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SIX TIPS TO HELP YOU GET STARTED ON A HEALTHY DIET — by Catherine Morgan

Do you want to lose weight, feel healthier, or just start eating better? Jumping off the junk food band-wagon isn’t easy. Making the decision to give it a try is a great first start. But, quiting cold-turkey is generally a bad idea. Sometimes making small changes, and working up to more, is a better way to do it.

Make one change in your diet today, and keep it up for a week. Then in a week, make another change. Keep adding to your healthy eating changes week after week, until eating healthy is just what you do.

Here are a few places you can start.

1. Eliminate or limit your intake of refined sugars, (ie: cookies, cakes, candy, soda, etc.), nature sugar from fruits are o.k.

2. If you don’t eat vegetables, start eating one serving a day, if you already eat one serving a day, try to start eating two….(you see where I am going with this, right?). Not all vegetables are created equal, for instance; spinach, broccoli, green beans, are really good for you, corn, potatoes, iceberg lettuce, just so so…..but better than nothing.

3. Increase your “lean” protein intake, (ie: chicken, fish, pork, lean beef). Wild Salmon once a week is a great idea, and you can now get it in frozen, single portioned packages. I find this helpful because buying “fresh” goes bad fast. And most “fresh” is actually Atlantic Salmon (code name for farm raised with chemicals).

4. Replace all (or most) soda intake with water. There is nothing about soda, diet or regular, that is good for you. If you are drinking it for the caffeine, coffee is better for this purpose than soda.

5. Eliminate or cut back your use of processed foods, (ie: frozen dinners, anything with a powder packet, anything with “sulfite”, etc.)

6. Increase your intake of fiber, oatmeal in the morning is good for this. I admit, I do cheat and use the “instant” variety of oatmeal, it’s just easier.

These are just a few ideas. Obviously there is much more to good nutrition, but we need to start somewhere, taking baby steps is better than not taking any steps. Don’t do it all at once, make small changes, and gradually work your way into eating a healthier diet. You will begin to see that you feel better when you eat healthier than you do when you are eating junk, this will then become your motivation to keep it up.

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