Practice Healthy Eating Today

By: Paul Smythe Click author's name for more of his/her articles

Health experts agree that the secret to healthy eating is variety, balance and moderation. Although it may seem scary or difficult at first, the best way to practice healthy eating is to start today. Here are some tips to help you out.

Tips on What to Eat

• Eat a variety of foods that are rich in nutrients. Remember, your body needs more than 40 different nutrients, and there is no single product that provides them all. Therefore, your food selection everyday should include a wide assortment of energy food or carbohydrates, like bread and pasta; protein-rich food, like meat, legumes and fish, and food rich in vitamins and minerals, like fruits and vegetables.

• Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Studies show that most Americans don't get enough of these food items in their daily diet. Have six servings of cereals, bread, rice, or pasta everyday, and make sure that at least 50% are whole grains. Eat at least 3 servings of fruits and vegetables everyday. If you don't like eating vegetables, find a healthy restaurant that serves them up in new ways, or look through various cookbooks for ways to prepare them.

• Choose low-fat options. If you eat fatty meat or creamy dairy products everyday, you are probably getting too much fat. Choose skim or low-fat options for milk and other dairy products. For meat, choose lean cuts like flank steak. Choosing low-fat options consistently will reduce your fat intake significantly.

Tips on What Not to Eat

• Avoid food items which are high in fat, sugar or salt. All of us have favorite food that fall under this category. Perhaps you can’t resist a slice of sinful chocolate cake or greasy fried chicken and potatoes. If you can’t eliminate these from your diet, just reduce the number of times you indulge in them.

• Recognize your diet pitfalls. In order to do so, you have to first know what your eating habits are. Get a notebook and write down every single to thing you eat for the next three days. Afterwards, check your eating patterns. Do you use creamy sauces or butter a lot? Do you have chocolate after every meal? If so, recognize your weaknesses and try to find healthier substitutes.

Tips on How to Eat

• Eat regular meals. Don’t skip meals because the kind of hunger that follows after skipping meals is usually difficult to control. After skipping a meal, a person is more prone to over-eat, or to eat the wrong kind of food. Make sure you eat all three meals at regular intervals, and snack lightly between meals to help curb your hunger.

• Eat moderate portions. Discipline yourself into eating reasonable portions. Research the recommended serving sizes for each food group, and remember that the amount that you should eat would depend on your weight and calorie needs.

• Balance your choices of food over time. Realistically, you can’t ensure that you get the right amount of each food group at every single meal on every single day. If your lunch is very high in fat, choose a low-fat side dish. Make sure that your eating pattern over time is still healthy.

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