Tips to help switch to a healthier lifestyle (and reap the rewards)

I used to be the diet queen. It wasn’t until I decided to give up dieting and become a healthy person that my life changed; I was finally able to lose 35 kilos and have been in my healthy weight range for over 22 years.

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To have good health and wellbeing you must have an eating regime that includes a balanced intake of foods from all the food groups in moderate portions. You should also include regular exercise.

Don’t think of it as a short-term ‘diet’ but a long-term lifestyle change.

Here are my tips for switching to healthier food choices:

1) Make changes gradually

Don’t expect to become a healthy person overnight, if you change your habits too dramatically then you may find it hard to stick to the routine.

Make changes gradually and permanently e.g. if you hate skim milk, start with trim and after a while progress to skim milk.

2) Enjoy plenty of whole grains, fruits and veggies

The best way is to experiment and try lots of different ways to cook using these food groups.

It is recommended to have between 2-4 serves of fruit and 3-5 serves of vegetables a day. And when it comes to grains try to have wholegrain instead of white bread, rice or pasta. My El Dorado Salad is a tasty salad option; with the added protein from kidney beans this recipe can be a complete vegetarian meal or enjoyed with a serve of meat.

3) Eat moderate portions

The recommended serve of meat for a main meal is around 90 grams (cooked) or similar in size to the palm of your hand. A serve of fruit should be a medium piece of fruit or around 150 grams.

The perfect plate of food should be 1/2 vegetables or salad, 1/4 carbohydrates, and 1/4 lean protein.

4) Know your weaknesses

To become healthier, you first need to know what you are doing wrong. A great way to see where you are going wrong is to write down everything you eat for a few days, underline everything that is unhealthy and circle everything that is healthy. If there are too many lines, you know it’s time to change. If there is one food you are eating too much of, make sure it doesn’t end up in the supermarket trolley.

5) Quit dieting

Remember dieting doesn’t work. All you achieve on a diet is hunger and deprivation then once you quit the diet all the weight goes back on and usually more.

All food can be enjoyed in moderation. There is no need to feel guilty every time you have a biscuit or bowl of ice-cream; as long as you eat in moderation as part of a healthy balanced plan.

Overeating is one of the main causes to obesity.

You have to start somewhere, why not start with by working on one of the above each week; at the end of five weeks you will have created some great new healthy habits.

Do you have any other tips to add to the list? Please share in the comments below.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.com

24 Comments

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- - Melissa89 said
  - 27 Jul 2016
    12:21 pm
These are really great ideas. Completely doable and not at all a shock to the system

- - robyn_smithwick said
  - 20 Jan 2016
    8:59 pm
Very sound advice here!

- - gillianlisa said
  - 13 Jan 2016
    10:16 pm
Gardening brings me so much happiness. Great article.

- - Lori-Anne said
  - 11 Jan 2016
    4:57 pm
I have kept a food diary in the past as a good way to review what I am actually eating. It didn’t stop me from eating junk but it made me conscious of my intake and where I could make improvements.

- - clairejay said
  - 11 Jan 2016
    12:32 pm
I agree with stopping the idea of dieting and switching to a healthier lifestyle. There are some great tips in this article for the new year!

- - mom169284 said
  - 11 Jan 2016
    5:29 am
Some great tips and perfect timing for my household.
- symplytoogood replied
  
  11 Jan 2016 , 5:12 pm
  Glad to be of assistance 🙂
- - Kasey said
  - 31 Dec 2015
    10:50 pm
some great tips, a fantastic read.

- - rachelvk said
  - 30 Dec 2015
    8:21 pm
Thanks for the great suggestions.
- symplytoogood replied
  
  11 Jan 2016 , 5:11 pm
  You are most welcome 🙂
- - aprilb1 said
  - 27 Dec 2015
    9:54 pm
Great suggestions! I too have learnt this recently

- - Nas01 said
  - 26 Dec 2015
    9:28 pm
Great tips. I think the initial realisation and step to change bad eating habits is the most difficult.

- - mum888 said
  - 25 Dec 2015
    9:24 pm
I want to start eating brown rice as it is much healthier than white rice. My sister in law made brown rice today but Iknow the kids wont like it so was suggested to mix it with white rice. Hope this will work ….

- - mom93821 said
  - 22 Dec 2015
    6:58 pm
Thank you and thank you again for pointing out that diets do not work! I have been listening to so many people talking about their upcoming New Year fad diets! 🙁

- - clairejay said
  - 11 Dec 2015
    1:21 pm
I also think that in order to be successful with being healthy, you have to actually be committed to changing. Strategies for dealing with relapses and not being too harsh on yourself are essential too otherwise it’s easy to get back into a mindset of “it doesn’t matter what I eat now.”

- - mom94125 said
  - 10 Dec 2015
    9:03 am
yeah i agree with this being a lifestyle change vs a diet or quick fix. i think that the more that you get into the mind set, the easier it becomes as you form the habit.
- mom93821 replied
  
  23 Dec 2015 , 6:15 am
  Lifestyle change really is the only to go for long term results and changes.
- - ella12 said
  - 09 Dec 2015
    2:58 pm
Great tips Annette. I like the first one, so many people just expect to make big changes suddenly and they don’t work often. I think when you start off small and make gradual changes, then you’re onto a winner.

- - rovermum said
  - 09 Dec 2015
    1:27 pm
I do think it’s all about moderation and portion size. Somewhere along the way, our portion sizes grew astronomically. I’ve since bought smaller dinner plates to help reduce what we put on a plate. It’s interesting to see what we should be eating vs what we are eating. We just need to retrain our bodies.

- - mom134803 said
  - 09 Dec 2015
    12:37 pm
We love healthy food. To be honest we don’t have unhealthy food at home. I’m always baking and making and the kids love to help and eat 😉
- symplytoogood replied
  
  10 Dec 2015 , 10:02 am
  I love that you are teaching your kids healthy habits. Keep up the great work!
- - mom101628 said
  - 08 Dec 2015
    9:13 pm
Great advice and something I have followed just about all my life. I found if I grew it and got the children to help me do so, then they ate healthier and it wasn’t a problem to keep to that healthy life style

- - mom108654 said
  - 08 Dec 2015
    9:01 pm
Inspiring

- - linaianna said
  - 08 Dec 2015
    5:28 pm
Thanks for sharing great read