2 Steps to a Healthy Diet
Only 2 steps to a healthy diet, you say? Sign me up! The truth is, that these 2 steps are the broad categories I recommend focusing on when transitioning to a nutritious diet, and they involve many smaller steps to get there. This post is meant to get you thinking about your current diet, and considering some small changes you can begin making right away. We’ll break them down into smaller steps to help you put them into practice. The 2 main categories to focus on when transitioning to a nutritious diet:
Eat more real foods
Add more nutrient-dense foods to your diet.
As you’ll notice, both of these steps focus on ADDING more good things vs. taking anything away. As a side-note, I do think there’s a place for a therapeutic diet in which certain foods are eliminated right away (if you’re experiencing severe symptoms related to food reactivities for example), but that does not work for everyone. It’s all about where you are right now, and figuring out what strategies will work for you as an individual (this is what we focus on in one-on-one sessions). It’s all about substituting more and more high quality food, until the less healthy things are essentially ‘crowded out’. Over time, you’ll find that your tastes will change, and you’ll naturally begin to crave more of the good stuff- I promise! So let’s break these down:
Eat more REAL foods.
Eating high quality, nutrient-dense, minimally-processed whole foods is the single most important health habit to establish, right in the beginning of your health journey. Though I’m calling it a ‘diet’ here, really this is more about laying the groundwork for long-term changes to your eating habits. We have evolved to eat real foods from plants and animals, not food-like products that have been made in factories with artificial chemical colors, flavor, and preservatives. On a cellular level, our bodies recognize and know how to process the nutrients coming from real foods, since these foods are basically in a perfect natural package. Once a food becomes more processed, it means most of the nutrients are stripped out-- the more processed it becomes, the less nutritious it is, generally speaking. Real foods are also often referred to as whole foods, non-processed, or minimally-processed foods. Here are some basics on choosing more real foods:
Foods that you can actually recognize as something that came directly from a plant or an animal: Fruit, vegetables, whole grains, beans, meat, eggs, nuts, seeds, and healthy oils.
Foods that are minimally-processed, and without a bunch of added ingredients, if it’s in a package.
If it’s in a package, take a look at the ingredients list; Ideally it’s a short list, containing words that you also recognize as food, vs. chemicals. Usually this is a food that’s easily recognized, without having to read the label. Example, a bag of walnuts, an avocado, container of salad greens, etc. You don’t need to look at a list of ingredients to figure out what it is!
Typically the outer edges of the grocery store are where the least processed foods will be, i.e. the produce and meat sections.
The next sub-step within step 1, is to consider substituting out at least one processed food in your diet for it’s whole food counterpart. You can do more if you like, but consider focusing on subbing out the one or two less-healthy items you eat the most of. Here are some examples:
If you tend to eat frozen French fries, hash browns, tater tots, substitute roasted potatoes.
Easy Roasted Potatoes Recipe: Peel and cut up each potato (any kind you like) into small wedges, toss with olive or avocado oil, salt, pepper, and any other spices- garlic, onion, rosemary, thyme, basil, paprika, etc. Place on a baking sheet sprayed with a little coconut oil. Bake at 400 degrees for 35-45 mins, tossing them periodically with a spatula to cook them evenly.
If you often eat frozen meals, think about making the same dish yourself. Example- instead of getting a frozen stir fry bowl, prep the ingredients for rice bowls for the week. Instant pot is a great tool for this: Cook your chicken breasts or thighs in the Instant pot while the brown rice is simmering in the pot (follow package instructions). You can also easily find plain frozen stir fry veggies like peppers, onion snow peas etc, then add whatever sauce you like (preferably a healthier version of a stir fry sauce without added sugar or chemicals). Or get the vegetable fresh, chop them up and stir fry in a pan with a little water and sauce of choice.
If you often have pasta as your starch, replace with a baked sweet potato, squash, brown rice, quinoa, or beans.
If you often get frozen or fast food chicken nuggets, replace with fresh chicken breast or thighs cooked and seasoned how you like. *You can also start with getting a rotisserie chicken or some organic deli meat like Applegate Farms if not ready to cook chicken.
Purchase whole fruit vs. fruit juice, fruit bars, fruit snacks.
In place of ice cream, try frozen fruit pops or sorbet, preferably without added sugar.
Try fresh or plain frozen broccoli, vs. frozen broccoli in a cheddar cheese sauce.
Plain rolled or steel cut oats vs. boxed cereal. Try overnight oats: In a Pyrex storage container, add 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1 scoop protein / collagen powder of choice, 1 TBSP chia seeds, and 3/4 c almond milk or other plant-based milk. Whisk ingredients together quickly (the chia seeds will clump otherwise). Cover and place in fridge overnight. Ready to eat the next morning! Top with nuts, seeds, fruit.
2. Add more nutrient-dense foods to your diet
Okay so now you have a good idea of what makes up real, minimally processed foods, with some ideas for substitutions. The next step is to focus on adding more nutrient-dense foods to your diet.
No amount of sleep, exercise, meditation and supplementation will get you to optimal health without a clean and nutrient-dense diet. This type of diet provides the basic nutrients and hydration that every cell of your body needs to function well. Many people do ask, “Can’t I just take a multivitamin?” The answer is yes you can, and I do often recommend a high quality multivitamin, but this is always in addition to a healthy diet, not in place of one.
A good goal to aim for, is to eat a nutrient-dense diet *most* of the time, which leaves room for treating yourself with foods that you enjoy (but that may be lower in nutrients). Here are the nutrient-dense food groups to focus on: NOTE- this does not take food sensitivities into account; these are only basic guidelines that would need to be tailored depending on many factors.
Fresh Vegetables are among the most nutrient-dense foods you can eat. Aim for a variety of colors; the more colorful, the more antioxidants they have.
All leafy greens: spinach, kale, chard, beet greens, dandelion greens, all salad greens- mixed baby greens, watercress, baby spinach, baby kale, radicchio, endive.
Cruciferous vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cabbage, arugula, bok choy, collard greens, horseradish, kale, radishes, rutabaga, turnips, watercress, wasabi
Fresh spices- parsley, dill, cilantro, thyme, basil, oregano
Other: bell peppers, cucumbers, celery, garlic, onions, leeks, shallots, scallions, beet, parsnip, sweet potato, mushrooms, sprouts, asparagus, string beans, snow peas, snap peas, zucchini, carrots, eggplant, squashes, and many more.
Since fresh vegetables are among the most nutrient-dense foods you can eat, here are a few takeaways to get you started.
Add a salad to the side of each meal, or throw some mixed baby greens or baby spinach over any meal.
Add mixed greens to your morning eggs (my personal fave breakfast is placing mixed baby greens or arugula on the plate with a little oil and vinegar, and top with a couple of over easy or scrambled eggs and a slice of avocado).
Make a salad the center of your meal. For example, a big salad for lunch with a side of protein like chicken breast or salmon.
Sauté some mixed veggies like bell peppers, garlic, onions, mushrooms, and / or broccoli, and have with a side of protein and whole grain if you like.
Make a large batch of any vegetable you like, and have that as your side for the week. I will typically make a large batch of broccoli, broccoli rabe, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, or root vegetables to have for the week.
Delicious Broccoli Recipe: Fresh broccoli is SO EASY to prep: Rinse broccoli thoroughly, then cut off florets into smaller pieces. Add to a pan with a little water, fat of choice (I recommend grass fed butter / ghee, or olive / avocado / coconut oil), salt, pepper, and any other spices. I also like to add a squeeze of lemon juice. Place on high heat until water bubbles, then turn heat down to medium and cover the pan, tossing the broccoli occasionally. Check it every few minutes for tenderness; you want to cook it until it’s tender enough to your liking, but still bright green in color.
Fruit: Prioritize berries; these are high in antioxidants and are lowest in natural sugars (Berries- blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries), apple, pear, orange, plum, peach, nectarine, cherries, grapes, kiwi, mango, banana, pineapple, melons.
Whole grains: Steel cut oats, rolled oats, quinoa, wild rice, brown rice, heirloom rice (purple or red rice), amaranth, millet, buckwheat, teff.
Beans and lentils: preferably dried and cooked at home vs. canned.
Fats:
Avocado, avocado oil
Coconut
Nuts and Seeds, and their butters: Preferably raw, without added sugar or salt
Oils: Seek out high-quality organic oils. For cooking, use avocado or coconut oil, or grass-fed ghee or butter if not dairy-sensitive. Olive oil and cold-pressed flax oils are great as well, but not stable for cooking (can add to salads or foods once cooked and slightly cooled on your plate).
Animal products: beef, lamb, goat, chicken, turkey, salmon, eggs, dairy / dairy produce. Choose high-quality animal products as much as possible, organic / pasture-raised (for poultry, eggs, and dairy) grass-fed / grass-finished (for beef), wild (for fish).
There you have it, the 2 main steps when beginning to transition towards a diet of more nutrient-dense real foods. In future posts, I’ll be providing more practical tips and recipes to help get you started on your journey. If you’re already doing the 2 steps listed in this post, great job!! You’re already on your way to a healthier lifestyle. If you know you would benefit from more one-on-one support for establishing and maintaining your healthy lifestyle, I would love to support you. Book your visit using the link at the top of this page!
In Health,