Okay so I’ve been asked about tips on cleaning up your eating habits, so here are some really good tips for you!
The first important place to start is looking at what you’re eating already, because then you can look at what you need to change what could be improved and what you can swap. A food diary would be really good here, write down everything, don’t leave out anything, including drinks, so if you drink a lot of fizzy drinks, write them in too.
After looking at what you’re eating look at trying to limit your processed food intake, this is important because processed foods tend to have a lot of sugars, fats (a lot of the time saturated fats) and sodium. So to start off with look at what the ingredient list is on the package foods. If there are lots with names you can’t even say, try to stay away from them. Or instead look at making home made options, because at least then you know exactly what you’re putting in there. There are lots of recipes and tags on the side of my blog (workoutworkitgirl.tumblr.com)
Increase your intake of veg, this is so important because veggies are full of vitamins but also high in heart healthy fibre which can really help you to feel full. If you’re on a tight budget then get frozen, they last a lot longer than fresh veg and you can just add them into any dish straight from the freezer. Veg can also really good as snacks, so things like carrot sticks and cucumber sticks they’re my fave!
Cut down on saturated fats. I’m not saying cut fats out completely because there are healthy fats like avocados, fish, nuts and olive oil. There are lots of simple swaps like instead of topping your salads with lots of cheese, choose nuts or seeds, use peanut butter instead of cream cheese, and if you like your mayo in a sandwich, replace it with avocado.
Reduce your alcohol intake, if you’re trying clean up your diet then you need to look at your alcohol intake. Alcohol little and often isn’t a problem, however if you’re binge drinking, you will find that the alcohol dehydrates your body.
Watch your sugar intake, so limit things like fizzy drinks, sweets and chocolate and baked goods, there is nothing wrong with having them in moderation, just don’t have them too much. People will say what about fruit, they have sugars in them, the difference between fruit sugar and sugars in sweets is fruit sugars haven’t actually been added in, they’re naturally sweet.
Look at your salt intake, this is so important because eating too much salt can increase your blood pressure, so cutting back on processed food, when you’re cooking, flavour your food with herbs and spices, with a pinch of salt.
Healthy swaps like switching to whole grains. Whole grains include more nutrients so when looking at packaging look to make sure it says “whole wheat” or “whole grain” and not just “wheat”. Other options like quinoa and oats are other swaps you can make.
Up your fruit intake. Fruit is naturally sweet and delicious, but it’s also rich in potassium, it can help with blood pressure, and vitamin c which is important for a healthy immune system. I tend to get frozen fruit but if you do, make sure that there is no added sugar on the packaging as I know sometimes they do tend to when they freeze it.
Cutting out things like refined grains is really important because they tend to have been really processed and often stripped of nutrients, and tend to have added sugars, saturated fats and extra sodium.
Don’t skip breakfast, not now, not ever, breakfast is the most important meal of the day as is every meal, but specifically breakfast as it can help build a healthy metabolism. What happens if you skip? You’ll find yourself eating more food throughout the day. So for breakfast having things like oats and fruit can be really helpful.
Look at healthy snacks, so carry things like fruit, or mixed nuts, making your own granola bars, pumpkin seeds, or bananas, apples and oranges are good snacks to have to hand.
Look at your portions make sure that you’re not overloaded on carbohydrates, but make sure it’s a balanced meal, for help with portions click here
Planning meals can really help too, and this can be helped before you go shopping so planning your meals, the foods that you’re going to need to create those meals and you know exactly what is going into those meals.If you click here there are tips on effective meal planning and click here for good lists for shopping
Listen to your stomach, once you’re feeling content stop eating, make sure you’re drinking enough water throughout the day because what you might think is hunger could be thirst. Here are some tips to help increase your water intake. If you’re stomach is still rumbling after you’ve had some water, have healthy snacks, click here for healthy snacks ideas.
Remember it’s everything in moderation, so it’s okay to have a takeaway once in a while, it’s okay to have fizzy drinks once in a while, it’s okay to have cake once in a while. You want a cookie? Have it, don’t limit yourself because if you completely cut it out, you’re likely to binge on them afterwards.
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