How to Improve Your Diet for a Healthier Lifestyle

It’s common knowledge that the food you eat directly affects your health. If you want to make changes to your lifestyle to improve your well-being, then your diet is a great place to start. For some people, it helps to think of food as fuel for their body. If you use high-quality fuel to run your vehicle, then the engine will run more efficiently and smoothly. The same thing applies to your body. With this in mind, here are some tips to help you to improve your diet.

Losing Weight or Living Healthily?

When it comes to food, often people think about going on a diet or cleaning up their diet strictly to lose weight. For many people, losing weight can improve their health and prevent harmful diseases occuring. If you are considered overweight, once you do drop weight you’ll enjoy the energy boost you have as well as noticing changes to your mood. Not to mention reducing your likelihood of developing severe chronic health conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes. Losing weight can also boost your self-esteem.

However, it isn’t always about the weight and body size certainly doesn’t determine overall health. Weight loss isn’t the only reason to rethink your diet.

Most people could stand to improve their diet. Yep, even the experts! In some cases, being underweight can be worse for your health than being slightly overweight, especially if you primarily eat food that isn’t very nutrient-dense, commonly known as junk food or bad food. Whether you’re changing your diet to lose weight or not, improving the food you eat will improve your general health and give you far more energy.

Your Relationship With Food

One of the things that impact your diet is your relationship with food. For example, if you only think about food as something that you need to control so that you don’t gain weight, then you won’t garner any pleasure from eating it. It’s either a guilty pleasure or the enemy. This can lead to unhealthy or even dangerous eating habits.

In extreme cases, fixing your relationship with food might need professional help. However, it’s increasingly common for people to have a poor relationship with what they eat. If you see food as something that you can enjoy and that builds you up, then it’s easier to eat mindfully.

Even food that isn’t loaded with nutrients doesn’t have to be the enemy. If you eat a lot of processed foods, or food high in fat, sugar, or salt, then you may need to reframe this food as a something you eat occasionally, rather than an ordinary part of your diet. This doesn’t mean that you have to cut it out completely, but eat it on occasions, rather than regularly. Think the 80/20 rule, or some days, the 60/40 rule.

If you’re a chronic snacker, it’s a great chance to rethink what you are snacking on! Again, we aren’t saying cut out the chocolate or the chips. Instead, we like to think about what could be added to snack time. Have some chips, but pair it with a few carrot sticks and some hummus for a nutrition boost! Craving chocolate? Great, have a piece of fruit and then eat the chocolate if the craving is still there.

Another thing to consider is how you prepare your food. Processed foods, ready meals, and restaurant meals might be tasty, but it comes with a hefty price of sugar, salt, and fat. If you make food from scratch at home, then you can better control what goes into it. Not only that, but you can adjust it to your liking and learn a valuable skill. There’s nothing quite like a home-cooked meal. Small changes lead to big changes when it comes to living a healthier lifestyle.

Cutting Down on Meat

One great way to improve your diet is to cut down on your meat consumption. Some people go completely vegetarian or plant-based, but if you don’t want to make this jump, you can still reduce the amount of meat you eat. 

Meat does contain protein and other nutrients that are good for you, but many people eat far more meat than necessary for these benefits. Red and processed meat can increase your risk of heart disease, stroke, or diabetes. 

The easiest way to reduce your meat consumption is to have smaller portions of meat and balance your plate. You can also have a few meatless meals a week. Some cuisines are naturally meat-free, such as Middle Eastern or Asian diets. Other meals can be easily adjusted to include beans and pulses instead of meat. 

Rather than meat being the star of the show, focus on vegetables instead. They contain plenty of nutrients and bags of flavor. If you treat them right, such as in this sautéed portobello mushrooms recipe, then you will be more than satisfied with delicious vegetables.

We hope these tips were helpful and that you feel empowered to improve your diet for a healthier lifestyle.

As always, if you need some assistance, apply for our 8-week program today!