These days, unhealthy, processed foods are the most accessible, convenient options. Beyond affordability, the convenience of fast-food meals and overly processed snacks make it a go-to choice for most of us.
Unfortunately, the consequences of choosing convenience over health can ultimately be devastating. Diabetes, various types of cancer, malnutrition, vitamin deficiencies, sleep problems, and even mental health conditions can stem from poor eating habits.
However, because not everyone has the time or funds to prepare organic meals and snacks with nutritious ingredients, following a balanced diet might seem impractical. So, we have rounded up some practical ways to switch to healthier eating habits.
Prep Meals In Advance
If you dread the thought of having to slave away over the stove every evening for a nutritious home-cooked meal, you’re probably relying on take-out delivery a little too often. Fortunately, you don’t have to cook daily to follow a balanced diet. You could spend one day preparing meals for the week.
Depending on the dish, you can prepare and freeze meal portions to reheat in the microwave. Otherwise, you can portion and prepare ingredients to reduce the amount of time you will need to spend in the kitchen.
Avoid Dietary Supplements
While a massive range of dietary supplements on the market promise to uphold your health in the most convenient way, it’s best only to use health supplements recommended by your healthcare practitioner.
Unfortunately, dietary supplements are not always healthy and should never be a substitute for a balanced diet. You can click here to learn more about the risks of supplements.
Choose Fruits That Don’t Spoil Quickly
It’s no secret that organic foods are essential for a healthy diet, but they are quite a bit more expensive than processed fast foods. The higher cost of healthy foods leads many to believe a healthy diet is unaffordable.
However, you can eat healthy without breaking the bank. Apples, oranges, mangos, blueberries, and cranberries are more affordable fruits that don’t spoil as quickly as others. Because these fruits last longer, you waste money tossing out bad foods.
Learn How To Make Preserves
Another way to stretch your food budget without reaching for cheap, unhealthy foods is to learn how to make food preserves.
Preserving beetroots, baby onions, and pickles is easy and affordable. Moreover, preserving fruits like strawberries, grapes, peaches, apples, and others to make healthy jams will keep your pantry stocked with healthier snacking options.
Determine Healthy Portion Sizes
As you switch to healthier eating habits, you might feel hungrier at first. Fast foods and processed convenience meals seem extremely filling as they often cause bloating and heaviness, which is often confused for feelings of fullness.
As a result, it’s crucial to determine healthy portion sizes for your age, height, and any relevant health conditions. Consuming the right portion sizes will ensure you feel fuller for longer, which will make sticking to healthy foods a lot easier.
Following a balanced diet can transform your quality of life by improving energy levels, mood, sleep quality, mental health, and so much more.