17 Healthy eating habits to cultivate: how to eat healthy every day
One of the most popular goals people write down on their resolution list is the need to improve their eating lifestyle, however, only a little percent is capable of achieving this goal.
The reason most people fail to achieve their healthy eating goals can be traced to the level of restrictions they place on their eating style. For instance, someone that loves eating baked food completely cut off his/her intake of many baked products including bread.
This is too much restriction at an early stage, If you want to cut down your intake of baked food you should begin in a slow manner.
Eating healthy has a lot of benefits, it is an effective way to manage weight and prevent the body from the risk of certain chronic diseases.
One of the most important keys to consider while embarking on a healthier diet is the amount of calories consumed. If you consume more calories than you are able to burn you will experience an increase in weight.
Weight gain is not extremely bad however, most jobs (modeling, dancing) requires employees to maintain a stable weight.
The recommended daily calorie intake for women is 2000kcal and for men it is 2500kcal. If you consume more than the daily recommended intake but you engage in activities that help you burn these calories then this is perfect.
However, when a person consumes a lot of calories and stays inactive during the day, they are simply depositing extra calories in different parts of their body.
In a bid to regulate calorie intake, most individuals eat fewer calories. This is a completely unhealthy eating habit as the body needs this energy in order to function effectively.
There is absolutely no need to set goals that are so big and you might likely not achieve them. Begin with little changes in your daily eating routine and soon your diet will greatly improve.
This article contains little changes or tips that can help you achieve a healthier eating habit.
17 healthy practices to add to your eating routine
Are you searching for new eating habits that can support your healthy eating goal? Try out these tips but always remember that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a step.
- Eat home-cooked meals:
Most fast foods live up to their name “fast food”. The food is made quickly and it is available within a short period. It is also not that easy to know how many calories the food you ordered contains.
When you make your food at home it is easy to ascertain the right ingredient to use for your dish, your cooking method might also be completely different and more healthy than the method used by fast food.
Most fast food needs to have veggies even when the vegetables are out of season, this is because a customer might request for a particular food that requires those veggies.
It is important to know that vegetables are better eaten during their season, during this period they are more abundant, cheap, and highly nutritious.
We cannot entirely scrap out eating out from our lifestyle because this is almost impossible, however, we can switch the restaurants we visit.
Choose a restaurant that has a healthy menu, there are so many restaurants that have healthy options in their menu.
If you want to eat fast food you need to make healthy choices stay away from your regular restaurant that offers a lot of unhealthy offers.
- A step at a time:
Slow down! You cannot build a mountain in a day, you need to start from somewhere. This applies to our eating lifestyle, you are not expected to suddenly change all your unhealthy eating habits with the snap of a finger.
If you experience a relapse (for instance you cut down the amount of soda you consume weekly to 2 days in a week but today you had a very stressful day so you took an extra can of soda).
This doesn’t mean that your healthy eating lifestyle has come to a sudden end, you just need to be more patient and understanding.
- Stay hydrated:
The benefits associated with drinking water cannot be overemphasized, an individual that drinks adequate amount of water daily will feel fuller than one who consumes high amounts of beverages and soda.
Water supports weight loss, helps to maintain weight and it could also increase the rate at which an individual burns calories.
If you engage in physical activities that might lead to sweating (loss of water and electrolyte), it is only appropriate that you replace the lost water.
- Include eggs in your breakfast routine:
Eggs are one of the most healthy and easy food you can add to your breakfast, it is packed with lots of nutrients, vitamins, and antioxidants that play a very important role in the overall health of the body.
They support the eye by protecting it from the risk of macular degeneration, they have a high satiety index, are complete protein, and contain low calories.
Not only are eggs super healthy and nutritious, they are also very affordable.
If your breakfast is composed of eggs, you tend to fall less hungry during the remaining hours of the day as eggs have a high satiety rate(I.e you get filled easily when you eat eggs).
There are different ways to cook your eggs however not all methods are healthy, ensure that you choose healthy cooking methods in order to avoid losing the nutrients contained in your eggs.
- Avoid shopping hungry:
Have you ever shopped for groceries with an empty stomach? It is not an experience I will recommend.
Shopping on an empty stomach makes one purchase more refined and processed food that can offer instant gratification(I.e you tend to engage in impulsive buying, purchasing junk that you may not need).
- Use healthy cooking oil:
Most cooking oils are not healthy for the body especially heart health as they contain a higher level of omega6 fatty acid instead of omega 3.
It is important that you purchase healthy cooking oil like coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil.
- Ensure that you have proper hours of sleep:
Some people feel like sleeping is overrated but that is not true. Ask a patient suffering from insomnia and you realize that you should show gratitude for your ability to sleep without taking pills.
There are so many negative disorders associated with inadequate sleep, other than the noticeable eyes bags and dark circles. There are other more serious effects of inadequate sleep like obesity.
Try to have at least 6-8 hours of sleep daily in order to prevent the occurrence of illness that may arise as a result of improper hours of sleep.
- Slow down while eating:
A lot of people eat their food hurriedly as they feel like there is so much to do that’s more important than spending a lot of time eating.
When you eat too fast it influences how much you will eat, the rate at which you get satisfied and the level of weight gained.
Ghrelin is a hormone responsible for sending signals to your brain when you are hungry however it takes the brain over 15 minutes to fully receive the message from ghrelin therefore when you eat slowly you give your brain enough time to receive the signal that you are filled.
Studies have shown when you eat slowly you tend to chew your food more properly, this will reduce your risk of eating too much hence preventing excess weight gain.
- Replace refined bread with whole-grain bread:
The world is populated with lots of refined bread however, most of this refined bread has been linked to a rise in certain chronic diseases.
Whole grains are a good source of fibers, magnesium, vitamins, and other essential nutrients that the body requires. It offers a lot of healthy benefits to the body including protecting the body from the risks of certain diseases like cancer and diabetes.
A lot of people often complain that they prefer refined bread because they taste better than whole grain bread however this is not completely true as there different kinds of whole bread with delicious taste.
- Try out a new healthy recipe weekly:
There are so many blogs, vlogs, and posts on Pinterest and Instagram that showcases different kinds of healthy recipes and how to make them.
If you want to improve your eating habit then you must be willing to learn new healthy skills that will replace unhealthy skills.
Deciding what to cook every day might be quite a difficult task to accomplish however it doesn’t have to be a strenuous task as you can simply browse through the internet and discover a large number of healthy recipes you can try out.
- Eat more fruits and veggies:
Vegetables are so boring!! This should no longer be a reason why you avoid eating vegetables as there are lots of creative ways to add veggies to your diet.
Fruits and veggies are packed with lots of nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that are required for proper functioning of certain processes in your body.
As much as you can try to form a new habit of eating a minimum of one fruit or vegetable in a day, there are so many fruits and vegetables to choose from.
Ensure that you don’t purchase damaged fruit or veggies as they may contain bacteria, also wash your fruit/veggie properly.
12 Minimize carbs, Maximize fiber:
High amount of carbs are present in a lot of processed foods and this is not essentially helpful to the body.
Fibers support a lot of bodily processes including metabolism, increases satiety, prevents constipation, and improves bowel movement. They are healthy, nutritious, delicious and the perfect choice to add to your new healthy diet.
- Eat less salt:
Excessive intake of salt can be disastrous to one’s health (especially heart health). High quantity of salt in the body can lead to an increase in blood pressure.
When one’s blood pressure is relatively high the individual is at risk of occurrence of heart attack or other heart-related problems.
- Add baked potatoes to your diet:
Most people love ordering fries when they visit their favourite restaurant it’s always french fries and chicken you hardly see an order of baked potato.
Potato is a vegetable packed with lots of nutrients that the body requires, it also has a high satiety rate (I.e you fill easily when you eat baked potatoes).
French fries have a lot of unhealthy compounds (trans fats) that are dangerous to one’s health.
- Upgrade your cooking method:
There are quite a number of people who love frying almost everything they eat. They eat french fries, fry their eggs, vegetables, chicken, fish and so many other food products.
Frying is quite an unhealthy method to use for most of your food especially when the oil used is bad or the temperature used is really high.
There are so many other ways you can enjoy your food without frying or grilling them. For instance, instead of frying your chicken or fish, you can bake them.
- Avoid skipping breakfast :
Breakfast is a very important meal, if you eat a healthy breakfast like eggs you tend to feel less hungry for the rest of the day.
However, when you skip breakfast you tend to be more inclined to consume unhealthy junk food like chips.
- Snacks should be healthy too:
When you are improving your eating habit, you should also consider the kind of snacks you indulge in.
Upgrade your snack routine, eat more fruits, veggie burger, lettuce wrap, and popcorn. Your snacks should not be packed with sweets, soda, or chips.
Conclusion
Did you make a resolution to improve your eating habit? Are you making any changes?
Don’t fret when you experience a relapse, set small goals, and try really hard to achieve them.
There are so many people who are making healthier diet choices today, they achieved this by completing little milestones and today they have achieved their healthy eating goals.
You can also change your eating habits, try to practice the tips listed above consistently and you can be assured that a healthier eating habit will be part of your lifestyle in the nearest future.