9 Healthy Eating Habits To Adopt In The New Year
By: Shannon Sweeney
It’s time to unleash the annual “New Year, new me” mentality. But first, I want to point out that you are already enough, and it’s awesome that you’re looking to make improvements.
Thousands of people jump into January with the mindset that they’re going to change their diet and exercise routines overnight. Some people might be able to make the switch right away, but making big healthy lifestyle changes requires dedication, time, and most importantly, patience. No matter if you’re looking to lose weight, eat healthier foods, or be more mindful about what you put in your body, it takes persistence to stay on track.
It’s hard to change the way you eat — for some of you, that’s changing years’ worth of daily routines. My personal challenge? Growing up, I always had a glass of Coke with dinner. I thought that would be an easy thing to quit, but it took me over a year before I could completely break the habit (and I still get cravings to this day — so I use it for when I want to treat myself).
Luckily, there are dozens of ways to adopt a healthier diet and you have an entire year to change your eating habits — it doesn’t have to be done by Jan. 2! Adopting these simple tips will keep you on track for the entire year. Trust me, this is a resolution you can definitely keep.
Below, we’ll go through some simple ways to eat healthier this year.
Drink More Water
The easiest way to get off to a healthy start in is by increasing your water intake. Hydration is extremely important to maintain overall health — and we often mistake thirst for hunger. To up your water intake, try these tips:
Keep a reusable water bottle at your desk
For every cup of coffee you drink, balance it out with a glass of water
Keep track of how much water you drink a day through fitness apps or a tally on a post-it note
Rule of thumb: Divide your weight in half — that’s how many ounces of water you should drink daily (so if you weigh 150, you should drink at least 75 ounces of water a day)
Substitute sugary drinks with water or seltzer (this will keep you from drinking extra calories!
Cook More
When we eat out, we may see what we’re ordering, but we don’t actually know all of the ingredients. Restaurant food usually has higher amounts of sodium, saturated fat, calories, and the portions are often way too big. When you cook at home, you know exactly what is going into your meal, and you can control your portion size. If you’re new to cooking or need help with portion sizes, consider trying a home delivery food service — you can pick your meals, see all of the nutritional information and get preset portion sizes.
Try New Foods
I didn’t eat Brussels sprouts for 24 YEARS of my life before I realized how amazing they are. The reason? I never felt the need to try them because I never grew up eating them. We tend to stick to the foods we know, which is fine, but we really don’t know what we’re missing. Incorporate healthy new foods into your diet to see what you like — the worst that can happen is you don’t like it!
Meal Prep
Meal prep is an amazing way to save money and eat healthier — and there are THOUSANDS of easy meal prep recipes that make meal prep a breeze. Every weekend, sit down and think about what you want to eat for the week — including what healthy snacks you want to bring to work — and make it happen. If you’re looking at places to start, the easiest meal prep recipes I make are sweet potato chili with ground turkey, taco salad, and build-your-own salad (tons of different recipes can be found online!).
Here are some other tips I have for meal prep:
Make a schedule and plan, like on your phone calendar or in a notebook.
Use a slow cooker. This makes meal prep even easier, and you can make a lot of food at once.
Look at healthy one-sheet meals (like chicken and two types of veggies)
Keep essentials in stock at home: whole grains, legumes, canned goods, oils — these are common ingredients in a lot of prepped foods
Eat Slower and Without Distraction
Eating in front of a TV, computer, or book is one of the worst things we can do to ourselves. When we’re distracted, we’re more likely to overeat because we’re not fully paying attention to signals from our bodies telling us that we’re getting full. If you get rid of the distractions and fully focus on what you’re eating — while taking slow bites — you’ll give your body more time to communicate that you’re getting full.
Read Ingredient Labels
If you really look at what goes into your food I’m sure you’ll find surprises. This is an extremely important part of the process if you’re looking to cut back on sugar or salt. Packaged foods and drinks at the grocery store pack a lot of unnecessary ingredients. Substitute these types of food with organic and all-natural foods — but always make sure to take a look at ingredients lists and food labels.
Eat the Rainbow
Eat as many different colored fruits and vegetables during the day as you can. Different colored fruits and veggies have different health benefits, and the more colors you eat, the more well-rounded your nutrient intake will be. Here’s a quick key:
Red: Tomatoes, red bell peppers, cranberries, raspberries, and beets (among other red foods) are packed with antioxidants such as Vitamin A, Vitamin C, manganese, and fiber, making them great for heart health.
Orange: Butternut squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, orange peppers, and peaches (among other orange foods) are loaded with Vitamin C, potassium, fiber, and vitamin B6 for general health support.
Yellow: Bananas are the first yellow food that comes to mind, and they’re filled with potassium. Yellow vegetables (spaghetti squash, summer squash, bell peppers) are rich in manganese, potassium, Vitamin A, fiber, and magnesium.
Green: Virtually all green fruits and vegetables are worth adding to your diet! You can never go wrong with green foods like spinach, broccoli, and asparagus, which are all very nutrient dense.
Blue: Blueberries are pretty much the only food that falls under blue, but they’re packed with some of the most powerful antioxidants to help keep you healthy.
Purple: Blackberries, Concord grapes, currants, and plums are filled with antioxidants that protect blood vessels from breaking, in addition to preventing the destruction of collagen (which keeps your skin healthy). Purple veggies like eggplant and purple cabbage are filled with Vitamin A and antioxidants.
Incorporate More Seeds and Minerals
Seeds are high in iron, calcium, and Vitamin D — three nutrients that are commonly lacking in people’s diets. Adding super seeds to smoothies, juices, salads, and seasonings is an easy way to add more nutrients into your diet. Flaxseeds and chia seeds are also great because they’re loaded with Omega-3 fats, calcium, and manganese.
Skip the Guilt
Indulge once in awhile, why don’t you?! If you like chocolate, eat chocolate. If you’re a sucker for potato chips, treat yourself once in awhile — or have that glass of Coke with dinner. Eating clean and healthy doesn’t mean you have to quit “unhealthy” foods for the rest of your life. It’s all about moderation and being happier, so don’t beat yourself up over occasionally indulging in the things you love!
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