3 Small Ways to Switch to a Healthier Diet

Chances are, you’re more than familiar with slow and steady practices winning the race. But this race isn’t against the clock; it’s about long-term changes that are meant to be for the better. When it comes to your health, essentially, any choice you make today can impact you tomorrow. If you decide to drink nothing but cola today rather than drinking yourself healthy with water, then tomorrow you might have a lot of bloats. 

The same goes for food; if you eat a salad today, you’ll most likely feel great tomorrow. If you have eight hours of sleep, you’ll most likely feel refreshed for the coming days. Overall, when it comes to living a healthy life, it all needs to be fairly gradual. So, here are small ways you can expect to switch to a healthier diet.

Start By Adding More Fresh Greens and Fruits to Your Meals

When it comes to eating a healthier diet, it’s give and take. You need to take away sugars, but at the same time, you can replace them with healthier ones. You need to take away junk food, like potato chips, but instead, switch it out for a baked potato. Overall, it’s give and take, so why not give by adding more fruits and veggies to your meals? They are also low in calories and contain healthy fats, which can help you feel full.

Try to fill half your plate with vegetables and a quarter of your plate with fruit at each meal. Keep fresh, frozen, or canned fruits and vegetables on hand for quick snacks. You can even use them in cooked dishes, such as soups and stews. Overall, it doesn’t need to be a massive change, such as eating a salad, but instead, you can do something like chicken, a baked potato, and corn and an apple for a snack. You could even start with just making snack swaps before you fully embrace adding more whole foods to your diet. Overall, just go at it slow so it can stick longer. 

Avoid Thinking of Foods as “Off-limits”

As stated earlier, it’s important to have a give-and-take relationship slowly with your diet. But making foods an absolute no-go may cause more harm than good. Think about it, if you’re restricting yourself from the things you love, then they’re only going to be more tempting. Don’t think of junk food as the forbidden fruit. Just think about it as “it’s okay to indulge in this sometimes.” This mindset alone is restricting but instead helps put in the idea that moderation is okay. 

Don’t Forget What You Drink

If you’re drinking nothing but colas and juices daily, having to make the switch to water can feel pretty challenging, right? So instead, just slowly integrating water is going to be essential. You can start with one glass of water or even flavored water and go from there. But of course, there are going to be things that you might want to keep in mind, like the quality of the iron water filter, the taste, and even the convenience factor. For the most part, having cold water in your fridge will immediately help you make the switch. But of course, it allows for keeping hydrated and building up sustainable habits.