Sometimes the idea of making healthier food choices can seem overwhelming. There are so many fad diets out there, and they all seem to offer a miracle cure for your unhealthy eating habits. Food that's good for you sometimes seems more expensive, too. Fortunately, you don't have to follow a complicated diet plan or break the bank, in order to make more healthful choices.
Common Sense
Choose fresh options as often as possible. When you buy packaged, prepared meals, you're paying for the packaging along with a lot of preservatives and additives. You can often make the same meals at home for less money and with more nutritional value. Things that are found in nature such as fruits and grains are going to be more healthful than processed foods. Avoid eating too much of any one thing, but don't deprive yourself of the occasional treat.
Variety
A large part of your diet should be fruits, vegetables and grains. If you picture your plate as a graph, half of it should be filled with fruits and vegetables, with the majority of that being fruit. A little over a quarter of it should be whole grains, with protein and dairy making up the remainder. Choose fruits and vegetables in a variety of colors; the colors indicate different health benefits. When making a salad, for example, skip the iceberg lettuce and opt for dark, leafy greens and add bright red tomatoes, orange carrots, purple cabbage and other tasty veggies. Rather than white bread, look for a hearty loaf made with whole grains such as oats. Choose whole-wheat pasta over the traditional kind, and consume different types of protein such as fish, tofu and beans and legumes.
Simplicity
You don't need a lot of fancy ingredients or elaborate recipes to create meals that are tasty and good for you. Keep your kitchen stocked with some basic ingredients to make things easy. If you have an assortment of vegetables, it's a breeze to make a salad for lunch. Keep a few boxes of whole-wheat dinner roll mix or corn muffin mix handy for an easy side. A chicken breast seasoned with herbs and pepper and baked in the oven, a salad of mixed greens, and some sliced fresh peaches combine to make a healthy dinner that takes very little preparation. Yogurt with granola and fresh berries is a tasty breakfast that takes almost no time at all to prepare. Make meals in double batches, and freeze half for later use to make things even easier.
Healthy Eating on a Budget
Most people don't have an unlimited food budget, and unfortunately the cheapest foods are often the least healthy. Shop discount grocery stores, and purchase the generic equivalent of name-brand favorites. Check your local farmers' market for deals on in-season produce. Buy more of your favorites than you need when you find them on sale, and freeze the extra for later use. Avoid prepackaged foods such as salads, and buy the ingredients separately, unless the convenience foods are on sale. Remember that a tomato is a tomato, whether you purchase it at the discount store or the high-end grocery. As long as the food is fresh, let cost be the deciding factor.
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