Building a healthy diet will help you have a good life, reduce the risk of common dangerous diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and memory loss.
As we step into the new year, let’s refer to the 10 ways below to help build a healthy eating plan!
1 Implement a healthy eating plan from small changes
When starting to focus on implementing a healthy eating plan, don’t make drastic changes right from the beginning as it often leads to discouragement and cannot be sustained. Instead, you should start with small changes, such as replacing 1-2 ingredients and looking for healthier cooking recipes.
Implement a healthy eating plan from small changes
2 Focus on the reason for change
If everyone in your family understands how important it is to change their eating habits for you and for them, it will be easier to adjust. Therefore, you should keep the conversation focused on the reason why the change is necessary and try to make it happen.
Once the reason is understood, the family members will be more willing to accept the dietary changes compared to before.
Focus on the reason for change
3 Create convenient healthy food options
Prioritize placing fresh, natural ingredients in transparent containers in the refrigerator, within sight and easy to recognize. This will stimulate your desire to eat them more when opening the refrigerator. It’s so attractive to enjoy a piece of fresh fruit that has been washed, cut, and chilled.
Create convenient healthy food options
4 Control appropriate portion sizes
Although you are following a healthy eating plan, consuming excessive portion sizes can also lead to weight gain and obesity. Therefore, you need to control your portion sizes to suit yourself, prepare enough ingredients, avoid cooking too many dishes, and prepare fewer healthy snacks in case of hunger, helping to limit the temptation to eat.
Control appropriate portion sizes
5 Create healthier versions of favorite recipes
There are favorite dishes that contain unhealthy ingredients for our health. Therefore, you can search for alternative healthier ingredients to replace them.
However, you don’t have to restrict your family too much, so keep some of their favorite dishes will make your family happy when eating.
Create healthier versions of favorite recipes
6 Encourage and set an example for children
Children often imitate their parents’ behaviors, so parents should not force children to eat healthily according to their own preferences but should set an example, always choose healthy cooking methods and foods when having meals with their children.
Encourage and set an example for children
7 Cook together with family members
Cooking together with family members will create more excitement for everyday meals. You can ask everyone to prepare meals to learn how to cook healthy dishes, learn how to organize while strengthening family relationships.
Cook together with family members
8 Gradually reduce the purchase of unhealthy foods
With this method, your family will limit unhealthy foods. At the same time, keep the unhealthy foods out of sight in places that are not easily visible, such as high shelves or drawers.
Gradually reduce the purchase of unhealthy foods
9 Find healthy alternatives to sweets
Sweets contain a lot of sugar, which is not good for health if consumed in excess. Therefore, you should choose other healthy alternatives for your family’s desserts to effectively reduce cravings for sweet and healthy options.
Find healthy alternatives to sweets
10 Always include favorite dishes
When searching for new cooking recipes, make sure they are dishes that your family loves to eat. At the same time, balancing the menu between new and familiar ones will be easier to consume than completely changing.
Always include favorite dishes
Above are 10 ways to easily change your eating habits to a healthier one in the new year that you can refer and apply to protect your family’s health better.
Source: Health and Life Newspaper