How to Maintain Healthy Eating Habits

Eating healthy helps you get the most out of life.  It nourishes your body and gives you energy to get through each day. It's key to maintaining a healthy weight, looking good, feeling great and being your best! 

Healthy eating doesn't mean sacrificing your favorite foods or severely limiting the amount of food you eat.  Healthy eating means choosing a variety of foods that you enjoy and that provide your body with the nutrients and vitamins your body needs for energy.

With some determination and strategies in place, you can achieve your goal to eat healthy!

Here are 7 strategies to help you with making healthy eating choices in your daily routine.

1. Am I hungry? Ask yourself if you're really hungry or if you're eating out of convenience or emotion. Many times you probably aren't as hungry as you think, instead get involved in a different activity instead of mindless snacking.

2. Water, water, and more water. Drink a lot of water each day. Not only is this good for your whole body (both inside and out), it can actually make you feel full.   Also, oftentimes when you think you're hungry, your body is actually thirsty, so keep yourself well hydrated.

3. Divert your energy. Instead of putting all your energy into making two grilled cheese sandwiches with bacon, take a walk or doing something that requires you to use your hands, like journaling, knitting or woodworking. It's pretty hard to do these and eat at the same time.

4. Allow yourself snack time. Choose healthy snacks instead of chips and salsa or chocolate bars. For snack time, try eating celery, popcorn without butter, fruits, or a make-your-own trail mix with raisins, nuts, and dried fruits.

 A good hint for snacking is to have healthy snacks readily available in your home, and unhealthy snacks completely out of the house; that way, the healthy stuff is easy to grab.

5. Make a list when shopping! This technique is a tried and true method to avoid buying foods that aren't healthy. Stick to your list and, for fun, seek out healthy foods you haven't tasted before to tempt your taste buds.

6. Eat Slower. Since the brain takes about 20 minutes to get the signal that the stomach is full, when you eat too fast you'll pack in a lot more food than you need. When you're still thinking you're hungry, it's easy to make the wrong choices about food. When you slow down while you're eating, you'll eat less and you'll still feel full.

 Set a calming mood before sitting down for a meal. Avoid having the television on or eating as you're rushing the kids out the door to another activity. Sitting calmly at the table will allow everyone to relax and enjoy their meal. 

7. Make dinner time a social experience. Dinner is about enjoying your company and taking pleasure in the foods you're eating.  When you begin to look at mealtime as a social experience, it becomes easier to make the right choices about healthy foods. Suddenly you aren't so worried about rushing through and making it quick.

Dinner becomes a great experience when you're able to enjoy healthy foods together. Take time to eat as a family and enjoy a real conversation with each other.

Talking will naturally slow down your eating pace, while also reconnecting you with your family members.

These 7 strategies will bring all kinds of healthy benefits to you and your family.   Include one strategy at a time and before long you'll be choosing healthy foods without a second thought, and those unhealthy foods you used to eat will no longer tempt you.

And once you discover the benefits and better taste of fresh and healthy foods, you'll never want to go back!

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