Healthy Eating Tips

These healthy eating tips are practical tips that can be utilized daily to improve your eating habits, help you lose weight, and make you feel better.

1. Eat 4-6 small meals a day – It takes energy for your body to digest food. This keeps your metabolism, the fat burning engine of your body, constantly running. A concern many people have is how they can eat that many meals in one day. A meal can simply consist of an energy bar, fruit, nuts, or some healthy snack. The goal is to keep eating roughly every 2-3 hours or until you’re hungry on small meals and snacks.
2. Eat until you are full – If your body is telling you it's full, listen to it and stop eating. Your body can only process so much food and the rest it stores in the form of fat. Overeating can zap your energy causing you to miss workouts and sleep.
3. Plan ahead – Make meals and snacks the night before or a week ahead. Take meals and snacks with you while you travel. When you have healthy meals and snacks already available you are much more likely to eat them rather than having to find them.
4. Go Organic – Organic foods generally are higher in nutrient content and contain less harmful substances like antibiotics or pesticides.
5. Steer clear of Refined Grains – This is a trap because people equate grains with healthy eating. The refining process destroys the nutrient content of grains. This is why whole grains are better than refined grains. However, grains in general, can cause digestive problems and weight issues, while providing little added nutrient benefit when compared to fruits and veggies.
6. Avoid Emotional and Stressful Eating – This can cause overeating and eating when you aren’t hungry. This can also affect your digestive system causing you to store more fat or give you heartburn.
7. Eat your Vegetables – Most people don’t eat enough vegetables on a daily basis. They are a great source of fiber and nutrients essential for healthy living.
8. Eat a Salad before Meals – If your goal is weight loss, eating a salad before meals can really help. Salads can be low in calories and help curb hunger.
9. Drink water – Water has zero calories, helps with nutrient absorption, and can fill your stomach, which curbs your appetite.
10. Avoid fried foods – These can be high in Trans Fats and saturated fats, which will contribute to obesity. Some examples are chicken wings, French fries, chicken tenders/nuggets, and fried fish.
11. Make the choice a low fat choice – Whether its milk, cheese, or salad dressing, it's generally best to choose the low fat version.
12. Eat foods high in fiber – Fiber is a complex carbohydrate and difficult to digest and will make you feel full longer.
13. Ask the servers to remove your plate - So many people stop eating when they are full only find themselves picking at their plate because the food is there. If you are full, call the server over and have them remove your plate.
14. Use Olive Oil – Use it instead of butter for cooking and as a spread. Olive oil is rich in omega-3 fats.
15. Split meals with people – This will keep you from overeating and save you money.
16. Avoid skipping meals – This just makes you hungrier for your next meal and you end up eating more than your body can digest.
17. Eat Slow – It takes time for your stomach to tell your brain it’s full. Eating slow helps keep you from overeating.
18. Chew your food – Chewing your food properly makes it easy for your body to break it down and process it properly. This will help if you are trying to lose weight, because your body will store less of it as fat.
19. Avoid fast food restaurants – Although there are healthy alternatives offered at these restaurants, it can be too tempting to order that cheeseburger and fries.
20. No appetizers – Many restaurants offer unhealthy appetizers and, if they are eaten in conjunction with an entrée, it’s likely you could be consuming too many calories. If you do eat an appetizer, make sure you don’t overeat with your entrée.
21. Eat your carbohydrates in the morning – This allows your body more time to burn them off.
22. Remove half the bread – If you are eating a sandwich or burger remove half the bread. This will keep you from overeating and help you avoid that overly stuffed feeling. This is a very easy and effective healthy eating tip to implement.
23. Drink low calorie/zero calorie beverages – Many drinks contain quite a bit of sugar and calories. Avoid them, many times they are empty calories and offer no nutritional value.

Utilizing these healthy eating tips can have an enormously positive effect on your life and well being. I encourage you to comeback from time to time a review these healthy eating tips.

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