10 Tips: Make Better Food Choices

Although everyone needs to take care of their health and diet, women often don’t make themselves a priority.

It’s time to change that and take the time to look after yourself by making better food choices, as well as becoming more physically active.

Here are 10 tips on good food choices:

1. Personalize Your Nutrition

Use a tracking app to get personalized information based on your age, gender, weight, height, and activity level. Some tracking apps give you calorie and weight goals, and show how many carbs and how much fat and salt you are eating compared to the recommended amounts.

2. Use A Smaller Plate

By all means enjoy your food, but use a smaller plate to help control the amount of food you eat. It also makes you think you’re eating more than you are.

3. Eat to Strengthen Your Bones

Eat foods that can strengthen your bones and keep them healthy. These include milk, cheese, yogurt, and fortified soy milk, and don’t forget to add milk to your morning coffee.

4. Fill Half Your Plate with Fruits and Vegetables

Try to add red, orange, or dark-green vegetables to half of your plate, and have fruit as a side dish.

5. Drink More Water

Sip water or other low-calorie drinks throughout the day to stop yourself becoming dehydrated. Thirst is often mistaken for hunger, which leads to snacking on empty calories when all your body needs is water.

6. Eat More Whole Grains

Eat whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, whole-grain pasta, and bread instead of refined white rice, pasta, and breads. Whole-grain foods contain more fiber, which can help you to feel fuller for longer. They also provide essential nutrients.

7. Check Food Labels

Use the ingredients and nutrition labels on foods to find out what they contain. There are apps now where you can compare nutrition information on different foods.

8. Cut Down on Some Foods

Try to cut down on calories by reducing the amount of foods you eat that are high in solid fats and added sugars. Limit your intake of fatty meats such as bacon, ribs, and hotdogs, and have cakes, cookies, candies, and ice cream as occasional treats.

9. Learn to Cook Healthier Meals

Become a bit more adventurous in the kitchen, and try to eat at home more often. Cooking at home means you get to control exactly what goes in to your food, and it’s less expensive than eating out.

If you do eat out, try to choose healthier options from the menu, such as baked chicken or fish instead of fried.

10. Try to be More Active

Setting goals for physical activity is a great idea. Aim for at least 2 ½ hours of moderate physical activity per week. Try doing exercise for ten minutes at a time as you go through your day, and do some muscle strengthening exercise twice a week.