March is National Nutrition Month, a month to help increase awareness about the importance of good nutrition for improving your overall health.
Let me remind you: Making healthy food choices and improving your eating habits (in combination with incorporating more physical activity and stress reduction into your lifestyle) will not only help your weight, mood and physical appearance, it can also help prevent many chronic diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
Remember, FOOD (and lifestyle) is your best preventative medicine!
And of course, healthier food choices will also help you FEEL better, have more confidence and be happier!
Here are 6 of my best tips to help you make healthier nutrition choices (to minimize risk of disease, reach and maintain an ideal weight, and feel better in your body overall):
Make 50-75% of your plate vegetables. Adding a wide variety of veggies into your daily diet will add tons of flavor, color, fiber, vitamins and minerals to your diet (and fill you up!). They help support weight loss, natural detoxification, and optimal digestion. Specifically, I recommend to add some GREENS (ex. leafy greens like kale, spinach, lettuce and arugula, as well as broccoli, zucchini, green beans, asparagus, green herbs, etc) in every meal, or at least in 2 meals per day. While greens should be your priority, you’ll also want to add a good variety of colorful veggies, too. Make your plates colorful! Learn more about benefits of a plant-rich diet HERE.
Include fiber, protein and healthy fats in each meal. While we already covered the importance of vegetables in my tip #1 (and vegetables are my favorite source of fiber), it’s also important to make sure every one of your meals has protein and healthy fats to keep you satiated and to support balanced blood sugar levels. Making sure each meal is properly balanced (with enough fiber, protein, and some healthy fats) will help you avoid large spikes and drops in your blood glucose levels (which is linked to inflammation, weight gain, hormonal imbalances, and more).
Read food labels. The nutrition information on the labels can help you shop, eat and drink smarter. Most importantly, read the actual ingredients – usually the less ingredients the better! Avoid products with unknown ingredients and tons of preservatives or additives (like food colorings). Also, watch out for sugar (all the forms of sugar), also look at grams of carbohydrate and grams of sugar (in general its best to aim for products with less than 5-7 grams of sugar per serving), and for the most part you’ll want products with lots of fiber and some protein. Read more on interpreting nutrition labels HERE.
Eat more home cooked meals. Cooking food at home instead of going out (or odering out) is always a healthier option because you control how your food is prepared, and you can serve yourself the adequate portions for your body/appetite. Make sure to use healthy cooking oils, unrefined sea salt, organic herbs/spices and nontoxic pots and pans. Check out my top 10 tips for prepping a healthy kitchen!
Try new foods, aiming for local, seasonal and organic when possible. Eating local, seasonal organic foods is one of the best things you can do for your gut health (and overall health!). Plus, trying new seasonal veggies and fruits can help you from getting bored with your typical food choices, and will add more variety to your diet. Plus, the more variety of foods you eat, the better, healthier and more diverse your gut bacteria will be (and a healthy gut means a healthy overall body and mind!). Here is my Clean Shopping List to give you ideas and help you get started.
Ask for support! You’re not alone on your journey to better health. If you’d like help developing a well-balanced diet and/or are looking for guidance on creating healthier habits, talk with a local health coach (like myself!) and/or holistic nutritionist or functional medicine practitioner. We can be a great resource for relatable, personalized nutrition advice that can help you achieve and maintain good health - both now and for the future!
Make the commitment to create a healthier lifestyle this year by starting with these 6 essential nutrition tips. For more personalized help, feel free to reach out!