Healthy Eating Tips!

It's all about a steady and slow process in reaching a simple diet!

• Steady...every single change matters, so don't be overly concerned with changing every little item in your diet
• Slow...it's important to take the process slowly because in changing your entire diet at once you can shock your body and it'll be hard to maintain the diet for a long period of time
• Simple...don't be concerned with the amount of calories and the size of your portions at first, think about the types of foods you're eating (Are they fresh? Are they pigmented?)

Red...
...try to substitute some of your red meat intake with red beans
...red beans are full of fibre, potassium, high quality protein, and decrease the calories and fat you intake
...they'll leave you full longer, and at the same time decrease your risk of diabetes, obesity, and cancer

Green...
...add some more veggies into your diet
...green vegetables help to curb your hunger, and are great as finger food snacks
...they help to maintain your blood pressure because they're low in sodium and high in potassium

Sugar...

...avoid excess amounts of processed sugar (most commonly found in sugary drinks)

...try to rely on water (everyone needs different amounts due to varied urine and sweat loss as well as fat vs. muscle mass differences)

...my best advice is just to sip it constantly throughout the day!

Butter...

...use nut butters instead of dairy butters
...nut butters have less saturated fat to help keep your arteries unclogged
...they're full of Vitamin E, magnesium, folate, protein, and fibre
...you'll decrease your body mass index, blood pressure, and waist circumference

However, it's not just what you eat but how you eat...
...eat with others to model healthy eating and to prevent yourself from over eating
...take the time to chew your food and actually enjoy it
...be aware and listen to your body, when it tells you it's getting full don't continue eating
...eat breakfast within an hour of waking up to get your metabolism up and running
...eat smaller meals throughout the day, but be careful to not turn this into endless grazing!

Munching...
...munching is good to keep your metabolism up-and-running throughout the day
...if you're not careful munching can turn into endless grazing, and if this becomes the case you can set snack times for throughout the day
...chia seeds are a good food to sprinkle on your snacks because they offer omega-3 fats, fibre, and protein

Try to set a simple goal to begin your healthy eating lifestyle! A good one is to not depend on your multi-vitamin supplements. If you're taking vitamins try to find foods high in the extra nutrients you need, and see if you can get your vitamins from your diet and not from depending on a supplement!

Enjoy!
R