It takes more than simply stepping out onto a sports field for a person to transform into a top athlete. Many small steps backed with time, effort and determination are required to become a champion at any sport. By viewing and treating your eating habits in the same light, that is, taking more manageable steps by making gradual changes rather than trying to change everything overnight, you too can become a champion… a champion at eating healthy. In actual fact, people who try the fast approach of going on strict eating plans often end up crashing and burning.
Contrary to popular belief, the first step to weight loss has absolutely nothing to do with cutting calories, or following 2 week Ketogenic diets and depriving yourself of healthy foods. Results achieved by these methods, if any, are often short-lived. The first and foremost step to weight loss is learning to eat healthier. That is it… Period! Quite often this is the only step a person needs to tip the scales in their favour. As well as this, eating healthy aids in improving mood and energy levels making a person more inclined to want to exercise.
It really is all about gradually implementing small changes into your everyday life, working towards a healthier you… and the best place to start is with the following seven steps. These seven steps need not be done in the order that they are presented here. There is one rule though that needs to be followed. It’s crucial not to move onto another step in the healthy eating list until you have comfortably and confidently mastered the previous healthy eating step. But don’t worry! It doesn’t matter whether a healthy eating step takes you one week to master or one month, so long as you are working towards bettering your eating habits.
7 healthy eating steps
- Stop adding sugar to foods and drinks – this includes coffee, tea, and breakfast cereals
- Avoid drinking sugary drinks such as soft-drinks and cordials, and opt for drinking water, coffee, or tea only
- Stop eating processed foods and enjoy wholesome true foods instead
- Substitute all of your once a week treat meals to a better option. For example, rather than a packet of chips, enjoy salted cashews that contain only around 100mg of salt per 100g serving. You can further reduce the salt content by washing the salt off half of the cashews, thoroughly drying them and then mixing them back in with the remaining salted cashews
- Include two servings of health benefiting dietary fat per day; one from a vegetable source and the other from an animal source
- Include vegetables or salad greens with at least three of your daily meals
- Drink one to two glasses of water with every meal
A final note: If you find yourself slipping backwards from time to time, don’t beat yourself up over it. Negative thoughts aren’t productive, they only cause a person to stagnate. Just shout out “So what – Now what!” and continue marching on. This simple statement will put you mentally back in power so you can quickly get back on track to succeed…Struggling to eat healthy? Find a studio to chat to one of our friendly staff!
