How to develop a healthy diet (and actually keep it)

Being brought up indulging in processed foods and eating out five of the seven days of the week can get tiring, physically and mentally. Lots of people struggle to find the time or money to eat a healthy, well balanced diet. While it may seem hard it’s surprisingly easy to find the right diet for yourself, Many are just uninformed of the secret to it all.

Taking it step by step and slowly adjusting is the best way to go. Step one is to do your research and find out what is best for you. Not what’s best for your favorite instagram model but specifically for you. We are all made differently and our bodily functions are also made differently. Furthermore what works for someone may not necessarily work the same for the next.  

Realizing that some foods can end up harming you long term or that are already affecting you negatively, is probably going to be the biggest game changer in helping you with wanting to actually reform what you decide to put into your body. What you eat can end up giving you diabetes, heart problems and can lead to obesity. Sometimes it is unavoidable, but if you can prevent it from happening, it’s best to prevent it as soon as possible. 

I witnessed my father go from a healthy person to someone with diabetes who can’t walk from one room to the next without having to catch his breath. This didn’t happen in one day. It was an accumulation of eating out and forgetting about fitness. It isn’t about the way he looks but merely about his health. 

Some positive effects of improving  your diet range from healthier hair, skin and nails, lengthens lifespan, decreases cholesterol and blood pressure along with lowering your chance at developing type two diabetes. There are many other great benefits that should be researched in this process.

You don’t have to immediately change your entire diet at once, but slowly taking out certain foods or replacing them with more beneficial foods little by little will help that new regime stick. Some people have a goal to stop eating by 6. If they normally stop eating at 9 they can reduce the time they eat by 30 minutes every week until they hit 6, and it usually sticks because their body becomes accustomed to that routine.

Some words on nutrition labels you should look out for when choosing what to buy are calories, cholesterol, fat, sodium, carbohydrates and protein. You should look for products that are low in sodium and cholesterol. Carbohydrates, calories, fat and protein are all nutrients that you should decide to choose from by finding out what macros are best for your body type. 

If you know you’re going to be busy during the week, prep your meals beforehand. Prepping and planning will help immensely because it gives you that certainty of what you will be eating on a certain day at that certain time. Dedicating just three hours to prepping and planning will put you on the right track with managing your diet.

None of this has to be done in a matter of a day. Changing a habit and finding a new diet could take anywhere from 18 days up to a year. Keep it in the back of your mind that this will contribute to your long term health and trust the process that comes with it.