You want to eat healthier foods but you struggle to believe good food can taste great. In the article below – published on Guyvorce.com – I share easy steps to master meal prep and create delicious healthy meals.
Healthy Eating Hacks
Food fuels your body and your brain. It has a dramatic impact on how you look, feel, and age. Who you are tomorrow, next month, or a year from now, is related to the foods you choose each day. It’s important to engage in healthy eating habits now for an active and hearty lifestyle for years to come.
Many of us grew up on fast food, processed foods, or family ‘comfort food’ meals. But, today, we know these fried foods and fatty cuts of meat and potatoes smothered with butter and gravy are not healthy for us. Vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, and fish are best.
The core principles of healthy eating are similar to what our ancestors used and many thrive today with this traditional style of eating, think the Mediterranean diet or Paleo like way of eating
Enjoying a healthful diet isn’t difficult and it can be fun to try new recipes and experiment with varied spices and cuisines. It’s not a diet in the popular modern media sense, it’s a diet in the traditional sense, a lifelong way of eating.
Change slowly and give yourself time to adjust. You’re doing this for the long-term, not just a few weeks or months. Don’t worry about being perfect, just strive for 80 – 90% adherence. Your nutrition intake will balance out if your overall healthy eating pattern is good.
Food for Energy
A quality food program includes foods high in nutrient density while low in calorie density. Meaning the foods provide substantial amounts of nutrients with only the necessary amount of calories – large quantities of vital nutrients per 100 calories.
Those nutrients include:
- Protein
- Fat
- Carbohydrates
- Vitamins
- Minerals
- Water
Nutrient-dense foods include veggies, fruits, and chicken breasts, turkey breasts, and other lean protein. Foods low in nutrient density are items such as donuts, soft drinks, cookies, crackers, and ice cream.
Since you eat food not nutrients though, let’s look at some ways to help you incorporate healthy food in an enjoyable manner for a lifelong diet. These guidelines are intended for healthy people, so for those with medical conditions consult your doctor for additional guidance.
Making Good Food Taste Great
Make a great meal tonight using this flexible plan below. It incorporates good flavors so meals will taste great and be healthy for you too. Consider cooking meals in a slow cooker or one pot for time-saving and less mess as well. Please continue reading here and then return to get this free 22-page infographic bundle that provides all the details from the article in an easy to see and follow format.
Source: Precision Nutrition
Cubert@abandonedcubicle.com says
January, 2018 at 7:09 amI’m a lucky dude. My wife follows this to a tee and I get to enjoy very healthy meals here at the Cubert homestead. We benefit from being a primarily vegetarian household, which saves some coin but also is good for the planet and our long term health. Go veggies, go!
Amy says
January, 2018 at 8:58 amThat’s great Cubert! Filling your plate with veggies is indeed beneficial in a many ways. We eat far less meat than we used to. Actually, with eating healthfully we eat far less food in general. When you eat junk it takes more to ‘fill you up’ so yes, eat your veggies!
fin$avvypanda @ finsavvypanda says
January, 2018 at 9:12 amHey Amy!
I agree that we are what we eat. I always try to keep a healthy diet but coming from Asian family, they always lecture their kids about “being so picky w/ food.”
For example, I always reduce my rice intake for good reasons. It’s packed with so much carbs!! I would Instead eat more lean fish for protein. But my parents (even grandparents) give me so much trouble and tell me that not eating a lot of white rice is going to kill me. All Asian parents think rice is the healthiest thing in planet. If they had to pick, they’d pick white rice over any other food ?
Anyway, this was a great read! Thanks for sharing ?
Amy says
January, 2018 at 11:07 amIs that why you get so much white rice with Asian foods at restaurants? 🙂 There is no one perfect way since we all metabolize food differently but it’s good to try and fill ourselves with the best fuel we can. Thank you, as always, for reading and the nice comments!
Erik @ The Mastermind Within says
January, 2018 at 10:20 amGwen and I are going to start cooking better once she is up here. I’m a big eggs and chicken guy myself. 🙂
Amy says
January, 2018 at 11:15 amExcited for you! It’s going to be fun for you two to experiment with lots of life things together and cooking is great to have on the list. I used to eat lots of chicken but not so much anymore. Hard-boiled eggs are a staple though. So convenient for on-the-go breakfast. Thanks for stopping by Erik!
Mrs Groovy says
January, 2018 at 5:57 pmNow that we’re eating much more salad, Mr. G decided he likes cucumbers and peppers (the colorful yellow, orange, and red ones) after all these years.
For cooked vegetables I sometimes use frozen. I know it’s not as good as fresh but I can’t stand the smell of broccoli and some other vegetables when cooked fresh.
Amy says
January, 2018 at 7:03 pmThe colored bell peppers are some of my favorite vegetables. I agree with Mr. G that they are great on salads.
I use frozen too. A lot during the winter months as they are often better than the supposed ‘fresh’ in the produce section. And yes broccoli can be daunting. 🙂
Sean @ FrugalMoneyman says
January, 2018 at 2:58 pmI agree with you 1000000000% Amy!
Our diet is the most important factor with how our body ages over time. You can generally correlate someone’s overall health with the foods they put into their body. I meet people all the time in their 40s, 50, 60 etc., who at first sight I thought were at least a decade younger, and then I later generally learn that their eating habits are the reason why they look and feel so good!
Thank you for sharing this insightful dietary knowledge!
Amy says
January, 2018 at 7:28 amThanks, Sean! I appreciate your reading and your comments.
Adriana @MoneyJourney says
January, 2018 at 11:39 amI couldn’t agree more! Food is so important and I’m grateful for having learned so much about healthy cooking in the past few years (top-secret tip: eating healthy isn’t even all that expensive as many think! hahah 😀 )
I’m still learning new recipes and even learning about how to cook new ingredients I’ve never tried before. So far, it’s going great!
Amy says
January, 2018 at 11:59 amThat’s wonderful to hear, Adriana. You are so right, eating healthy does not equal expensive. And no master chef skills required. 😉 Thanks for the comment!