Science has told us that a healthy lifestyle is beneficial. A healthy diet can decrease your chances of developing multiple chronic illnesses as well as help you maintain a healthy body.
However, most individuals have no clue how to adopt or maintain a healthy lifestyle. The truth is that adopting a healthy lifestyle can be overwhelming.
How To Incorporate Healthy Foods Into Your Diet
The best route to incorporate healthy foods into your diet is to start small. Most people attempt to make change happen all at once by subscribing to the latest diet. However, this process can quickly become frustrating for the average person. The best way to eat healthier foods is by implementing small changes over time.
Cook Your Own Meals
Yes, it is easier to visit your favorite restaurant and order healthy food. However, you do not know what unhealthy or high-calorie ingredients may be present in the dish.
Home-cooked meals give you control over what ingredients are used to prepare your meal. Furthermore, if you cook in bulk, you can always have leftovers for lunch or dinner the next day. Moreover, consuming home-cooked meals regularly is correlated with better dietary quality and decreased adiposity.
Add A Vegetable To Every Meal
The most hassle-free way to ensure you are consuming healthy foods is by adding a vegetable to every meal you cook. Vegetables deserve to have a designated spot on your plate because they are low-calorie and loaded with healthy nutrients.
To eliminate the guesswork out of cooking, you can make a list of your favorite vegetables. Though it sounds outlandish, you are more likely to eat vegetables you actually enjoy rather than spending money on vegetables that will go to waste.
As time goes on, you can gradually increase the portions of vegetables on your plate while decreasing the servings of carbs. If you are not a vegetable enthusiast, you can blend them into a puree and hide them in your favorite foods.
Choose A Fruit As A Snack Option
If you eat snacks during the day, this is another opportunity to fuel your body with healthy food. Traditionally snack foods are foods with little nutritional value, such as cookies, chips, cupcakes. These foods are usually unhealthy, processed, and filled with sugar.
The best option is to choose your favorite fruit as a snack. From carrot sticks, bell peppers, and sugar snap peas to apples, berries, pears, and oranges. Various fruits and vegetables are available, waiting to be explored.
Choose Healthy Carbs
Carbs have gotten a negative reputation in recent years due to the rise of low-carb diets. However, all carbs are not bad carbs. Simple, refined carbs are the cause of carbs’ bad reputation as they are easy to overindulge in.
Unfortunately, all the foods we love, including baked goods, white wheat flour, white bread, soda, snacks, white rice, pasta, sweets, and even breakfast cereals, are loaded with unhealthy carbs.
On the other hand, complex carbs are fiber-rich and loaded with beneficial nutrients. Vegetables, fruits, legumes, unsweetened dairy products, and whole grains such as brown rice, oats, and quinoa are all complex carbs. Even though all carbs are converted into gluten, good carbs are the least processed carbs.
Explore Different Cooking Methods
Preparation methods used to cook food have a radical effect on its nutrient content. Although broiling, grilling, and frying are the most common methods for meat and fish, they pose a potential threat to your health.
For example, when frying food, it undergoes several physical and chemical changes to create the desired crunchy effect. However, dangerous chemicals such as acrylamide, hydroxymethylfurfural, heterocyclic amine, nitrosamines, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons may be produced simultaneously. These hazardous chemicals and the oil used to fry the food can lead to chronic diseases like coronary heart disease, diabetes, cancer, obesity, and high blood pressure.
While the occasional fried or grilled food is okay, these cooking methods should be used sparingly. Instead of grilling or frying, use another cooking method.
Braising, pressure cooking, sous vide, broiling, stewing, and poaching are all healthy cooking methods. Preparation techniques of this nature do not generate harmful toxicants. Therefore, it makes your food healthier.
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Smaller Portions
Food is visual; thus, plate size influences portion size. Large plates make food portions seem smaller.
On the other hand, smaller plates make food portions seem bigger. The small plate effect tricks your brain into thinking you are consuming a larger amount of food. Eating from small tableware decreases the chance of you overeating.
Make A New Healthy Recipe Every Week
Sometimes deciding what to prepare for dinner can be the most challenging part of the day. Most of us end up frustrated and reuse the same recipes over and over again. Even if you are not preparing a healthy meal, you should always be open to trying something new.
Cook a new healthy recipe every week. New recipes will create excitement and anticipation, give you a new dish to look forward to each week, and add variety to your diet. Moreover, you can also try making healthier versions of your favorite foods.
In Summation
The key to incorporating more healthy foods into your diet is to make small changes every day. Before you know it, your diet will include lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, healthy carbs, and lean meats.
