Do you wish to adopt long term healthy eating habits? Perhaps you’ve tried doing it once upon a time, but fell away along the way – don’t worry, we have what you need. Adopting healthy eating habits takes practice and a sound strategy. And because eating is one of the few choices you have to make every day – experts have suggested that, choosing plant based foods with a high nutrient content grown in clean well-tended nutrient rich soil is the best way start your diet journey. Also, you must learn to pay attention to quantity and work to understand your food triggers in an effort to minimize poor nutrient free choices. Most importantly, take it one day at a time because you will need to start over every day. Read on to find out more tips on essential ingredients to adopting long term healthy eating habits.
Drink at least 8 glasses of water daily
According to studies, drinking a reasonable amount of water on a daily basis, will help one feel fuller, which automatically reduces the need to indulge cravings.
Start consuming whole grain bread products
That includes breads, cereal, rice, pasta, crackers, and granola bars. Look for the word “whole” as the FIRST ingredient in the ingredients list. Then look for the product with the highest amount of dietary fiber.
Eat at 2-3 servings of fruit daily
Snacks are a great place to get more fruit. You can also keep frozen berries on hand and add them to your cereal or oatmeal in the morning.
Eat 2-3 servings of low-fat dairy daily
Whether it’s skim milk, yogurt, or low fat cheese, are all satisfying and nutritious foods you can adopt to your daily diet routine.
Exercise
Engaging any form of physical activity is probably the most effective way to develop healthier eating habits. When you exercise, you feel better and you are more likely to care about what you are putting in your body.
Set weekly goals
You can adopt healthy eating habits by setting weekly goals that you feel confident you can achieve. Use the SMART goal setting strategy to help you make consistent progress. SMART stands for specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic and time-bound. Here are a few suggestions:
- Eat 1 fruit at lunch 5 days a week.
- Eat a high-fiber cereal 4 days a week.
- Pick 3 healthier alternatives from my favorite restaurants by the end of the week.
- Keep a log of everything I eat 6 days a week.
Create any goal that you’d like to work on, set 1-3 weekly goals and calculate your success percentage at the end of each week. Eventually you’ll master each goal and your habits will become second nature.
Track your calories
Simply jot down what you are eating each meal. Track fats too. Keep it simple and try not to overwhelm yourself at first. Just get an idea of how much you’re consuming each day. Remember, counting calories is similar to budgeting money.
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