When you’re starting out with new lifestyle changes and habits, it’s important to allow yourself room to navigate. You don’t have to tackle everything at once. It’s a journey of adopting healthier eating habits, and that requires patience and time. If you find yourself veering towards an all-or-nothing mindset, acknowledge it as diet-centric thinking, which isn’t sustainable. Instead, grant yourself the freedom to proceed at your own pace and embrace the learning process.
Healthier Eating Habits Looks Different for Everyone
You can be a healthy eater and be a vegan, vegetarian, meat-eater, weight lifter, yogi, and so on. Your lifestyle will affect the type of healthy diet you eat. A young student, working mom, and young professional may all eat healthy diets, but their plates will look very different based on their daily lives. The key is to eat real, whole, unprocessed foods as close to their natural state as possible, while enjoying the food you choose.
Avoid Highly Processed Foods Cultivating Healthier Eating Habits
Transitioning away from highly processed “franken-foods,” manufactured in factories and loaded with concentrated fats, sugars, and salts, is essential for cultivating healthier eating habits. These processed foods can desensitize your palate, hindering your ability to appreciate the natural flavors of real, whole foods. Take small steps towards eliminating these processed items to rediscover the nuanced and delightful tastes of fresh, whole ingredients.
Practice Meal Prepping
You don’t need an Instagram-ready fridge to benefit from meal prepping. Simply getting in the habit of cooking once and eating multiple times can save you a lot of time and sanity. Start small, like making a big batch of soup or preparing overnight oats.
Stock Your Pantry and Freezer
Keeping healthy staples on hand in your pantry and freezer can be a lifesaver when you’re short on time. Some good items to have include canned fish, beans, frozen fruits and veggies, and pre-cooked grains. This allows you to quickly pull together a nutritious meal.
Stay Easy
When trying to improve your eating, it’s easy to get militant and push yourself too hard. Instead, learn to be patient, kind, and curious with yourself on the journey. There’s no finish line – this is about creating a more intimate relationship with yourself and your body. Give yourself permission to learn and adapt at your own pace.
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