Doctors and nutritionist often say to eat healthy and to eat nourishing foods.  Choosing healthy foods can be a lifestyle choice and not a quick fix.  It is a long-term commitment towards living a healthy and fulfilling life.  The question becomes, what does eating healthy really mean?  Let’s look at a few ideas.

Since eating habits can be a lifestyle choice instead of a fad that lasts one to two weeks, these ideas work better if not implemented all at once.  I suggest that you start with the first one and then pick others from the list that interest you the most. 

Healthy Eating

• Allow yourself to be on a journey
  • Time to learn, experiment and try new ideas
  • Permission and time to create new habits
  • Provide grace, it is not all or nothing
• Cook as often as you can
  • Oversee ingredients, know what goes into the meal
  • Eat out less often, eat at home more often
  • Use stocked items to build a meal with fresh ingredients
• Practice meal prepping
  • Plan one meal, repeat
  • Develop favorite healthy recipes to fall back on
  • Use seasonal fruits and vegetables
• Read labels
  • 5 ingredients or less, can pronounce or know the ingredients
  • Be aware of sugar, seed oils, and salt
  • Make selections based on ingredients not advertisements
• Stock freezer and pantry
  • Frozen fruits and vegetables
  • Canned meats (tuna, salmon)
  • Beans, olives, quinoa
• Eat fewer highly processed foods
  • Real whole foods in natural forms (baked potatoes instead of potato chips or French fries, fresh fruit salad instead of a fruit salad made with cool whip, mayo, marshmallows, etc.)
• Slightly processed foods such as oatmeal, frozen vegetables are ok
• Vegetables and hummus can replace chips and dip

Which healthy eating idea interests you?  Using a coach can be a great support and help to clarify what does eating healthy really mean.