Healthy Eating...Is it Possible?

Choosing to eat healthy foods can be challenging for a variety of reasons.  Sometimes it is difficult to choose healthy foods because they don't taste like the processed diet we have become used to.  For some people, it seems very expensive to choose to eat fresh, healthy foods on a daily basis.  Other times we assume that healthy foods take too much time and preparation to suit our busy, on-the-go lifestyles; and besides, our kids won't eat vegetables anyway, right?  When we give reasons like this to explain our poor dietary choices, do we really understand what we imply by them?  We imply that our health is not nearly as important as spending money on other things, and that it is not worth a little extra time to maintain it, nor is it important enough for us to instill in our children that their health actually matters.  I say this knowing full well that I have used these same excuses at different times in my life...but let's call them what they are...excuses.

If most of us are completely honest with ourselves, we know we should be eating more fruits and veggies (7-11 servings, or thereabouts...), drinking more water, eating less refined sugar (i.e. white flour/sugar products...), and getting the proper amount of sleep, exercise, and time with our families on a daily basis.  We cannot move forward in pursuing good health until we come clean by identifying what we should be doing, and what we are doing - which are usually two very different things.  Once we realize that our eating habits are not what they should be, many of us tend to want to change things quickly, which often leads to crash dieting.

Please let me to be clear about this point...crash dieting sets us up for failure, absolute failure.  The ONLY way to improve our health is by eating macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, and fats) in their PROPER PROPORTION!!  A crash diet attempts to dramatically decrease one of these three macronutrient categories to give the illusion of weight loss and/or health, but they do not truly improve health or give lasting weight loss.  Health comes through the "old fashioned way" of eating right, something most of our parents attempted to instill in us from an early age, but many of us left those ideas behind us when our lives got busy as adults.

I want to give some suggestions to help realign our eating habits with what they should be.  These are things that have worked for me and my husband, and many of our friends.  See what will work for you and your family, but remember, sometimes it is just a hard choice of eating the right thing because you know it is good for you, while saying "no" to unhealthy foods because you know they are bad for you.

1. Buy lots of fresh fruits and vegetables or plant a garden.  Yes, they do cost more than what you will buy in a boxed meal; however, they are more versatile for cooking, and great for snacking.  Also, remind yourself that eating fruits and veggies leads to better health, which means less money spent on over-the-counter and prescription medications, and trips to the doctor.  If you choose to plant a garden, it is alot of fun...and this is coming from a person who does NOT have a green thumb at all and had to plant all her veggies in pots!!

2. Cook at home and double up on meals.  When you prepare meals at home, double the recipe.  This way you can put half in the freezer and have it the next week.

3. Pack your own lunch.  Hmm...I can already hear the groans, but come on!  This takes all of 10 minutes before you go to be at night to prepare your lunch for work the next day!  And think of all those fresh fruits and veggies you bought that you can include in your lunch.

4. Plan your meals and cooking schedule a week in advance.  Plan your meals in advance and then work with your spouse or room mates to divide up which nights to cook meals.  This worked especially well for my family; I had a job where I worked 40++++++++ hours in a week and often on weekends, this saved us from eating out all the time.

5. Learn to really like your vegetables, or invest in a juicer, or products like Juice Plus.  If you don't like the taste of raw vegetables, you can buy a juicer and find some great recipes to juice your vegetables.  Juice Plus is another option where fruits and vegetables are juiced and dried at low temperatures to be taken as a capsule or chewable.  My family has chosen to do all three of these things because we have really learned to LOVE our fruits AND vegetables, and figure, the more we eat, the better!

6.  Teach your children the value of fruits, vegetables, and healthy eating in general.  Yes, I understand children are picky, I used to be one of them!  But fast food hasn't been around forever, right?  Kids haven't been picky and only able to eat fast food since the beginning of time because it didn't always exist.  You are your kids' best example for healthy living and eating; give them the opportunity to do what you say AND do what you do.

7. Give up prepackaged dinners and lunches.  Boxed meals are simply code for empty carbohydrates and lots of salt.  Who really wants high blood pressure in a box simply because it was easier than making a sandwich?

8. Keep track of your food categories.  Each day, 60% of our calories should come from carbohydrates, 20% from protein, and 20% from fat.  You want to stick with the healthy choices for these categories; for example:

• Good carbohydrate examples: things made with whole wheat grain, brown rice, fruits, vegetables (you want lots of your carbs coming from fruits and veggies!!)
• Good protein examples: lean meats, chicken, fish (much easier to cook than you might think; if I can cook fish, anyone can!)
• Good fat examples: different types of nuts, olive oil, coconut oil, avacadoes

9. Keep eating out to a minimum.  I recommend no more than once a week at most, but less than that if you can avoid it.  As you start eating healthier, your body develops a "taste" for healthy foods, and less of a "taste" for processed foods, so eating out less often becomes easier.

10. Give your groceries the budget they deserve. My philosophy is to pay whatever is necessary at the grocery store to eat healthy, and then the rest of my budget falls into place.  Prioritize your health over getting those new clothes, or new "               " (fill in the blank).  Your health is just more important than things, so treat it that way by buying what your body needs.

Make a commitment to be healthy inside and out.  Eating well is just as large a part of health as exercising and other things.  Bring your family along with you on the journey towards better health, it is always better to have company and accountability.  It is amazing how much better you feel when you have the right kind food in your body on a daily basis!