11 Tips and Tricks to Eat Healthy Without Trying

Published on January 6, 2018
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There are only a few things in life that are promised: death, taxes, and our commitment to eventually trying to eat healthy. Whether you decide to eat healthy after feeling the guilt from fast food or you decided to do it for a New Years resolution, the outcome is almost always the same: giving up. It can be hard to shift your lifestyle away from a casually abusive relationship with food. Yet, eating healthy can fundamentally change how you live. You won’t feel always tired, you’ll start to look better, and you’ll even see easy breakfast ideas start popping into your head to get the day going right. Effort is a tricky thing so we decided to put together 11 rock solid tips and tricks to help you eat healthy without even trying! Get a pen and paper, or just bookmark this article, and get ready to change your life!

Engage in meal preparation.

Alright, so we are almost immediately going back on our promise to keep this a low effort list to help you eat healthy. However, we feel like giving one day of effort out of the entire week might end up being worth it. One of the primary reasons that we end up binge eating or reaching for unhealthy foods is a lack of time, or laziness, after a long day of work. We don’t want to sit down and cook a healthy meal when we can just hit the drive through or throw a frozen dinner in the oven. To combat this feeling of understandable laziness you should pick a day out of the week and prepare your meals for the coming days. Cook meals that are healthy, and tasty, in mass quantities and then package them up. You can leave a few of the packaged meals in the fridge while freezing the rest. The night before you need the meals just take them out of the freezer and put them into the fridge. This way you’ll never have an excuse to reach for unhealthy food due to convenience.

Engage in meal preparation

Engage in meal preparation

Make breakfast shakes on busy mornings.

The most important meal of the day, drum roll please, has always been breakfast. Breakfast literally means “breaking your fast” because it is your first meal after sleeping for X amount of hours. When you first wake up you are in need of nutrition and hydration and if you don’t get both in solid amounts then you are bound to have a pretty rough. Unfortunately most people are so pressed in the morning that they never get the chance to sit down and have a healthy meal. You can combat the urge to eat junk food in the morning by making your own breakfast shakes. Just get a blender and a slew of healthy ingredients and blend them up for a perfect on the go meal. One of our favorites, especially for those with a sweet tooth, is an organic apple juice and veggie mix. Mix up a cup of apple juice with kale, spinach, and flaxseed to get a fiber, vitamin, and nutrient filled breakfast drink. The best part? The kids will probably like it as well.

Make breakfast shakes on busy mornings

Make breakfast shakes on busy mornings

Plan your breakfasts.

When we first wake up in the morning it is a time of general confusion and/or anxiety. We are in a rush to scarf down a meal before getting on the road to work. Instead of keeping this your morning routine you should instead take time to plan your meals out ahead of time at least when it comes to breakfast. Look up easy breakfast ideas for kids that balance their health and your convenience and then right these down for the week. That way you have a game plan as soon as you hop out of bed.

Plan your breakfasts.

Plan your breakfasts.

Substitute fruit for candy.

If you are like us then you no doubt have a sweet tooth. The sweet tooth can be the single largest roadblock when it comes to getting healthy. Fight the urge to reach for junk food and candy by always having some delicious fresh fruit on hand. Buy a container of mixed berries and fruit at the beginning of every week purely so you have a snack that gives you that sweet flavor. You need enough fruit in your diet and berries are amazing sources of antioxidants. The best part is that the treat will be sweet enough to dissuade you from those gummy bears that you have been staring at all day.

Substitute fruit for candy

Substitute fruit for candy

Drink more water.

It’s a scientific fact that almost half of the people in the United States walks around at least mildly dehydrated. There is no excuse for this clear choice to be dehydrated but here we are. People are opting to drink soda pop and juice and just about anything but water which is absurd as you need water to live. Being dehydrated can lead to all sorts of mental and physical ailments. You’ll feel fatigued even after a full nights rest. You will notice that your skin isn’t as clear as it should be. You’ll notice all sorts of things that have you reaching for fibromyalgia herbs when you don’t need to. On top of it all, staying hydrated can go a long way toward making you stay feeling full. So, when you go out to dinner make sure to have a glass or two of water and that’ll help prevent you from over eating. If you are trying to cut weight then keep a bottle of water at your office desk and reach for it instead of your snacks when you want to just munch on something. You’ll feel a boost of energy as well as a full feeling, preventing you from taking in those obnoxious calories.

Drink more water

Drink more water

Roast a veggie platter.

There is no reason that you should ever be wanting for vegetables when you sit down at breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The reason is simple: your oven is the most convenient kitchen tool that you probably aren’t using enough. Keep veggies always on the menu by taking time at the beginning of the week to roast an entire oven tray of your favorite veggies. Mix up asparagus, peppers, broccoli or whatever else you want. Throw in potatoes for extra carbs and starch and then refrigerate everything you’ve cooked. Whenever you are ready just re-heat in the microwave or a pan and get to cooking.

Roast a veggie platter

Roast a veggie platter

Understand portion sizes.

Many people portion their meals to fit the plates on their table rather than the amount of calories that they should be eating and this is disastrous. The plates you eat off of at home are larger than they need to be and lead to subliminal over eating. Start to pay attention to your portions and make sure that you are eating a calorie appropriate amount of food. Don’t just rely on spooning up servings until your plate is full. Learning the caloric value of food is instrumental in fixing your diet.

Understand portion sizes

Understand portion sizes

Try to start exercising

Exercise is pretty much the opposite of a low effort way to eat healthy, but it is definitely worth giving a shot! Once you start to actively take care of your body you become almost hyper aware of how much you are mistreating it in other areas of your life. Once you value how much time it takes to burn off 100 calories you will be hesitant to put a junk food version of 100 calories into your body. This doesn’t mean you need to lift weights and run marathons. Just start going for walks or taking a morning jog to get back in tune with your body.

Try-to-start-exercising

Try-to-start-exercising

Eat the rainbow.

The simplest way to make sure that you are eating a healthy meal is to make sure that your food is colorful. It may sound silly, but making sure to “eat the rainbow” will lead you to have a diverse plate full of appropriate nutrition for your body and its needs. Keep tons of green vegetables on hands as well as colorful fruits and you’ll never need for either again. Fruits and veggies don’t have to be difficult to incorporate into your diet and you shouldn’t punish yourself by not eating them at all.

Eat the rainbow

Eat the rainbow

Allow a cheat day.

The easiest way to give up eating healthy is by refusing to approach your meals in moderation. You can’t flip a switch and turn 100% of your diet around in a single day. So always make room to have a cheat meal or a cheat day at some point in time. You don’t want to burn out so much that you go back to scarfing junk food all of the time. Giving yourself a cheat meal will let you mix pleasure with nutrition without sacrificing either.

Allow a cheat day

Allow a cheat day

Get the family on board.

We tend to pattern our lives around the people we share them with. So if your family is on board trying to get healthy then you should take advantage of their enthusiasm. The more you work together the easier it will be to create positive life choices in relation to your food. It’s not easy to get everyone on board but the long last effects are well worth the effort.

Get the family on board

Get the family on board