10 Tips for Healthy Eating: Painless and Delicious!

The term “healthy eating” often makes people think about deprivation and boredom, but it certainly doesn’t have to be that way.

Take a look below at 10 tips for healthy eating that will tantalize your taste buds AND contribute to a strong, lean body:

Healthy Eating Tip #1 - Better Quality Foods

Healthy eating is really all about choosing foods that give the most nutritional value possible. That means limiting sugary, fatty, processed foods and gravitating toward whole, organic, nutrient-rich foods.

Healthy Eating Tip #2 - Better Quality, Less Quantity

Improving the quality of the foods you eat will make you realize that you really don’t need to eat a lot of calories each day to feel fully satisfied.  Nutrient-rich, high fiber foods keep you feeling full and satisfied long after you eat them, so you need to eat less. 

See: 7 Things You Need to Know About Serving Sizes

Healthy Eating Tip #3 - Healthy Drinking

Drinking plenty of water is one of the most important components of a healthy eating plan, hydrating the body and helping all organs and muscles function better.  Drinking plenty of water gives you more energy, better health, reduced appetite, clearer thoughts, and so much more.

Healthy Eating Tip #4 - Supplement Vitamins and Minerals

Even if you follow a healthy eating plan, it’s a good idea to take high quality vitamin and mineral supplements to help fill in gaps that your diet may not fill.  Few of us have “perfect” eating habits, and even if we did, sometimes the foods available to us may be lacking in nutrients due to poor soil conditions, pesticide usage, and other things beyond our control.  Good choices for supplements include a multi-vitamin (with or without iron, depending on your personal needs), a calcium and mineral complex that includes magnesium and vitamin D, a B-complex vitamin, and perhaps fish oil or flax seed oil for added omega-3 fatty acids if your diet doesn’t include enough of them.

See: Vitamins & Minerals Calculator

Healthy Eating Tip #5 - Eliminate Mindless Munching

Not only is it important to improve the quality of foods you eat, but also to regulate how often and how much you eat.  If you are in the habit of munching mindlessly just because you are bored or restless, that’s a good habit to break immediately because you’re probably taking in many more calories than your body really needs.  In addition, reducing the portion sizes in meals is a good idea.  When you avoid overloading your stomach with mass quantities of food, you just feel better and enjoy more energy and avoid that sluggish, too-full feeling.

See: 10 Ways to Stop Overeating While Watching TV

Healthy Eating Tip #6 - The Right Kind of Sweets

White, refined sugar has a detrimental effect on your body, creating drastic spikes and dips in your blood glucose levels, stimulating hunger, and depleting your body of important nutrients.  But you don’t have to deprive your sweet tooth.  Include plenty of fresh fruit in your diet and if you must use sweeteners, choose those that are better for you, like stevia and agave nectar.  After just a few days of doing this, you’ll notice that your cravings for white sugar have decreased dramatically.

See: 7 Healthy Snacks to SatisfyYour Sweet Tooth on a Diet

Healthy Eating Tip #7 - Fill Your Plate with Color

The most colorful foods are the ones with the most nutrients, like butter yellow bananas, ruby red tomatoes, bright green bell peppers, dark green lettuce and spinach, dusky orange sweet potatoes and yams, deep purple grapes - just take a look at the produce section of your local market and you’ll realize just how many colorful foods can supply great nutrients for your body.

Healthy Eating Tip #8 - Add Plenty of Flavor

As delicious as these colorful foods can be, you can also spice them up further by adding your choice of spices, herbs, seasonings, and sauces.  Flavorful options are hot sauces (or actual hot peppers if you prefer), dill, olives, mustard, capers, curry, garlic, onion, ginger, cinnamon, tumeric, paprika.  You can also keep some bullion cubes on hand for adding flavor to vegetables, grains, soups, and meat dishes.

See:  10 Delicious Ways to Spice Up a Salad

Healthy Eating Tip #9 - Savor Every Bite

Slow down, take your time and enjoy your meals!  When you gulp your food down you barely taste it and your stomach doesn’t have a chance to signal that it’s full.  As a result you end up eating more than you need to and feeling like you still want more.  When you eat slowly and focus on enjoying each bite, you will eat less and feel more satisfied afterward. 

Healthy Eating Tip #10 - Balance

Healthy eating isn’t about depriving yourself.  Strive for balance in your eating habits, including plenty of foods that nourish your body, but also allowing a little room for special treats.  Everything in moderation helps you enjoy the best of both worlds, a body that is healthy and happy.

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