Are you trying to eat healthier but have no idea where to start? You’re not alone. Eating right is challenging for most people, and it can feel like there are more rules than guidelines when it comes to healthy eating. What foods should you avoid? Which ones should you eat in abundance? Are there any sneaky hidden carbs that you need to be on the lookout for? If you’re feeling a little bit confused about all of this, don’t worry - so are most people! There are an almost infinite number of ways that you can modify your diet, but keeping things simple is always the best place to start. Healthy eating doesn’t have to be complicated - in fact, it shouldn’t be complicated at all. With that said, if you want to learn how to eat healthy and feel great as a result, keep reading! Here are some of our top tips for improving your diet.
Change Up Your Cooking Techniques
Healthy eating isn’t just about what you choose to eat -- it’s also about how you prepare those foods. You should always try to cook your food healthily, avoiding anything that adds unnecessary calories or fat. Frying, for example, is universally unhealthy. Instead, you should try to focus on the following healthy cooking techniques:
- Baking - Baking is a great way to cook many different types of foods, especially things like fish and pastries. The steam from a baking pan helps food retain moisture, which means that it will stay nice and tender even when fully cooked.
- Broiling - While broiling and grilling are similar techniques, they have one major difference: broiling happens in the oven, whereas grilling happens out in the open air. Grilling is a great way to cook meat, but it’s not always the best option. You might want to try broiling instead - especially if you’re in an apartment with a smaller grill.
- Baking in the oven - Baking is a good technique if you want to keep the meat juicy while making it healthier. It's also ideal if you want to prepare something quickly and with little fuss like fish, pastries, and vegetables.
- Frying - Frying is a great way to cook a wide variety of foods, including meat, fish, vegetables, and certain types of rice. It’s similar to baking in the oven, but it involves a higher amount of fat and a higher temperature.
Watch What You Eat
Eating healthy isn’t just about choosing the right foods -- it’s also about how much you eat. You shouldn’t overeat, but you also shouldn’t deprive yourself either. As a general rule of thumb, you want to eat until you’re comfortably full, but no more than that. If you want to make sure you’re eating the right amount, keep an eye on the following food portions:
- Carbohydrates - are essential to a healthy diet, but they also have a tendency to be overeaten. The recommended daily intake of carbohydrates is between 100 and 200 grams, depending on your age and activity level.
- Protein - is another important part of any balanced diet, but it’s also a food that can be over-eaten. The recommended daily intake for protein is about 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight.
- Fats - Fats are essential to a healthy diet, but they also have a tendency to be overeaten. The recommended daily intake of fats is 20 grams.
Try Something New
You might think that eating healthy is all about eating new foods, but this isn’t always the case. Sometimes, it’s just as important to try new ways of pairing foods together. For example, if you eat a balanced diet that includes meat, potatoes, and vegetables, but you don’t try new ways of pairing those foods together, then you’re still not eating a balanced diet. You should also be sure to eat a variety of different foods to ensure that you’re getting enough vitamins and minerals. If you eat the same few foods all the time, then you run the risk of not getting enough vitamins and minerals out of your diet.