Your guide to getting back on track with your nutrition.
Getting healthy is a careful balance of exercising, eating well, and keeping your mental health in check. In order to work our way towards total health, we focus today on nutrition and eating well. Nutrition, health, and wellness are truly day-to-day functions. It isn’t always easy, but it is satisfying when you are successful!
What to Cut Out
- Excess alcohol and caffeine: Cut out excess alcohol and caffeine, especially sugary soda and coffee drinks, to help get your nutrition back on track! These drinks will reverse your hard work before you even see it coming. Instead, drink one cup of black coffee or tea in the morning to get you going, and leave it at that! As Melissa Hartwig, co-creater of Whole30 has been quoted saying, “It is not hard…Quitting heroin is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard.”
- Salty and sugary snack foods: Salty and sugary foods are oftentimes the fast fix. However, next time you are hungry between meals, don’t reach for chips, cookies, and even some granola bars and trail mixes. Make sure to head straight for the fruits, veggies, and nuts.
- Fast food: In this quick-moving day and age, fast food is prevalent among us and many times seems to be the go-to dinner option. Later on in the post we will discuss meal prep to help curb this bad habit, but don’t forget to keep in mind that what you put into your body is one of the most important things you will do each day.
- Foods high in trans fat: Trans fat is directly linked to increasing cholesterol and may be the cause in some cases of heart disease and early deaths. Make sure to read the nutrition facts before putting new foods in your body and cut out any foods and snacks that are high in trans fat.
What to Add
- Meal prep: Meal prepping is a great way to help avoid fast foods and the salty and sugary snacks! At the beginning of each week decide how many meals you’ll be prepping for and get going! You’ll want to include protein, veggies, carbohydrates, and healthy fats in your meal. Chicken breast, quinoa, toasted almonds, and broccoli is a perfect meal example.
- Make substitutions: Instead of reaching for chips, get your crunch from carrots and hummus. Healthy doesn’t have to be tasteless, you can get the best of both worlds! Keep these substitutions in your kitchen to make it easy for you to make good and healthy choices.
- Join support groups or networks: Lifestyle changes aren’t easy to make on your own, join a support group, get your friends involved, or even take part in an online support network to keep yourself motivated! This way you can share recipes, motivation, and other tips and tricks to stay successful.
Getting Active!
- Dedicate at least 30 minutes to activity each day: Get your body moving! Whether you are walking, jogging, or heading to the gym, make sure to move! This is such a vital part of staying healthy, so make sure you follow through.
- Move during the work day: For most of us, we sit for long hours each day as we work. To combat this sedentary lifestyle, make sure to stand and walk around every 30 minutes to an hour. Check your phone or fitness watch to see how many steps you have taken each day.
Getting healthy isn’t always easy, but moving one step at a time can help to make the process run much smoother. Use these tips to get your nutrition back on track to work towards being the healthier, happier, you!
