Eating Healthy Doesn't Have to Be Hard

By: Rachel Williamson

So many people dread the idea of "health food," but the truth is
that many foods labelled "healthy" are actually quite delicious.
The key is the way you eat them, what you combine them with, and
how much you eat.

When you think of healthy foods, do you think of boring Brussels
sprouts and bland broccoli? Think again! You can have all the
flavor you want and still keep the number on the scale down and
keep your heart healthy.

Take your favorite recipes and look at the ingredients. Decide
which ingredients are the least healthy and replace them. It's
as simple as that. For recipes that call for butter, try to
replace it with olive oil. For recipes that call for whole milk,
replace it with skim milk (or soy milk). For recipes that call
for chicken broth, replace it with vegetable broth.

One big thing you can do to lower your intake of saturated fats
is to lower your consumption of red meat. Whenever you can,
replace red meat with fish. If you're adventurous, you can
replace red meat with soy substitutes. There are many soy
products on the market that taste delicious. Soy crumbles are
particularly good in homemade tacos and casseroles.

If eating healthy is difficult for you, don't be too hard on
yourself. Focus on changing gradually. If you can't give up your
usual dinner, have a healthy lunch. Every little bit helps.
While it may not be true that "you are what you eat," it is true
that your health is directly affected by what you eat. You owe
it to yourself and your body to feed it the proper fuel.

Besides replacing your old stand-bys with healthier
alternatives, try to add 4-5 servings of fruits and vegetables
every day. You'd be surprised how easy this is. For example, you
might add some sliced banana to your morning breakfast, have an
orange with lunch, have an apple for an afternoon snack, eat
some beans with dinner, and have some blueberries on top of ice
cream for dessert. Find your own way of adding fruits and
vegetables into your diet so it works for you.

Small changes in your diet can make a huge difference. Don't
beat yourself up if your diet isn't perfect. The important thing
is to make it better than it was before. Even if you only add
one or two pieces of fruit per day, you're on the right track!
You'll begin to feel the difference and that will encourage you
to do even better.



About the author:
Rachel Williamson shares healthy recipes
and food news in Eat This!, a food blog.