Wednesday, September 15, 2021

Raise your hand if you are guilty of not always following healthy eating habits. Really??? Because I have both of my hands raised.

I have good intentions. No, make that I have great intentions, but I live alone, I'm tired of cooking, and sometimes I'm just tired period.

However, I know how important a healthy diet is to not only our physical well-being but also to our mental well-being.

fresh produce

A healthy diet helps to protect us against non-communicable diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. 

A healthy diet, along with exercise, helps to keep us at a healthy weight.

A Healthy Adult Diet

I found the following recommendations from The World Health Organization.

1) Eating five portions of fruits and vegetables each day helps to ensure that we are getting an adequate intake of dietary fiber. 

Eating fresh fruits and vegetables that are in season is optimal, but let's face it we don't always have access to fresh and with Covid I many of us have cut down on the number of times we grocery shop each month.

If you can't get fresh, frozen is the next best. Drop some frozen fruit with some oat milk into your blender and yum, you have a delicious and nutritious smoothie.

basket of fresh vegetables

2) Fat (I hate that word) consumption should be limited to less than 30%  of your total energy intake. Saturated fats and trans-fats should be replaced with polyunsaturated fats. 

Yes, I know how good your mom's biscuits made with lard tasted, but I am telling you to put that recipe somewhere where you (actually me) can't find it.

olive oil

3) I hate to rain on your parade, but it is also time to put away the salt shaker. I actually did this a long time ago. (pats self on back). Sodium doesn't just come from salt though, it is also found in processed foods, cheese, and bread. Uh oh, I do love cheese and bread. 

Did you know that high sodium intake along with insufficient potassium intake increases the risk of high blood pressure, which in turn increases the risk for heart disease and strokes?

spilled salt

4) The next culprit on our list is sugar. SIGH!!! But, but, but it tastes so good. Adults and children should reduce their consumption of free sugars to less than 10% of their daily energy intake, and less than 5% is even better. 

Your teeth and your body will thank you. 

Sticking To A Healthy Diet

This is probably the hardest part. Even with the best of intentions sticking to a healthy diet can be challenging. 

1) What are your expectations? It's important that your expectations are realistic or your plan may backfire. Setting a realistic goal will help to keep you from getting discouraged.

2) What is it that motivates you? Are you motivated to eat healthier because you want to lose some weight, feel healthier, or a combination of both? 

fresh peaches

3) Don't bring unhealthy foods into your home. If they aren't readily available you won't eat them. 

4) Don't beat yourself up if you backslide. We are all human and changing eating habits can be hard. 

I know how much better I feel when I eat healthier and feeling better always makes me happier.


Healthy Eating Cookbooks

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  1. What has helped me the most is having the healthy foods available. When you're tired or hungry you want to grab something and EAT and it will usually be the wrong foods if they are handy. I keep healthy snacks easy to get to and the potato chips in the lower drawer (one of my weaknesses!) Thanks for the good info.

  2. Guilty as charged! Now I'm hoping to cook more and cook foods that are better for me. I don't particularly like salty things, and I'm not as crazy about sugar anymore. Thank goodness!

  3. I am trying hard to eat fresh and more healthy foods. It is hard when you are on the go to grab or eat the right foods sometimes. With now developing stones I have to really watch what I eat especially my salt intake. Good tips. Have a great evening. xoxo Kris

  4. I do everything you mentioned…. some of the time. LOL Why can’t I be good all the time. I’ll never know. 😀

  5. I have followed a very healthy diet for a number of years now. At age 59, I'm at the weight I was in my 20's before I had children. At one time when I was in my 30's when my kids were little, I weighed 55 lbs more! Eating healthy and exercising is what it takes. Not to say I don't ever indulge in unhealthy foods. I sometimes eat pizza and I've had ice cream a couple of times this summer (I don't keep it in the house so that I have to go out for it).

    Otherwise, my basic eating habits are lots of vegetables and fruit (all organic), lean meats, limited legumes (I don't digest them well) nut butters (with no added sugar or salt or bad oils), healthy whole grains, nuts, organic eggs, unsweetened almond milk for my smoothies. I avoid hydrogenated oils (especially soybean and vegetable), food colorings, artificial ingredients, excess sodium, pre-packaged foods, MSG, etc. Basically, if you eat food in their whole "real" form, you're good. If it's made in a factory and/or has ingredients you can't pronounce - it's not food! ;-)

  6. I try my best, and I'm pretty good overall. But, there are those days....
    Cheese and bread are my two biggest weaknesses.

