We always hear that eating healthy is super important to our well being both in the present and in the future, as it can help with so many aspects of health and weight in life. It’s also a very common resolution to want to choose to eat a bit better or completely redo your eating habits in a new year. But changing a habit that encompasses all of our life and a great deal of our social lives as well can truly be a lot more than most people expect. But what if you can alter this lifestyle piece without as much stress? Well, here are some tips to eat healthier without stressing.
Baby Steps
Eating differently doesn’t have to be and honestly shouldn’t be an all-in experience. You don’t want to majorly rework how you eat for the sake of your body’s comfort, as well as for the sake of your own sanity. Take smaller steps towards your goal, and adjust as you need over time. For example, try drinking water more often during the day, substituting snacks for healthier options, reducing or eliminating unhealthy options one food or meal at a time, and try new recipes and meals that are healthier.
Journey, Not Destination
Just like any other major life change, you’re going to face some confusion, slip ups, struggles, and road blocks along the path. It’s not something that is ever one size fits all and it’s also not insanely easy for every person that wants to try to eat healthier for themselves or their home. Think of it as a learning experience and a journey to a better you, not as something that has to be a specific way. It’s okay to mess up sometimes, or to not have things go to plan for certain meals.
Make Plans
Planning can be super helpful to reduce some of the stress in the moment. That includes meal planning ahead of time, planning out some recipe ideas for the week or day before eating them, adjusting your social plans to not focus around junk food or even not focus on food at all, and so on. You can easily create a less stressful environment for your own change to foster positive associations with healthy eating that will help the transition a great deal.
Focus on Feeling
Our most common thought to track progress regarding health and well being, especially around exercise or eating changes, is to monitor our weight or body size. While this can be great, it can also be quite discouraging to see little to no changes or to feel like things get to a standstill in your progress which is common when focusing on weight. Try to instead focus on how you feel, what you are capable of, and health overall as progress markers in life.
Whether you’re stressed due to the sudden changes in life, having to situate your social life around eating in a new way, trying to remember what foods and options are healthiest at any given moment, finding new recipes for this change in lifestyle, or anything else in between; it truly can be a really difficult seeming transition to try to eat healthier in your household or even just on your own. But it’s not as hard as it seems at first, at least if you can find the resources like this list to help you along the way. This can help anyone find an easier way to eat healthy in life with simple tips.