5 Healthy Eating Habits for a Better Lifestyle

With the obesity crisis in full swing, a lot of people are looking to adopt healthy eating habits. But what habits should you incorporate into your lifestyle to be healthy? What should you avoid? The following are 5 major healthy eating behaviors that you better implement in your daily routine to get the most out of healthy eating:

1. Prepare your meals at home

For your overall health, eating out is best kept to a minimum. And when you do eat out, it should be for special occasions or social gatherings only. Eating out is fun, but it often means that you’re eating foods that are fried, fast-food items and sugary drinks. Try to eat at home as much as possible to take control of your diet. Keep in mind that anything fried has a very high-fat content and eating too much fat can lead to weight gain, which is why it’s best to avoid eating out.

If you do need to eat out, try making a healthy choice or asking the restaurant if they have a healthier option available. You could also ask them not to add any sauces or butter when they prepare your meal. They will be able to accommodate your request and the meal will still taste good.

When you eat home-cooked meals, you know what ingredients are used and this allows you to plan healthier menu options to suit your dietary needs. It also saves money.

It’s not just about the ingredients, but how you cook them as well! Every time you cook your food, remember to use healthy cooking methods such as roasting, grilling, and boiling. Avoid frying and especially avoid barbequing, because this method of cooking is associated with adding dangerous carcinogens to your food.

There are a lot of nutrients that you need to consume every day in order to maintain good health. It is best to get these nutrients from fresh, healthy foods. If you do include processed foods in your diet, make sure they are healthy choices. Here is a list of the kinds of ingredients to avoid:

– hydrogenated oils

– high fructose corn syrup

– added refined sugars

– flour and other refined flour products (e.g. white rice)

2. Plan your meals

Planning your meals helps optimize healthy eating because it means that you have a solid plan for the week and that allows you to plan ahead of time. It also makes shopping easier, cheaper and faster. Planning is very important in helping with portion control too, especially if you use an app like My Fitness Pal which tracks the number of calories you’re eating.

Cooking your meals on a daily basis can become rather tiresome, so plan out your weekly meals and prepare them one or two days at a time to suit your schedule. Make extra and save it for later! If you do not have time to cook every day, you could even cook every 2nd or 3rd day to cut down on food waste.

3. Drink your water

You probably already know that hydration is important for your health, but do you drink enough? It can be difficult to consume the amount of water required every day (8 glasses per day recommended). Start with one glass per day and then slowly increase intake as you become accustomed to it. And don’t forget about drinking water while you eat! It will help your body process the nutrients in foods better.

It’s best to avoid drinks that are high in sugar because they provide empty calories. Sugar-sweetened drinks can increase risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. Water is the healthiest drink to keep you hydrated all day long. You can also try infusing your water with fruit for flavor! If you would like to consume something else besides water though, consider diet soda or tea instead of sugar or high fructose corn syrup.

4. Pay attention to portion size

It’s surprising how easy it is to overeat when you do not pay attention or think about the food that you are putting in your body. The recommended portion sizes for each meal are what you should be using as guidelines when eating out or at home, so always pay attention to the size of your meal and compare it to the recommended portion sizes.

If you’re eating out, remember that smaller portions mean lower calories and fat intake. Make healthy choices when selecting food and stick with water for your drink! If you do not have time or desire to cook at home, try splitting an entrée with a friend.

Most of us eat more than we need to, and this leads to weight gain. Upping your meal portions will also increase sugar and fat intake which can lead to all kinds of health problems like heart disease, obesity, diabetes, etc. Start with one serving size per meal and slowly decrease portion sizes if it becomes too much at once.

5. Make sure to get physical activity

Regular exercise is essential for maintaining a healthy weight and body mass index (BMI). Aim to be active every day, but don’t overdo it. Doing too much can lead to injuries or burnout, so give yourself time to rest and recover. Start with 30 minutes per day and work your way up from there, but aim for at least 10,000 steps a day as a general guideline of how active you should be.

You can also break it down into more manageable chunks: try 3 or 4 short 10-minute exercise breaks throughout the day which will help give your metabolism a boost. If you are feeling really unmotivated, start small. Do anything that gets you moving! Just getting out for a walk can help immensely. Opt to take the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator; play with pets, kids, or friends outside (and get some fresh air!); clean your car by hand; sweep the patio or driveway; go for a walk at lunchtime with your co-workers.

Even if you don’t have time to exercise, try not to sit too much – remember it’s just as important to move around and get active! Stand up and walk around every so often and try doing some exercises while you watch TV or listen to your favorite music. The more active you are, the easier it will be to keep your weight down!

Best of luck with changing your health for the better using these 5 healthy eating habits,  and let us know how you go with these healthy eating habits!

We hope this article was both informative and helpful; we certainly had fun writing it (it probably shows). 🙂 Please feel free to share it with people you care about and want to know more about health.