If you aren’t sure why you should be eating healthier, consider watching some of these movies for motivation and additional information.
Healthier Eating with Smoothies
Drinking smoothies is a simple, easy way to consume more vitamins and minerals with little effort. Smoothies can be snacks or meal replacements, are fun to drink, and easy to take with you when you leave the house. Start with a basic recipe:
1-2 cups water 1/2 – 3/4 cup frozen fruit 3 ice cubes
Now add and customize the smoothie to your tastes: You can adjust the amount of fruit, depending on how sweet you want your smoothie to be. Consider using some of the fruit superfoods in your smoothie for extra oomph. To replace a meal with a smoothie be sure to add a protein source: yogurt or protein powders are the most common sources. Few of us consume the minimum 5 servings of vegetables a day: you can add 1-2 handfuls of green leafy vegetables to your smoothie to get a few servings in easily. Spinach, arugula, and kale are just a few of the many great choices out there. Experiment with combining the different fruits and leafy greens in your smoothie. Add additional health foods to boost your drink, such as wheat germ or chia seeds. If you’d like to add certain vitamins to your diet, you can reference this vitamin cheat sheet to find out which foods have them. Find more smoothie recipes here.
Begin Meals With a Salad
Salads are quick and easy foods that really get you on the path to healthier eating. If you are already adding greens to your smoothie, you probably have a large bag of baby spinach in the fridge. Simply add 1-2 cups to a small plate, sprinkle with some slivered almonds and a few apple slices, and you have a great salad—just combine olive oil with a bit of balsamic vinegar for a quick and easy salad dressing to top it off. If this seems too difficult, start with the prepared salad mixes at the store: there are many different options and flavor combinations available, and going this route is a great way to start eating good salads. Just be sure to go light on the dressing that comes with those mixes though: they tend to be really high in fat. Read this article for more tips on how to transition to salads.
Cut a Food Out of Your Diet for Healthier Eating
There are a number of foods that cause problems for many people. Cutting out just one of these foods might just make a huge change in your health and well-being, so choose just one of these foods and cut it out of your diet completely. Try this for 30 days and see if you feel better.
Gluten Dairy Soy Sugar and artificial sweeteners
Many people are sensitive to these foods because they have found their way into so many of the products available on grocery store shelves. We end up consuming them at every meal and don’t even realize that we’re doing so. Letting your body rest from these foods can give it the time it needs to heal, and to better handle that food in the future.
Soup’s On
Soup is one of the faster meal options around: it’s super-easy to pour some chicken broth in a pan and start adding cut up veggies, meats, and spices. Work from a recipe the first few times and then just start experimenting with your own flavor combinations. Soup can be easily prepared the night before and then set to cook in the crock pot the next day. As the soup will slow-cook over the course of the day, it will allow the flavors to really come alive (and it’ll be ready for you when you get home with no additional work needed). What changes will you make today to start eating healthier? Featured photo credit: Organic apples in basket in summer grass. Fresh apples in nature via Shutterstock
