How To Eat Healthier: Get Started With These Easy Tips

Learning how to eat healthier can seem daunting, but we promise it’s not. It’s one of the most manageable lifestyle changes you can make to lead a healthier life.

By watching what you eat, you can achieve the body of your dreams and prevent diseases such as diabetes. Many people fail at eating healthier because they don’t know where to start.

That’s why we put together this list of our tips to teach you how to eat healthier starting today!

1. It’s Not a Diet, It’s a Lifestyle Change

The biggest reason people fail at eating healthier is that they think of it as a diet rather than understanding that eating better is a lifestyle change. When you decide to start a diet, you typically cut out certain foods and never touch them. Then, when you reach your goal, you go back to those foods and end up back at square one.

That’s why it’s crucial to understand eating healthier starts with a lifestyle change and moderation. If you bloat when you have carbs, cut the amount of bread you eat, but don’t get rid of it completely. 

Understand that you can still have foods you enjoy, just not every single day. Once you realize this, eating healthier is a lot less daunting.

2. Start With More Veggies and Fruits

If you don’t have any veggies or fruits in your diet, this is the perfect first step to eating healthier. We get it, not everyone likes fruits and vegetables, but there are ways you can dress them up to be tasty! And we’re not just talking about eating more salads.

With every meal, you should have some type of fruit or vegetable to go with it. Start by including fruit at your lunch and a vegetable at your dinner. This small change will give your body the nutrients it needs to work properly.

3. Choose Healthy Snacks

It’s okay to snack every once in a while! You just have to make sure the snacks you choose aren’t fatty and give you what your body needs.

Typically, when you crave something, it’s because your body needs it. For example, when you crave sugar, reach for an apple or other fruit to satisfy your craving without eating a bag of chips.

Try some of these healthy snacks next time a craving hits and you don’t know what you should eat.

4. Make Your Lunch, Don’t Buy It

Not only will this save you money in the long run, but it will also save your diet. Typically, restaurants cook with more fat and butter than we do at home. While it definitely makes the food taste better, it’s also not giving you the energy you need from your food.

If you eat out every day, you probably notice you get tired when you get back, and that’s because of the fatty foods you’re eating at lunch! Even a salad with fatty dressings has more calories and fewer nutrients than you need.

By bringing in your lunch, you can control what you eat and how it’s made to ensure you’re eating a well-balanced diet.

5. Reduce Processed Food

You should steer clear of any food modified from its original state. Most of the processed foods you eat are stripped of their natural fibers and nutrients and have added sugars, chemicals, or worse. 

Be sure to read the labels of the food you buy to make sure it’s fresh and non-processed to keep your food clean.

6. Avoid the Snack Aisles

When shopping, avoid the snack aisles as much as you can. If you do find yourself wandering down there, keep it out of your cart! One of the best ways to reduce unhealthy snacking at home is by not buying it in the first place.

Chips, bagged popcorn, and everything else in those aisles do nothing but increase your waistline. Instead, try and keep your shopping limited to outer aisles rather than walking up and down each aisle. 

Typically, the ingredients you need to cook healthy meals at home can be found on the outer edges, reducing your need to go into each aisle. Practice self-restraint at the store, and it’ll be easier to stick to clean eating at home.

7. Drink More Water!

Throughout the day, the drink you have the most should be water. It’s all your body needs to stay hydrated, and it’s the best thing you can do for your health. People don’t realize how many calories they drink when they have their coffee with cream or energy drinks (guilty!) every day. 

To start drinking more water, have a glass after every other beverage you have. Before you go back for your second cup of coffee, have a glass of water! This will help you reduce your cravings for those other drinks, and you’ll get used to drinking water throughout the day.

Some people even find it helpful to fill a gallon jug of water and write the times on it to see how much water they should drink by that time of day. Whatever works for you, try it, and stick to it!

How to Eat Healthier? Now You Know!

Now that you know how to eat healthier, it’s time for you to make that change today! Remember to still enjoy your favorite treats in moderation and reach for healthy snack alternatives to curb your cravings.

If you’ve been eating right but still aren’t reaching your fitness goals, it may be time for you to start working with a personal trainer. Contact us at Peak Physique to get started with personalized training. We’ve been helping people just like you reach your fitness and health goals for years, and we can’t wait to help you, too!