December 8, 2015 12:01 PM EST
Healthy habits are small choices that you make each day that support your larger goals and vision of living well. This list will give you some ideas on how to turn your ideas into action steps that move towards a higher quality of life. Keep it simple when it comes to food choices. That is what works when you balance a busy life with healthy eating habits.
- Plan meals ahead. You know that if you have a plan for the week you make better choices. Set up a time each week to plan out your meals, snacks and needs so that you have healthy choices on hand when you need to eat.
- Use a list at the grocery store. This will save you time, money and avoid impulse decisions at the store.
- Buy the bulk of your food on the outer isles of the grocery store in produce and protein. Avoid the center isles where the processed food lives.
- Read labels. Start looking for added sugar with words that end in –ose: Frutose, dextrose, glactose, or syrup, barley malt, fruit juice concentrate.
- Stop drinking soda. This is the one thing that could make the biggest difference to your health. Diet soda with artificial sweetener is no better when it comes to keeping you in a cycle of craving sugar.
- Drink more water. Have a water bottle or glass of water close to you. Just the habit of having water in front of you will increase your intake. Ideal is 8 cups/ day.
- Cook ahead or cook double portions so that on hectic days you have food ready when you get home or leftovers to pull out of the freezer.
- Eat out less at restaurants. You can both save money and calories by cooking your own food. When you do eat out- choose foods that are baked, grilled and not fried. Ask for salad dressing on the side so you can control how much you use.
- Make a large pot of brown rice on the weekend when you have more time. That rice will last all week to add to your protein and vegetable dinners. Try quinoa as a grain that is healthy and easy to cook as your side for meals.
- Make open face sandwiches that only use one slice of bread- you can have lettuce on top to hold everything in. Pack your sandwich with protein and veggies. Try mustard instead of mayonnaise to flavor it.
- Avoid late night snacks. Put up a closed sign in your kitchen as a reminder
Here are some ideas of healthy snacks that you can grab and go with.
- Fruit- it is a fast food
- Vegetables with hummus
- Cheese- like mozzarella sticks
- Almonds or nuts that are raw and unsalted
- Protein shake
- Hard-boiled egg
- Yogurt- Greek – plain- you can add your own vanilla or nuts
The bottom line is to make your food choices ahead of time so your system makes it easy to eat healthy at the end of the day when you are tired or low on energy.
Keep it simple and start with small changes that fit your needs. If you need more ideas on how to simplify your life, contact VetVine for a coaching session with Gwen.
