Over the weekend I shared with you 51 of my 101 Healthy Eating Tips. These final 50 tips will contain some surprises, continue you journey into healthy eating and ring out directly from the Mediterranean Diet.
Eat Less, and Enjoy More
A lot of people multitask when they eat, such as watch TV, do homework, or job tasks. When this happens, people forget about the joys of eating. Plus, people are more likely to overeat when they don’t pay attention to their food.
Make a Healthy Choice with Veggie Broth
There are many health benefits in vegetable broth over beef or chicken broth. First, a cup of veggie broth only has 15 calories. Next, veggie broth has the vitalizing ingredients that you would find in veggies.
Enjoy Farm Fresh Foods
A lot of the produce at the regular grocery stands contains chemicals and pesticides to preserve them in transportation. When you buy from local farmers, you get produce at its peak form. Support you local Farmers Market!
Don’t Miss Out on Whole Fruit
Choose whole fruit instead of fruit juice. By choosing fruit juice, you are missing out on the most important parts of the fruit which are the pulp and skin. The skin of the fruit contains important nutrients while the pulp contains fiber.
Read the Food Labels
Try to get into the habit of reading the food labels, so you can compare and contrast different foods. This will help you make wise health choices and limit the fat, sugar, and cholesterol in your diet. This may add some time to your grocery shopping but it’s well worth it.
Stop Eating Before You Are Stuffed
There is an old motherly saying to finish all of the food on your plate because there are starving children. In reality, this is not a good habit for health and weight loss. Instead, eat until you are no longer hungry.
Eat Every 3-4 Hours
When you go for long periods without food (5+ hours), you are prone to gaining weight because glucose and a hormone insulin turns into fat. To avoid this, make sure to eat every 3-4 hours.
Check Dietician Credentials
It is important to do your homework by checking the credentials of a dietician because anyone can call themselves a dietician. Also, the credentials vary within dieticians and nutritionists. I’m not a dietician or a nutritionist, just a guy looking for healthy eating habits.
Add Variety to Your Diet
Eating a single type of food can be fast and convenient, but you can’t get all of the essential minerals and vitamins from that single particular food. Mix it up, and add a variety of foods to your diet for optimal health.
Look Out for Restaurant Portion-Sized Food
In this super-sized society, it is common to see large sizes served and advertised in food establishments. The portion size we want for good health is the palm of our hands. Instead, you can order the small size, or you can eat part of it and box it for later.
Keep Desserts to a Minimum
It is great to celebrate and enjoy dessert, but it should be kept to a minimum. Desserts, such as a banana split, contain high amounts of sugar and fat that will sabotage diets.
Make Meals with Extra Virgin Olive Oil
There are many health benefits of using extra virgin olive oil. It lowers bad cholesterol levels, reduces hypertension (high-blood pressure), improves glycemic controls, and many more. For cooking at high temperatures, olive oil is the best.
Crunch up with Carrots
This crunchy powerfood has many health benefits which includes improved eyesight because of the beta-carotene and vitamin A. Also, the beta-carotene has anti-aging affects which creates beautiful skin.
Support Your Immune System with Oranges
It is known that citrus fruits contain high-levels of vitamin C which is a vitamin that is important to maintaining a healthy immune system. Besides vitamin C, oranges are filled with antioxidants to help flush toxins.
Protect Your Prostate with Tomatoes
Tomatoes help ward off certain cancers, especially prostate cancer. This is because the tomato has a compound called lycopene. Lycopene is found in the red pigment of the tomato, and this could be the reason for its cancer fighting effect. Tomatoes are my new super food.
Reduce Stress with Walnuts
Walnuts cannot make that huge term paper or stack of bills go away, but walnuts can reduce stress. Walnuts contain an acid called alpha-linolenic, which is known to protect the heart in times of stress.
Digest Food Better with Yogurt
Yogurt contains active, good bacteria called probiotics. Probiotics help adjust the amount of microflora in the intestines, and it helps prevent digestive ailments such as ulcers, constipation, and colon cancer.
Pack Your Fridge with Snackable Vegetables
Vegetables are filled with essential vitamins and minerals to keep us energized throughout the day. Plus, veggies help prevent cardiovascular diseases and type-2 diabetes, so pack your fridge with ready-to-snack vegetables.
Add a Little Sunshine with Vitamin D
Vitamin D is often called the “sunshine vitamin” because it comes from the sun. If you are feeling gloomy during fall and winter seasons, it is most likely from vitamin D deficiency.
List Lean Cut Meats on Your Grocery List
Purchasing lean cut meats, such as lamb, sirloin steaks, and chicken, give you valuable proteins without the excess fat. When needed, you should trim off any visible fat and skin before cooking.
Substitute Your White Flour For Whole Wheat Flour
Basically, white flour is the wheat plant without the brown casing due to the process of refining, and the brown casing holds a lot of the important nutrients. One big difference between white and whole wheat flour is the fiber content, which whole-wheat has the most fiber. I’m a big fan of whole wheat pasta as well.
Plan Meals as a Family
There are many benefits to planning meals as a family. Planning meals as a family allows for more family time, and it is cheaper than ordering food. Plus, it is a healthier option because the cook gets to control the ingredients and portion sizes. Do you believe that this is a tip, it should be a common practice!
Use Avocados as Healthy Fat Source
Avocados are high in monounsaturated fat, which is known to lower bad cholesterol. It is great to substitute mayonnaise, cream cheese, and butter in sandwiches with slices of avocado.
Boost Cancer-Fighting Enzymes with Cabbage
There are many cancer-fighting properties that inhibit tumor growth in cabbage which are lupeol, sinigrin, indole-3-carbinol (I3C), and sulforaphane. These properties have shown the same effects as chemotherapy.
Find Motivation with Spinach
Spinach is high in Vitamin K which promotes proper brain function and a healthy nervous system. Spinach also keeps harmful oxidation away from the brain.
Improve Concentration with Eggs
Eat some eggs before that big exam or long work day! Eggs contain choline in the yolk. Choline helps regulate the brain and nervous system, which in turn aids with concentration and memory.
Swap Soda for Water
Soda is filled with refined sugar and empty calories which could put on more pounds on the body and induces that “sugar crash” feeling. Water, on the other hand, flushes out toxins from body and lowers fasting glucose levels. If sugar was a new product it would have a hard time getting governmental approval.
3,500 Calories = 1 Pound of Body Weight
When you are logging your daily food and calorie intake, keep this conversion in mind: 3,500 calories equals 1 pound of body weight. Keeping this in mind will help you gauge whether to increase or lower your calorie intake depending on your health goal.
Spice Up Your Meals
Try to incorporate hot spices such as cayenne, black pepper, and paprika in your foods. There are many health benefits to spicy foods such as improved mood, decreases insomnia, maintains cardiovascular system, and prevents cancer.
Enhance Muscle with Protein Bars
Forget the vending machine, and pack protein bars for snacks. One of the biggest advantage of protein bars is their convenience. Plus, these bars enhance lean muscle because of their high protein content.
Burn Calories by Drinking Ice Water
Supplement ice water with your workouts because drinking a glass of ice water burns 25 calories versus 16 calories per glass of room temperature water.
Switch to Low-Fat Dairy Products
Switching from whole milk products to low-fat decrease obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disorders. Low-fat milk has very little fat compared to whole milk products.
Avoid Eating Fruits After a Meal
Fruits contain simple sugars which is easily digested, but eating fruits after a meal will allow those simple sugars to get stuck in the digestive tract. This results in deterioration and bloating. I start my day off with fruits.
Never Smoke After a Meal
There are studies that show smoking after a meal is 10 times worse than normal smoking. Smoking after a meal increases irritable bowel syndrome and colitis. Just say NO to smoking.
Brighten Your Skin with Lemon
Add a little lemon to your favorite facial or body scrub. The citric acid found in lemon is an alpha hydroxy acid that helps dissolve dead skin on your body.
Lower Blood Pressure with Mushrooms
Mushrooms help lower blood pressure because of a compound found in them called lentinan. Mushrooms are also high in calcium and vitamin B, and they are low in fat and calories.
Calm Stress with Strawberries
When you are feeling stressed, ditch the chocolate bar and eat some strawberries. Strawberries have natural fructose, and natural fructose does not give you that immediate high that is followed by an immediate low.
Use Lemons and Herbs to Spice It Up
Replacing salt with lemon and herbs to flavor foods will help cut down on sodium intake. Food may seem bland without salt. It may take 2-3 weeks for our taste buds to adjust to less salty taste because we are accustomed to salty foods.
Pack Your Meals with Fiber
Whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and legumes are all examples of high-fiber food. Packing your meals with fiber will help you lose weight and prevent from overeating.
Reap the Benefits from Organic Food
Incorporate organic produce, dairy, and meat products into your diet to lessen the exposure to pesticides. There are studies that show overexposure to pesticides can contribute to neurological impairments.
Split Your Meal with a Friend
In this “super-sized” world, it is common for food establishments to serve large portions. By splitting a meal with a friend, you are demonstrating portion control and saving money.
Stay Smart and Smiling: Avoid Processed Foods
There are studies that show that processed foods are the worst IQ foods because they are filled with high-fructose corn syrup, aspartame, and other chemicals. Not only that, people are more prone to depression with a high processed food diet. SMILE!
Stick to the 5 Ingredient Rule
Avoid food products that contain more than 5 ingredients. If it contains more than 5 ingredients, it is most likely high-processed. Some examples of food items that have 5 or less ingredients are popcorn, apple sauce, whole wheat pasta, and cheese.
Wait 20 to 30 Minutes for a Second Helping
It is best to wait 20-30 minutes between servings because that is the amount of time it takes for your brain to register that your body is full. Then, your second serving will most likely be small because you know that you are full.
Feel Guilt Free with Mustard
Mustard is fat-free with less than 5 calories per serving. Mustard can be used in a lot of things, such as sandwiches, salads, and marinades. It also comes in different flavors. Spread a little mustard over salmon before putting it in the oven.
Indulge in Dark Chocolate Covered Bananas
Dark chocolate is packed with antioxidants and flavonoids, and bananas are rich in potassium and fiber. Together, they make a great pair.
Go Healthy and Choose Asian
Why is Asian food considered the healthiest in the world? It is because the main component is rice or noodles accompanied with soy, fish, beans, and nuts as protein sources. Meat and poultry are often used sparingly in these dishes.
Make Your Own Instead of Buying in Boxes
There are many benefits of making your own food, and the big reason is you know what is in your food. Plus, you are in control of your food, and it is easier to keep track of your calories.
Allow Yourself Cheat Meals or Snacks
The sense of deprivation is a big factor on why diets fail. Allowing yourself two cheat meals per week will decrease that sense of deprivation. I like this tip!
Keep Saturated Fat to a Minimum
A diet high in saturated fat could lead to obesity, high-blood pressure, cancer, and other heart disease. It is recommended to keep saturated fat no more than 7% of calorie intake
There you have it a total of 101 tips for healthy eating. Even if you just starting out with 20% of these tips, I’m sure you will start feeling better and notice the pounds slipping away.
Buon Appitito!
