Many of us have tried dozens of times to eat a healthier diet to no great success. Don’t worry, it’s not that complicated! By making just a few simple changes, you’ll find your body thanking you from inside and out. It’s more of a long-distance run than a mad dash, though. Start with these small moves to get things rolling.
First and foremost, a bit of order.
Our bodies get confused if we eat at different times every day. Take your time when you eat, chew well and don’t jump into bed the minute you’ve put down your fork. Start the day with a good breakfast (you’ll find plenty of ideas here) and eat three proper meals a day, plus a mid-morning and afternoon snack of fresh fruit, a handful of nuts or a yogurt and raisins.
Talking of fruit…
We know that it can be a bit boring, but fruit is packed with goodness, especially if you eat the skin. Check out these posts with some refreshing ideas of what to do with fruit and some alternatives in the form of smoothies or lollies and you’ll soon see that you can have all kinds of fun with fruit!
Keep yourself hydrated.
Your body needs water and you have to make sure it gets it. You can liven things up by making some aromatic water with mango, pineapple, strawberries and mint leaves or cucumber and lemon. You can also get your water intake from fruit and vegetables, but avoid fizzy and sugary drinks.
Forget about avoiding certain foods.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: the key to a healthy diet is variety. Don’t go down the path of cutting out carbohydrates or fats or going mad with gluten (provided you’re not gluten intolerant, of course), meat or dairy products. Eat a bit of everything in moderation.
Moderation is key.
When it comes to eating things like red meat (white meat such as chicken or turkey is better) or salt (vinaigrettes and spices are better). And cut out as much saturated fat as possible in favour of unsaturated fats, which you’ll find in nuts, blue fish and olive oil.
Get your fibre fix!
Fibre is vital for your digestive system. Wholegrain cereals are always more nutritional, because they keep all the germ and bran. So go for multigrain bread, wholemeal pasta and brown rice. You’ll also find fibre in fresh fruit, dried fruit such as prunes and raisins and vegetables like artichokes and spinach.
More baking and less frying.
How we cook our food is just as important as what we eat: it’s no good choosing healthy foods and then cooking them unhealthily. Boiling, steaming, grilling and lightly frying or sautéing food in a little olive oil is much better than frying it. And make the most of your oven by cooking food en papillote, in baking-paper parcels.
