The term “life changing experience” has become so clichéd that people no longer believe in it. When someone comes up to you and tells you that doing something or being somewhere will change your life forever, you tend not take their words seriously. But that still does not change the fact that people are always desirous of reshaping and remoulding their lives for the better. Life changing experiences are subjective. To some, such an experience entails finding true love. To others, a change in fortune would equate to a real change in life. Despite the difference opinions, most people would agree that a significant improvement in health will make their lives a lot enjoyable no matter what.
What is the simplest way to improve your health? Start eating healthy. Developing a habit of eating healthy is obviously easier said than done. However, the adaptation to healthy eating becomes much easier when you have a perfectly planned agenda and a real source of motivation. With the New Year just around the corner, it is high time that you start bringing about a change in your diet by creating realistic goals that you can achieve one at a time. Here are a few pointers to help you out:
1) Start off Slow
Replacing the junk in your diet with healthy food is more of a marathon than a 100 m sprint. There is no reason for you to get off the blocks like Flash. Take it easy and go slow. Just like a marathon, it is all about maintaining consistency throughout a prolonged period of time. There is no point in eating healthy for a few weeks just to go back to your old diet for the remainder of the year. You can start by including a little more fibre in your diet. This involves having more fruit and fish than usual. You can have a particular fish every single day to keep your taste buds interested. You can promise yourself to add a piece of produce to your brown bag lunch every day. This is also a good time to start experimenting with whole grain cereal. Find a whole grain cereal that best suits your taste and treat it as your mid morning snack.
2) Drink More Water
People seem to be hardly bothered about the importance of drinking an adequate amount of water every single day. The lack of attention to drinking water is appalling to say the least. The idea of drinking the recommended eight cups of water a day might seem a little challenging at first. This is why it helps to think small and break down the task into tiny objectives.
Instead of constantly worrying about drinking eight cups a day, you should focus on drinking a single cup before brushing your teeth in the morning. That is one cup down, seven more to go. Are you a big fan of soda or wine? Then splash a bit of your favourite beverage in a cup of water whenever you are in need of refreshment. You should also try to drink one more cup of water than you had the previous day till you reach the magic number of eight.
3) Eat Colourful Produce
When we think of colourful food, we think of the green veggies. Green food isn’t the only thing that’s good for you. Colourful produce generally contains a number of disease fighting plant compounds that are essential to improving your health. When you are out shopping for produce at the grocery, try get in as many colours in your shopping cart as you possibly can. Yellow produce such as golden apples, grapefruit and corn have a lot to offer to your body. The same can be said about the purple ones such as plum and eggplant. To make things really interesting, you can get the kids involved and cook colour themed foods every weekend.
4) Avoid Incessant Munching
This is something that we can all admit we are guilty of. When you are chatting with your friends or watching your favourite television series with a bowl of crackers nearby, you are bound to keep on munching. The nibbling does not stop till the bowl has been wiped clean of food. At that moment in time, those munchies become the most irresistible food on planet earth. How can you put an end to this? Simple, just stick a gum or a mint in your mouth once you know that you have had enough.
5) Partner Up with a Friend
Fulfilling diet resolutions are a lot more enjoyable when you are doing it with a friend or family member who is just as dedicated to eating healthy as you are. You can share your ideas, plans and success on a daily basis. When you are out of ideas for delicious, healthy meals, you can always rely on your friend to come up with new recipes. Partnering up will also create a sense of competition between the two of you, which will only serve to boost your performance.