-Flavor dishes w/ garlic and herbs over salt and seasoning mixes/packets.
-Moderation, moderation, moderation!!!
(Christina @ Dinner at Christina’s)
One thing that’s really helped me in my busy schedule is to turn exercising into a schedule. By which I mean, I go to the gym at 6PM. I go at that time basically every time. It’s become ingrained in me that that is gym time and so it becomes more non-negotiable.
[Another] thing I like to do is use smaller plates. A lot of satisfaction is about perception rather than actually feeling full. When I look at a smaller plate and see that it is totally full of food and that I get to eat the whole thing, it’s much more satisfying than seeing that same portion on a larger plate with lots of empty space around it.
(Joanne @ Eats Well With Others)
Portion control. Portion control. Portion control. and Portion control.
(Lazaro @ Lazaro Cooks!)
I want [my kids] to be well rounded eaters so even if i myself don’t eat something or the hubby doesn’t eat something … we both still encourage the kids to eat EVERYTHING.
(LeQuan @ luvtoeat)
My tip is out of sight, out of mind when it comes to indulgences that should be a “sometimes” food rather than an “all the time” food. Keeping unhealthy food within reach and easy to eat makes me eat it much more.
(Samantha @ Bikini Birthday)
For food: buy food in its most natural form, cook from scratch, simple is best.
For body: get out and do something physical every day, even if it is small; commune with nature.
For the mind and soul: commune with nature; grow your own food, surround yourself with good people; give more than you ever expect to get; paste a smile on your face on your most glum days and last.
MAKE IT HAPPEN (my life’s motto).
(Valerie @ A Canadian Foodie)
When eating at a salad bar, stick to veggies, and if you just have to have creamy dressing, put a spoonful or two of cottage cheese on your salad, then one spoonful of the dressing you love. You’ll barely notice the difference and the cottage cheese is a good addition anyway.
(My Aunt Joyce!)
One of the main things I do is always plate my meals on appetizer-sized plates. (Have you noticed how regular dinner plates are now the size of serving platters! Aaahhh! When did that happen?!)
(Faith @ An Edible Mosaic)
I try to eat slowly. When you eat slowly and take time to enjoy the food, you get full faster.
(Tanantha @ I Just Love My Apron)
My very Greek tips are:
1. If you use oil make it (extra virgin) olive oil. It’s pricier but oh so much healthier, and you usually need less than other oils. And it’s dead tasty! When I first heard that people in other countries fried eggs in butter and not olive oil I was shocked! big grin
2. Try to eat fresh things. I know it’s terribly hard, but a fresh fish tastes completely different than a deep frozen fish. Even if you buy fresh and freeze at home, it’s still better than to just buy frozen.
3. The one thing I learned from my visits to a diaetician was that the mood we have when we eat greatly affects how our body absorbs nutrients. So always try to feel happy and relaxed when eating, never in front of the tv or computer screen, never doing other things at the same time, and try to make it with company rather than alone.
(Christa)
I definitely think that making sure to move around AND exercise is important. Just getting in an hour in the morning doesn’t give a person license to sit around the rest of the day!
And eat things as near to their original state as possible. Nothing from a box and especially nothing with ingredients you can’t pronounce.
(Ameena @ Fancy That … Fancy This)
I’ve found that eating as many fruits and veggies as possible has done wonders for me…I don’t want to eat the less healthy, more processed food when I can enjoy the wonders of nature.
(Monet @ anecdotes and apple cores)
One change that I’ve made really within the past year is to focus on eating more real, whole foods — whole grains, minimally processed, and no crazy ingredients I can’t pronounce. I’ve been eating a vegetarian diet (and so of course eating lots of veggies) for a long time, so always thought I was healthy. But it took putting some conscious effort into eating more natural foods for me to realize that a lot of stuff I was eating actually wasn’t really all that good for me (there’s a lot of junk food vegetarians can eat!!). Of course, that doesn’t mean I’ve given up junk food altogether (I think being able to treat yourself is another big part of healthy living!), but I’ve definitely noticed a difference in how I feel since I’ve made more of an effort.
(Lauren @ Health on the Run)
I just try to eat food in as natural a state of possible (aka not processed).
(Katie @ Health for the Whole Self)
One that I always try to follow is to not let myself get to a point of feeling starved. If I’m starving when I sit down to eat I’ll eat and eat and eat. If I make sure to eat 5-6 smaller meal throughout the day I’m much more likely to listen to when I’m actually full and stop.
(Heather @ Get Healthy with Heather)
I’ll continue my habits of never drinking soda at home, drinking only a glass of red wine almost everyday, eating more colourful veggies and legumes that anything else (though I do eat a little meat now and then) and drinking lots of plain water.
(Denise @ quickies on the dinner table)
I thing sleep is a big one, and usually one of the hardest to achieve.
Next, I think that foods with the least amount of initial processing are the number one for me. Fresh and real food!
Balance is the key I think…and flavor, seems that many people assume that bland means healthy?! (Jessie: Which is definitely not true at all!)
(Alisha @ The Ardent Epicure)
1. spice it up- go to the spice pantry and start finding tasty combos. spices, especially oregano, cayenne, ginger and turmeric all have medicinal and health benefits. they can lower the risk of many diseases and diet-caused health issues.
2. laugh- reduces cortisol to help burn belly fat
3. if u love coffee, drink up. its amazing for improving circulation, reducing water retention, revving metabolism, and its one of the highest forms of drinkable antioxidants!
4. Have dessert, but treat it like breakfast! many times when the word dessert is brought up, it comes with a negative connotation.. implying that maybe its something we dont need, or shouldnt have, or something will power can help us avoid. but if u treat ur body with treats in the same way u would treat ur body with breakfast, the dessert is ‘no big deal’ and when u have it, u dont think about wanting more and more and more..and u dont feel guilty either. helps build a stronger relationship to what it means to nourish both the mind along with the body.
(Kelsey @ Snacking Squirrel)
