Good afternoon, this article is going to be a little bit different than all my previous ones. In this article, I will be sharing my experiences with eating healthier. I do want to add that I am not 100% eating healthy, but I am working towards it!
Like most of you probably reading this, I started out not really understanding the differences between eating healthy and actually eating healthy. Now that statement might not make any sense at first and it didn't make any sense to me either until only recently.
If you asked me a year ago, are you eating healthy? I would just say yes, because I thought I was eating healthy. I had sweets from time to time and I ate nice meals with my family and I wasn't one of those people who sits on the couch eating chips all day watching TV. I was thin and tall, so I appeared healthy as well.
My diet last year was the typical American diet. You know what I mean. I ate like everyone else did. Nothing over the top and from time to time I would enjoy the leafy foods as well. Just "normal" American foods.
This year I am very proud to say that my diet has improved. I'm not exactly where I want to be yet, but I'm taking a step by step route to reach my goal.
A few things I have improved on:
I have stopped drinking dairy milk all together and have been going strong for almost 4 months now. If you've read my previous articles on dairy milk and why it is unhealthy for you, you will understand this. I now drink soy milk and almond milk. Both very delicious. I was a little hesitant at first, but after trying both I was very pleased with them. The brand I buy is Silk because they are a non-GMO product.
I have cut back on pop or soda for all you west coast people. I used to be one of those people who drink like two cans a day - one for lunch and one for dinner. Pop has a lot of added sugars and other ingredients. I have only just begun this new step, but I am happy to say that I've gone a week so far with out any pop. Instead I drink water with all my meals, except breakfast then I drink either soy or almond milk. Now, like you, I asked the same questions myself before trying this. My question was, how can I drink water with foods like pizza or pasta? A lot of Italian foods for some reason really needed pop to wash them down with, but I never understood why. Water does the job wonderfully. Just think about water for a minute. Water is the only liquid that doesn't contain any added ingredients. It's just water - plain and simple.
The feeling you get when you feel the urge to drink pop with certain meals is because your body is used to having that extra shot of sweetness. Almost like a routine for your brain, but you don't actually need to drink pop with foods, but I'm not saying you shouldn't either. This is only my opinion of how I can stay healthy. But like I was saying, it's only because your body is used to it, but it doesn't mean that it's good for your body.
The third thing I've been improving on is I've been trying to eat healthier foods. I'm consuming much more fruits and vegetables, but not the kind with the added sugars and other artificial ingredients. A lot products will say natural fruits like for juices and such, but don't be deceived. Check the labels and the fine print. I'm trying my best not to anymore, but I used to buy a lot of Naked Juice, Minute Maid, Ocean Spray, and other products until I realized that many of them add a lot of different ingredients to them. So now I just stick with water. But getting back to my original point, I've been eating a lot more salads, vegetables, and fruits recently.
The thing I still want to accomplish is my hardest goal, cutting back on meats. Now I don't want to become a vegan, more just like a vegetarian who still eats meats, but just not all the time. I know this will be my hardest step, because I absolutely love meat and can't imagine myself not eating it, but I think I can start with lowering my intake of it. Perhaps by starting out as a every other day thing and then push it for once every few days and so on.
It was honestly pretty simple for me to give up dairy milk and it's been so far so good giving up pop as well. So I know I can accomplish my goals. I also want to add that I don't think there is anything wrong with eating meats, I just don't agree with how they go about to get them with the factory farms and such. If you're interested in learning more about the factory farms I just mentioned, check out my earlier article called Farms Don't Look Like They Used To.
Thanks for reading my article, I hope you enjoyed it. These are just some of the ways I have improved my diet and I hope it will give you some suggestions on eating healthier as well.
Please leave any comments below in the comment section!
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