10 Simple Tips to Make Your Diet Healthier
You can eat healthier by making a few swaps, such as choosing whole grains over refined grains and eating more protein.
A diet rich in fruits and vegetables has been scientifically proven to provide numerous health benefits, such as reducing your risk of several chronic diseases and keeping your body healthy.
However, making major changes to your diet can sometimes seem very overwhelming. Instead of making big changes, it may be better to start with a few smaller ones. And it’s likely more manageable to start with just one thing, rather than all of them at once.
This article discusses 15 small changes that can make a regular diet a little bit healthier. Just remember you don’t need to try to do them all at once. Instead, you may want to add these changes into your life over time.
1. Slow down
The pace at which you eat influences how much you eat, as well as how likely you are to gain weight.
In fact, studies comparing different eating speeds show that fast eaters are much more likely to eat more and have a higher body mass index (BMI) than slow eaters (Trusted Source, Trusted Source, Trusted Source).
Your appetite, how much you eat, and how full you get are all controlled by hormones. Hormones signal to your brain whether you’re hungry or full.
However, it takes about 20 minutes for your brain to receive these messages. That’s why eating more slowly may give your brain the time it needs to perceive that you’re full.
Studies have confirmed this, showing that eating slowly may reduce the number of calories you consume at meals and help you lose weight (Trusted Source).
Eating slowly is also linked to more thorough chewing, which has also been linked to improved weight control (Trusted Source).
So, simply eating slower and chewing more often may help you eat less.
2. Don’t shop without a list
There are two important strategies to employ when you go grocery shopping: Make your shopping list ahead of time and don’t go to the store hungry.
Not knowing exactly what you need makes room for impulse buying, while hunger can cause you to toss even more low nutrient foods into your shopping cart.
That’s why the best strategy is to plan ahead and write down what you need beforehand. By doing this and sticking to your list, you’ll not only buy healthier items to keep around the house, but you’ll also save money.
3. Replace your favorite fast food restaurant
Eating out doesn’t have to involve unhealthy foods. Consider upgrading your favorite fast food restaurant to one with healthier options.
There are many healthy fast food restaurants and fusion kitchens offering healthy and delicious meals.
They may just be a great replacement for your favorite burger or pizza joint. What’s more, you can generally get these meals at a very decent price.
4. Try at least one new healthy recipe per week
Deciding what to have for dinner can be a constant cause of frustration, which is why many people tend to use the same recipes again and again. Chances are you’ve been cooking the same recipes on autopilot for years.
Whether these are healthy or unhealthy recipes, trying something new can be a fun way to add more diversity to your diet.
Aim to try making a new healthy recipe at least once per week. This can change up your food and nutrient intakes and hopefully add some new and nutritious recipes to your routine.
Alternatively, try to make a healthier version of a favorite recipe by experimenting with new ingredients, herbs, and spices.
5. Choose baked potatoes over french fries
Potatoes are very filling and a common side to many dishes. That said, the method in which they’re prepared largely determines their impact on health.
For starters, 3.5 ounces (100 grams) of baked potatoes contain 93 calories, while the same amount of french fries contains over 3 times as many (333 calories).
Furthermore, deep-fried french fries generally contain harmful compounds such as aldehydes and trans fats.
Replacing your french fries with baked or boiled potatoes is a great way to shave off calories and avoid these unhealthy compounds.
6. Eat your greens first
A good way to ensure that you eat your greens is to enjoy them as a starter.
By doing so, you’ll most likely finish all of your greens while you’re at your hungriest. This may cause you to eat less of other, perhaps less healthy, components of the meal later.
It may lead you to eat fewer and healthier calories overall, which could result in weight loss.
Plus, eating vegetables before a carb-rich meal has been shown to have beneficial effects on blood sugar levels.
It slows down the speed at which carbs are absorbed into the bloodstream and may benefit both short- and long-term blood sugar control in people with diabetes (trusted source).
7. Cook at home more often
Try to make a habit of cooking at home most nights rather than eating out.
For one, it’s easier on your budget.
Second, by cooking your food yourself, you’ll know exactly what is in it. You won’t have to wonder about any hidden unhealthy or high calorie ingredients.
Also, by cooking large servings, you’ll also have leftovers for the next day, ensuring a healthy meal then, too.
Finally, cooking at home has been associated with a lower risk of obesity and improved diet quality, especially among children (trusted source).
8. Get the salad dressing on the side
Simply getting to the point of being able to order a salad at a restaurant is a great achievement for many.
However, not all salads are equally healthy. In fact, some salads are smothered in high calorie dressings, which may make the salads even higher in calories than other items on the menu.
Asking for the dressing on the side makes it a lot easier to control the portion size and amount of calories that you consume.
9. Become more active
Good nutrition and exercise often go hand in hand. Exercise has been shown to improve your mood, as well as decrease feelings of depression, anxiety, and stress (Trusted Source).
These are the exact feelings that are most likely to contribute to emotional and binge eating (Trusted Source).
Aside from strengthening your muscles and bones, exercise may help you (Trusted Source):
- lose weight
- increase your energy levels
- reduce your risk of chronic diseases
- improve your sleep
Aim to do about 30 minutes of moderate to high intensity exercise each day, or simply take the stairs and go on short walks whenever possible.
10. Choose whole grain bread instead of refined
You can easily make your diet a bit healthier by choosing whole grain bread in place of traditional refined grain bread.
Refined grains have been associated with many health issues. Whole grains, on the other hand, have been linked to a variety of health benefits, including a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer (Trusted Source, Trusted Source, Trusted Source).
They’re also a good source of:
- fiber
- B vitamins
- minerals such as zinc, iron, magnesium, and manganese.
There are many varieties of whole grain bread available, and many of them even taste better than refined bread.
Just make sure to read the label to ensure that your bread is made with whole grains only, not a mixture of whole and refined grains. It’s also preferable that the bread contains whole seeds or grains.
source: healthline.com