Divide and Conquer: Healthy Eating Little by Little

A lot of us want to eat healthy but we don’t know where to start or where our personal goals end.  Trying to do everything is unnecessarily intimidating.

These are not 10 steps.  But #1 is #1!  In fact you can probably stop right there.  The others I find helpful and are in no real particular order.  Don't be general.  Listen to YOUR body.  See what works for you. Divide and conquer (in the name of good)!

For example:  Try one or two of these this week.

1.  Eat more fruits and veggies.  Veggies hard to swallow?  Investigate green juices and green smoothies.  Also, fruit smoothies are a good quick breakfast/snack.

2. You can go veg or part-time veg.  You could start with incorporating a meatless Monday into your week.  It is movement sweeping the world.  Cuts down on saturated fat and makes your footprint smaller.

Recent Huffington Post Article on Meatless Mondays

3.  Switch to whole grains.

4.  Eat more organic foods and less GMO food (Genetically Modified.  All too common.  Yikes.)  See Dirty Dozen post for 12 organic produce items to start with.

5.  Sugar.  Switch out your table sugar for (lower glycemic)

-Cane Sugar (before Christ; not raw sugar which is processed) or

-Maple Syrup (sweeter than table sugar) and/or

-Stevia Leaf (no calories)
These are all more nutritious and less sugar spikes in your day followed by sugar drops and lows.

-investigate alternatives.  Brown rice sugar, honey, etc.

6.  Reduce salt intake.  Your body only needs a little to stay healthy.  (The most visible benefit is your face will be less swollen.)

7.  Use less oil in your cooking.  When cooking use a Tsp for every Tbsp of oil.  

8.  Investigate gluten free if you are interested or have digestive/fatigue issues.

9.  Still bloated?  Try reducing your soy intake by cutting out tofu.

10.  Read labels.  Is it a sweet food?  No?  Then why is there added sugar?  They put sugar in the strangest places.  Put it back.   If you are gonna eat junk food like chips, try to keep it healthy.  Make sure it is organic and uses natural sugars like cane sugar for sweetening.  Watch out for MSG.

Our eating lifestyles evolve and I suggest some experimentation.