Too many people view healthy eating as either too expensive, too much of a hassle, or just not worth the trouble. Healthier eating does not always have to be costly, and while it may be an inconvenience at first, your future self (and your health) will be extremely grateful for your change in decisions. There are many statistics that support the correlation between healthy eating and a healthy body. Some of the benefits include a reduced risk of cancer, better heart health, and improved overall quality of life. It can feel impossible to live a healthy lifestyle, but it is possible and only requires patience and consistency.
Meal Preparation
Prepping your food in advance is most certainly not for everyone, but it has been shown to help people who are trying to switch to a healthier lifestyle. It allows you to save time in advance, as well as the struggle of deciding what to eat. There are many ways of meal prepping, and there is no correct way to do it. Many people chose one day out of the week to dedicate cooking their foods to stay on track for the upcoming week. Spend however long you want on cooking your meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and when you are done, put the meals into separate containers and stock the fridge. If you know you have food at home that is already prepared and just needs to be heated up, you are less likely to eat out or eat something unhealthy.
I make up huge pots of soup. I freeze the soup in bowls, with several servings in each bowl, and I keep a couple of different kinds of soup thawed and ready in the refrigerator. Usually, I add canned beans to my soups, for added protein. For Italian soups, I add vegetable pasta. I read the ingredients carefully to make sure there is no flour in the pasta. When my kids were little, I kept chili and spaghetti sauce in the freezer. All I had to do was thaw the chili or the sauce. If it was spaghetti sauce, I threw a spaghetti squash in the oven.
Don’t buy the foods you know are unhealthy
This tip may sound irrelevant or obvious, but it can be SO helpful! The saying “out of sight, out of mind” can be applied here because it’s so true! If you do not have processed foods in your kitchen at home, then you will not be so inclined to eat them. Processed foods are things like chips, Pop Tarts, sweet snacks, fast food, lunch meat, and many more. They have excess salt, sugar, and Omega 6 oils that are very bad for the body. Read the labels! If you don’t know what it is, don’t buy it!
Food Swaps
Deciding to eat healthier does not mean that you have to give up the foods you love. Whenever you make your meals, try to come up with healthier alternatives, or swaps, to make the meal better for you. For example, if you want to use butter while cooking, try using olive oil. If you are having a salad, opt for an Omega 3-rich oil and vinegar dressing or squirt lemon juice on your salad instead of store-bought sauces. Sauté onions, garlic and other vegetables in water or an Omega 3-rich oil (plant-based oils such as olive, avocado, nut oils, seed oils). Minor changes like this may seem unimportant, but they will help you in the long run with consistency. Your brain will thank you for the Omega 3-rich oils because that is the best fuel for your brain. Scientists, such as Neuroscientist Dr. David Perlmutter, tell us that we can avoid dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease, with our diets. Omega 3-rich oils are one essential key to good brain health.
My personal choices
My body feels good when I choose a mostly plant-based diet. When I choose that pecan filled brownie, I feel great for a short time, usually until I brush my teeth. Later I feel like crap. My body lets me know that it doesn’t like sugar, flour or vegetable oils (Omega 6 oils). However, my body does like honey! When I gave up calorie counting, my life and health got much better. The more sugar-free beans I eat, the more weight I lose (about 10 pounds every 6 months for a total of about 50 pounds).
My advice?
Listen to your body. When in doubt, eat plants, Omega 3-rich oils (plant oils) and plenty of joint juice (water). Explore iThrive, Dr. Peter D’Adamo’s books on Geno Type, Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s cookbook, and Neuroscientist Dr. David Perlmutter’s books.
