It isn’t complicated to eat right. Here are my tips for healthier eating:
I know I have addressed it before that the healthiest way to eat is by avoiding FAD diets. Many people want to eat healthily but are unsure of what is the best way to go about it. The amount of diet books and different information available is indeed very confusing.
It is important to understand that no one should be on a diet, diets do not last and they are temporary. A healthy way of eating is eating in a way that is sustainable over a long time. Your overall health is determined by many choices over a lifetime. It is important to choose to eat vegetables and fruits, lean proteins, dairy products, seeds, and nuts, whole grains, and fish while limiting the intake of refined sugars, sweetened beverages, desserts, and processed foods.
It doesn’t have to be complicated. You just need to pay some attention to what you eat!
The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans reviewed healthy behaviors projected for Americans during a certain time period. I would like to make mention the guideline for fats and for sugar.
The guidelines for fats recommend choosing monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats while limiting saturated and trans fatty acids.
The guideline for sugar recommends keeping added sugars to less than 10% of your daily calories. This translates as recommendations to focus on consuming vegetables, protein, low glycemic grains, fruit as the primary focus of what you consume. Choose lean proteins including beans, nuts, and eggs.
The other guideline recommends avoiding sugar, too much salt, and saturated fats.
You might ask, how do I do this? Well, start by making lifelong healthy choices.
- Grill, bake, steam, or broil your food
- Add nuts and seeds to top salads for crunch instead of croutons
- Consume lean cuts of meat
- Have fruit or sweet tea for dessert
- Save desserts for special occasions
- Cook with healthy oils: olive, canola, or avocado
- Choose non-caloric beverages
- Avoid highly processed food
- Focus on eating a rainbow of vegetables
- Eat a healthy breakfast that contains protein
- Make a healthy, satisfying low fat, high fiber meal for dinner,
Here is a great suggestion:
Spaghetti squash with Mexican chicken
Ingredients
2 lbs. boneless chicken
14.5 ounce can fire-roasted tomatoes
½ cup salsa
3 cloves of minced garlic
1 tbsp. chili powder
1tsp salt
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. paprika
1 Tbsp. honey
3 medium spaghetti squash
Topping
2 ripe avocados, diced into small chunks
1 lime
½ cup chopped cilantro
Directions:
- Place chicken breasts in a slow cooker
- Combine tomatoes, salsa, garlic, and all seasonings
- Pour mixture on top of the chicken
- Cook for 6 hours on low or 3 hours on high
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Prick the squash with a fork all over and bake for 1 hour
- Cut in squash in half when finished, scoop out the seeds, and place on a serving platter
- Shred the chicken in the slow cooker and spoon on top of each squash
- Top with diced avocado and cilantro, with a squeeze of lime to finish