To set yourself up for success, think about planning a healthy diet as a
number of small, manageable steps rather than one big drastic change. If you
approach the changes gradually and with commitment, you will have a healthy diet
sooner than you think.
- Simplify. Instead of being overly concerned with counting
calories or measuring portion sizes, think of your diet in terms of color,
variety, and freshness. This way it should be easier to make healthy choices.
Focus on finding foods you love and easy recipes that incorporate a few fresh
ingredients. Gradually, your diet will become healthier and more delicious.
- Start slow and make changes to your eating habits
over time. Trying to make your diet healthy overnight isn’t realistic
or smart. Changing everything at once usually leads to cheating or giving up on
your new eating plan. Make small steps, like adding a salad (full of different
color vegetables) to your diet once a day or switching from butter to olive oil
when cooking. As your small changes become habit, you can continue to add more
healthy choices to your diet.
- Every change you make to improve your diet matters. You
don’t have to be perfect and you don’t have to completely eliminate foods you
enjoy to have a healthy diet. The long term goal is to feel good, have more
energy, and reduce the risk of cancer and disease. Don’t let your missteps
derail you—every healthy food choice you make counts.
Think of water and exercise as food groups in your diet.
Water. Water helps flush our systems of waste products and
toxins, yet many people go through life dehydrated—causing tiredness, low
energy, and headaches. It’s common to mistake thirst for hunger, so staying well
hydrated will also help you make healthier food choices.
Exercise. Find something active that you like to do and add it to your day, just
like you would add healthy greens, blueberries, or salmon. The benefits of
lifelong exercise are abundant and regular exercise may even motivate you to
make healthy food choices a habit.
Healthy eating tip 2: Moderation is key
People often think of healthy eating as an all or nothing proposition, but a
key foundation for any healthy diet is moderation. But what is moderation? How
much is a moderate amount? That really depends on you and your overall eating
habits. The goal of healthy eating is to develop a diet that you can maintain
for life, not just a few weeks or months, or until you've hit your ideal weight.
So try to think of moderation in terms of balance. Despite what certain fad
diets would have you believe, we all need a balance of carbohydrates, protein,
fat, fiber, vitamins, and minerals to sustain a healthy body.
For most of us, moderation or balance means eating less than we do now. More
specifically, it means eating far less of the unhealthy stuff (unrefined sugar,
saturated fat, for example) and more of the healthy (such as fresh fruit and
vegetables). But it doesn't mean eliminating the foods you love. Eating bacon
for breakfast once a week, for example, could be considered moderation if you
follow it with a healthy lunch and dinner–but not if you follow it with a box of
donuts and a sausage pizza. If you eat 100 calories of chocolate one afternoon,
balance it out by deducting 100 calories from your evening meal. If you're still
hungry, fill up with an extra serving of fresh vegetables.
- Try not to think of certain foods as “off-limits.” When you
ban certain foods or food groups, it is natural to want those foods more, and
then feel like a failure if you give in to temptation. If you are drawn towards
sweet, salty, or unhealthy foods, start by reducing portion sizes and not eating
them as often. Later you may find yourself craving them less or thinking of them
as only occasional indulgences.
- Think smaller portions. Serving sizes have ballooned
recently, particularly in restaurants. When dining out, choose a starter instead
of an entree, split a dish with a friend, and don't order supersized anything.
At home, use smaller plates, think about serving sizes in realistic terms, and
start small. If you don't feel satisfied at the end of a meal, try adding more
leafy green vegetables or rounding off the meal with fresh fruit. Visual cues
can help with portion sizes–your serving of meat, fish, or chicken should be the
size of a deck of cards, a slice of bread should be the size of a CD case, and
half a cup of mashed potato, rice, or pasta is about the size of a traditional
light bulb.
Healthy eating tip 3: It's not just what you eat, it's how
you eat
Healthy eating is about more than the food on your plate—it is also about how
you
think about food. Healthy eating habits can be learned and it is
important to slow down and think about food as nourishment rather than just
something to gulp down in between meetings or on the way to pick up the
kids.
- Eat with others whenever possible. Eating with other people
has numerous social and emotional benefits—particularly for children—and allows
you to model healthy eating habits. Eating in front of the TV or computer often
leads to mindless overeating.
- Take time to chew your food and enjoy mealtimes. Chew your
food slowly, savoring every bite. We tend to rush though our meals, forgetting
to actually taste the flavors and feel the textures of our food. Reconnect with
the joy of eating.
- Listen to your body. Ask yourself if you are really hungry,
or have a glass of water to see if you are thirsty instead of hungry. During a
meal, stop eating before you feel full. It actually takes a few minutes for your
brain to tell your body that it has had enough food, so eat slowly.
- Eat breakfast, and eat smaller meals throughout the day. A
healthy breakfast can jumpstart your metabolism, and eating small, healthy meals
throughout the day (rather than the standard three large meals) keeps your
energy up and your metabolism going.
- Avoid eating at night. Try to eat dinner earlier in the day
and then fast for 14-16 hours until breakfast the next morning. Early studies
suggest that this simple dietary adjustment—eating only when you’re most active
and giving your digestive system a long break each day—may help to regulate
weight. After-dinner snacks tend to be high in fat and calories so are best
avoided, anyway.
Healthy eating tip 4: Fill up on colorful fruits and
vegetables
Fruits and vegetables are the foundation of a healthy diet.
They are low in calories and nutrient dense, which means they are packed with
vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber.
Try to eat a rainbow of fruits and vegetables every day and with every
meal—the brighter the better. Colorful, deeply colored fruits and vegetables
contain higher concentrations of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants—and
different colors provide different benefits, so eat a variety. Aim for a minimum
of five portions each day.
Some great choices include:
- Greens. Branch out beyond bright and dark green lettuce.
Kale, mustard greens, broccoli, and Chinese cabbage are just a few of the
options—all packed with calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, zinc, and vitamins
A, C, E, and K.
- Sweet vegetables. Naturally sweet vegetables—such as corn,
carrots, beets, sweet potatoes, yams, onions, and squash—add healthy sweetness
to your meals and reduce your cravings for other sweets.
- Fruit. Fruit is a tasty, satisfying way to fill up on
fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants. Berries are cancer-fighting, apples provide
fiber, oranges and mangos offer vitamin C, and so on.
The importance of getting vitamins from food—not pills
The antioxidants and other nutrients in fruits and vegetables help protect
against certain types of cancer and other diseases. And while advertisements
abound for supplements promising to deliver the nutritional benefits of fruits
and vegetables in pill or powder form, research suggests that it’s just not the
same.
A daily regimen of nutritional supplements is not going to have the same
impact of eating right. That’s because the benefits of fruits and vegetables
don’t come from a single vitamin or an isolated antioxidant.
The health benefits of fruits and vegetables come from numerous vitamins,
minerals, and phytochemicals working together synergistically. They can’t be
broken down into the sum of their parts or replicated in pill form.
Healthy eating tip 5: Eat more healthy carbs and whole
grains
Choose healthy carbohydrates and fiber sources, especially whole grains, for
long lasting energy. In addition to being delicious and satisfying, whole grains
are rich in phytochemicals and antioxidants, which help to protect against
coronary heart disease, certain cancers, and diabetes. Studies have shown people
who eat more whole grains tend to have a healthier heart.
A quick definition of healthy carbs and unhealthy carbs
Healthy carbs (sometimes known as good carbs) include whole
grains, beans, fruits, and vegetables. Healthy carbs are digested slowly,
helping you feel full longer and keeping blood sugar and insulin levels
stable.
Unhealthy carbs (or bad carbs) are foods such as white
flour, refined sugar, and white rice that have been stripped of all bran, fiber,
and nutrients. Unhealthy carbs digest quickly and cause spikes in blood sugar
levels and energy.
Tips for eating more healthy carbs
- Include a variety of whole grains in your healthy diet,
including whole wheat, brown rice, millet, quinoa, and barley. Experiment with
different grains to find your favorites.
- Make sure you're really getting whole grains. Be aware that
the words stone-ground, multi-grain, 100% wheat, or bran can be deceptive. Look
for the words “whole grain” or “100% whole wheat” at the beginning of the
ingredient list. In the U.S., Canada, and some other countries, check for the
Whole Grain Stamps that distinguish between partial whole grain and 100% whole
grain.
- Try mixing grains as a first step to switching to whole grains.
If whole grains like brown rice and whole wheat pasta don’t sound good
at first, start by mixing what you normally use with the whole grains. You can
gradually increase the whole grain to 100%.
Avoid: Refined foods such as breads, pastas, and breakfast
cereals that are not whole grain.
Healthy eating tip 6: Enjoy healthy fats & avoid
unhealthy fats
Good sources of healthy fat are needed to nourish your brain, heart, and
cells, as well as your hair, skin, and nails. Foods rich in certain omega-3
fats called EPA and DHA are particularly important and can reduce cardiovascular
disease, improve your mood, and help prevent dementia.
Add to your healthy diet:
- Monounsaturated fats, from plant oils like canola oil,
peanut oil, and olive oil, as well as avocados, nuts (like almonds, hazelnuts,
and pecans), and seeds (such as pumpkin, sesame).
- Polyunsaturated fats, including Omega-3 and
Omega-6 fatty acids, found in fatty fish such as salmon,
herring, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, and some cold water fish oil
supplements. Other sources of polyunsaturated fats are unheated sunflower, corn,
soybean, flaxseed oils, and walnuts.
Reduce or eliminate from your diet:
- Saturated fats, found primarily in animal sources including
red meat and whole milk dairy products.
- Trans fats, found in vegetable shortenings, some
margarines, crackers, candies, cookies, snack foods, fried foods, baked goods,
and other processed foods made with partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
Healthy eating tip 7: Put protein in perspective
Protein gives us the energy to get up and go—and keep going. Protein in food
is broken down into the 20 amino acids that are the body’s basic building blocks
for growth and energy, and essential for maintaining cells, tissues, and organs.
A lack of protein in our diet can slow growth, reduce muscle mass, lower
immunity, and weaken the heart and respiratory system. Protein is particularly
important for children, whose bodies are growing and changing daily.
Here are some guidelines for including protein in your healthy diet:
Try different types of protein. Whether or not you are a
vegetarian, trying different protein sources—such as beans, nuts, seeds, peas,
tofu, and soy products—will open up new options for healthy mealtimes.
- Beans: Black beans, navy beans, garbanzos, and lentils are good options.
- Nuts: Almonds, walnuts, pistachios, and pecans are great choices.
- Soy products: Try tofu, soy milk, tempeh, and veggie burgers for a change.
- Avoid salted or sugary nuts and refried beans.
Downsize your portions of protein. Many people in the West
eat too much protein. Try to move away from protein being the center of your
meal. Focus on equal servings of protein, whole grains, and vegetables.
Focus on quality sources of protein, like fresh fish,
chicken or turkey, tofu, eggs, beans, or nuts. When you are having meat,
chicken, or turkey, buy meat that is free of hormones and antibiotics.
Healthy eating tip 8: Add calcium for strong bones
Calcium is one of
the key nutrients that your body needs in order to stay strong and healthy. It
is an essential building block for lifelong bone health in both men and women,
as well as many other important functions.
You and your bones will benefit from eating plenty of calcium-rich foods,
limiting foods that deplete your body’s calcium stores, and getting your daily
dose of magnesium and vitamins D and K—nutrients that help calcium do its job.
Recommended calcium levels are 1000 mg per day, 1200 mg if you are over 50
years old. Take a vitamin D and calcium supplement if you don’t get enough of
these nutrients from your diet.
Good sources of calcium include:
- Dairy: Dairy products are rich in calcium in a form that is
easily digested and absorbed by the body. Sources include milk, yogurt, and
cheese.
- Vegetables and greens: Many vegetables, especially leafy
green ones, are rich sources of calcium. Try turnip greens, mustard greens,
collard greens, kale, romaine lettuce, celery, broccoli, fennel, cabbage, summer
squash, green beans, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, and crimini mushrooms.
- Beans: For another rich source of calcium, try black beans,
pinto beans, kidney beans, white beans, black-eyed peas, or baked beans.
Healthy eating tip 9: Limit sugar and salt
If you succeed in planning your diet around fiber-rich fruits, vegetables,
whole grains, lean protein, and good fats, you may find yourself naturally
cutting back on foods that can get in the way of your healthy diet—sugar and
salt.
Sugar
Sugar causes energy ups and downs and can add to health and weight problems.
Unfortunately, reducing the amount of candy, cakes, and desserts we eat is only
part of the solution. Often you may not even be aware of the amount of sugar
you’re consuming each day. Large amounts of added sugar can be hidden in foods
such as bread, canned soups and vegetables, pasta sauce, margarine, instant
mashed potatoes, frozen dinners, fast food, soy sauce, and ketchup. Here are
some tips:
- Avoid sugary drinks. One 12-oz soda has about 10 teaspoons
of sugar in it, more than the daily recommended limit! Try sparkling water with
lemon or a splash of fruit juice.
- Eat naturally sweet food such as fruit, peppers, or natural
peanut butter to satisfy your sweet tooth.
How sugar is hidden on food labels
Check food labels carefully. Sugar is often disguised using terms such
as:
- cane sugar or maple syrup
- corn sweetener or corn syrup
- honey or molasses
- brown rice syrup
|
- crystallized or evaporated cane juice
- fruit juice concentrates, such as apple or pear
- maltodextrin (or dextrin)
- Dextrose, Fructose, Glucose, Maltose, or Sucrose
|
Salt
Most of us consume too much salt in our diets. Eating too much salt can cause
high blood pressure and lead to other health problems. Try to limit sodium
intake to 1,500 to 2,300 mg per day, the equivalent of one teaspoon of salt.
- Avoid processed or pre-packaged foods. Processed foods like
canned soups or frozen dinners contain hidden sodium that quickly surpasses the
recommended limit.
- Be careful when eating out. Most restaurant and fast food
meals are loaded with sodium.
- Opt for fresh or frozen vegetables instead of canned
vegetables.
- Cut back on salty snacks such as potato chips, nuts, and
pretzels.
- Choose low-salt or reduced-sodium products.
- Try slowly reducing the salt in your diet to give your
taste buds time to adjust.
