Okay, so you fell off the healthy wagon for a few months and can’t seem to jump back on because the mere thought of overhauling your diet, in addition to your already crammed schedule, is just too overwhelming. Sound familiar?

Home cooked dinners every evening? Definitely, don’t have time for that. An hour of exercise seven days a week? Never gonna happen. Drop 10kg before summer hits? Keep dreaming.

Here’s the good news: Major overhauls aren’t actually necessary to get back on track. Research shows that drastic change leads to failure 75% of the time. Remember, every change in life begins with a single step. Taking small steps towards healthier eating today can help you to reap big rewards tomorrow. For example, just one extra piece of fruit per day will lead to 365 pieces in one year. That’s a lot more vitamins and antioxidants than before, don’t you think?!

The key to not getting side-tracked (so that one cookie doesn’t become the entire jar!) is to get back on track by making the next healthy choice. That’s it! You don’t have to alter your schedule or change your to-do list. Instead, make the next healthy choice. Maybe add more veggies to your next lunch? Totally doable, right?

Keen to get started? Here are a few small steps to a healthier you:

• Eat a healthy breakfast. This will jump start your metabolism. Those who eat breakfast tend to eat a little less throughout the day.
• Eat like a child. Kids are in touch with their natural hunger and satiety signals; eat smaller portions, take small bites, stop when you’re full and plan for healthy snack times.
• Eat off smaller plates. As a rule, we tend to eat more when our plates are bigger.
• Focus on eating more fruit and veggies. Use veggies to bulk up anything you eat. Make vegetables the main feature of meals, taking up half of your plate, with only small portions of starchy veggies like potato, sweet potato and corn. Eating plenty of vegetables and a few pieces of fruit per day will help you to feel full, reducing the need for unhealthy extras. Recommended servings are 5 servings for women and six for men. Spread your veggie serves over lunch and dinner.
• Swap simple carbs for complex carbs. Gradually remove processed foods, refined carbs and sugary foods from your diet – swap white breads, pastas and rice for whole meal and whole grain options. Wholegrains contain high amounts of fibre, which act as a broom in the gastrointestinal tract, sweeping away environmental contaminants in our food and water. Wholegrains will also keep you fuller for longer.
• Limit alcohol. To decrease cancer risk and help maintain a healthy weight, women should have no more than one drink per day, men two.
• Love what you eat. If you hate kale, try spinach or rocket, or even beets instead. Depriving yourself of all the foods you love will lead to failure.
• Change to healthy cooking methods – try steaming, poaching, stir frying and roasting.
• Guzzle H2O. Don’t confuse hunger with thirst. The benefits include increased energy, regulating appetite and improved digestion.
• Keep a food journal, this will help you to become a more mindful eater.

In the age of healthy lifestyle bloggers and fitness gurus galore, there’s no shortage of diet advice, but, remember, life is about living, not obsessing.

Look at your diet to have the healthiest, strongest body.

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com.au, www.ksl.com, www.livescience.com, www.redbookmag.com, jamesclear.com, www.womanshealthmag.com, www.womanshealthnetwork.com, awomanshealth.com, vitalhealth.com.au, ellymcguiness.com, www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au, pickanytwo.net