Eating Right in Three Small Steps
Eat Right is a website founded by The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Their great post from August of 2018 talked about the simplicity of eating healthy. Expounding on this post, I thought I would focus on slowly accomplishing the great tips offered. As with many things in life, it’s often slow and steady that wins the race.
1. Acceptance
First, you need to accept how you are now. Holistic health isn’t something that happens overnight. If you are looking to diet fast, you might end up in a yo-yo cycle. Break this trend by accepting yourself. Focus on getting better slowly and know that you might mess up. Once you’ve acknowledged that change takes time, start implementing your healthy life in small steps.
2. Replace “This is Good/Bad” with “How Nutritious is this?”
The next step in slowly improving your diet is to think in terms of how nutritious something is. As Eat Right said, check nutrition labels. As an example, knowing which fats to look for can help you understand that the world is full of shades of grey rather than black and white. Slowly exchange salt for herbs to make something more nutritious and tasty.
3. Make More Changes Over Time
Continuing on the last step, keep adding in more changes to your lifestyle over time. If you’ve been doing great about reducing salt, try adding more color to your fresh foods. For example, if you eat apples, don’t be afraid to try oranges, bananas, kiwi, blueberries, or figs to add variety! Over time, you’ll be eating more nutritious food while cutting less nutritious items from your meals.
Someone once told me that a habit takes 21 days. A great way to make sure you are going slow is to work on each new addition to your lifestyle for 21 days. If you start to reduce solid fats and sugars, work on that for 21 days before making another change in your diet. Combined with regular workouts and it’s just time until you reach your health goals.