways That Processed Foods Are Killing People
https://authoritynutrition.com/9-ways-that-processed-foods-are-killing-people/ 

2. Eat real food

To follow up with the first point, instead of eating all these man-made foods full of chemicals, eat the food that has little to nothing added to it. Add spices yourself, put them together to make it more flavorful for you, but refrain from dousing your food in sauces and dressings that are high in sugar, salt and unhealthy fats. The food that comes from the earth will always be the best for you. Start reading labels of the things that are made, if you are going to buy them, look for the best choices.

3. Eat/grocery stop within your budget

Some people claim that it is too expensive to eat healthy, and that it much cheaper to buy the processed crap. It doesn't have to be this way. There are always cheaper options and sales. When it comes to produce shopping at a local market, and shopping in-season will save you some cash money. If you don't have the money to buy fresh, you can also buy frozen veggies and fruit in bulk. Frozen fruit is great for smoothies and frozen veggies awesome for stir-fry. Grains, seeds and nuts (and the like) could also be bought in larger amounts for less at bulk food stores. 

4. Eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored. Learn the difference. 

If you are not hungry enough to eat an apple or a piece of fruit, then you are not hungry. You're bored. It is so easy to mindlessly binge on snacks when you are watching TV or working on something at your desk. Where you can make these snacks healthy, I also think its important to listen to your body and eat when its time...not ALL the time. 

5. Give yourself cheat meals (not days)

Just because you have decided to change your eating habits to matching a healthy lifestyle, does not mean you can never have your favourite treats again. Its about balance and moderation. Go out for ice cream once a week, have a pizza with friends, whatever. Its all fine as long as its not every day, all of the time. I also think its better to have cheat MEALS rather than cheat days. It can turn into a lot of calories if you aren't careful. If you are counting calories, you can also try to fit your cheat meal into your daily calories. 

6. Eat sustainably. No diets. 

Diets are DUMB. Especially the ones that are short term, quick fixes. They may work to help you shred some pounds, but as soon as you start eating normal again, your body is going to gain it all back, maybe even more. It can be hard to find the balance between eating and indulging; you lose weight you gain weight. This yo-yo dieting is not sustainable for your body. Stick to something you can do long term, that is going to make you look and most importantly FEEL better for longer than just a couple months, or for summer. Would you rather only be healthy for summer, or keep it going all year round? I would prefer the latter. 

7. Calories

Counting calories can become stressful. It can make some people crazy and obsessive over their food and I don't think its healthy mentally. I have been there before, and it wrecked me. I think its fine to get an idea of how many calories your body needs, and if you are really serious about fitness, get into your macros (carbs, fats, proteins), but once you have a rough idea, just stick to eating real foods and don't stress about it. If you do want to start tracking, apps and websites such as My Fitness Pal, are great for figuring it all out. Most food (as well as exercises for burning cals) has already been entered into its database. 

8. Other factors to consider.

As much as diet and exercise are important for being healthy, there are a few other factors we should pay attention to, for starters sleep. If you aren't getting enough sleep, it is going to make life harder on your body, allows little time for recovery, and not to mention added stress on your body. Stress itself is another thing and it has been linked to weight gain. Below I will link an article. Finally, it is so important to drink water and stay hydrated! If water bores you, add some lemons or fruit to it. You can let it sit overnight for a stronger flavor. 

Article: 5 Ways Stress Makes You Gain Weight http://health.usnews.com/wellness/fitness/articles/2017-03-03/5-ways-stress-makes-you-gain-weight


9. Don't be so hard on yourself. 

When you eat a bag of cookies, or are way over on your calories, or even have a bad week, its important to forgive yourself and teach yourself not to do it again. Give yourself a break if you miss a workout too. Nobody is perfect, everyone is on a journey.

Remember that eating healthy is a lifestyle change. Its not only to look better, but to feel good on the inside too. Your health is the most important thing, so treat your body with love, and not like a trash can. Did I leave anything out? Let me know below if you have any other tips for healthy eating.