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What's the best way to eat healthy?
yelik9
Gloucester, VA New
I'm trying to eat a lot healthier lately and it's really hard to find the right foods to eat, my family doesn't eat the healthiest and neither do my friends so I don't have anyone to really help me. Any thoughts?
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Hi @yelik9. Welcome.
Eat more fruit and veg. Cut out sugar.
Search the Internet and/or public library for info.
Excellent goal, healthy eating really becomes a habit after a couple of months. With that being said, I'd recommend starting with the simple foods that interest you, seasonal fruit, favorite veggies, etc. Find new ways to cook them, get creative, and don't be intimidated by the excessive health-food recipes that seem to plague the internet, just have fun with it - it's only food y'know? Also, with Spring around the corner, I'd recommend looking for your local farmer's market locations, one of the best ways to introduce yourself to healthy food is by meeting the people who grow it, and ultimately seeing food as more than just a utilitarian necessity - food defines cultures, inspires art, and gathers people together! And finally, the most beneficial thing that helped me begin living a healthy lifestyle was taking a job at a health-food store, check to see if there are any Co-Op's in your area hiring, or even a grocery store like Sprouts or Whole Foods (Not sure what's available in the East Coast). You'll learn tons about the food you're interested in, you'll meet like-minded people, and find solidarity in your new lifestyle through your surroundings. Most of all, don't beat yourself up when you eat something bad, just wake up everyday trying to do better than the day before. Best of luck!
What are your circumstances, OP? Are you still living at home, taking meals with your family, or do you buy and prepare your own food? The easiest way to start is to buy fresh veggies and cook them yourself.
For an easy first step, you can begin making your own salads; buy a variety of greens, cucumber, tomato, sprouts at the grocery store; explore, see what they choices are. Red/Swiss chard, watercress, various lettuces, fresh spinach or packaged spinach leaves, celery and carrots if you wish. Make a simple oil and vinegar dressing (olive oil, try a couple of different vinegars: rice vinegar, cider vinegar, etc.), and chop some green onions and garlic to marinate in the dressing for a couple of hours or more.
In this way, you can get 6 or more of the recommended 9 servings for fruit/veggies per day, simply by eating a salad. You can add a few canned kidney beans or garbanzos, or artichoke hearts, or some brown rice for flavor and texture. I grate some cheese into it, and may add chicken or leftover salmon from yesterday's dinner, to form a complete meal. That makes a complete dinner in itself, and you can hardly get a healthier meal! Simple to make, too.
Fresh salmon is very easy to poach in the oven in foil, with a little water. A chicken breast basted with oil and sprinkled with garlic is very easy to bake in the oven (5 minutes, in a pre-heated oven, for salmon or chicken). That should get you off to a good start.
Yum @Dakini
I had a wonderful supper. It included ex-sentient cow mince - I iz bad to our Scots grass munchers - BUT included a mixed salad, pasta, parsnips, spring cabbage ...
Can hardly wait for brekkie which is also Scottish, all ready and mostly oats/porridge.
Welcome @Thembi
Depends on so many things, but as best you can, decreased sugar and processed foods (most things that come in boxes, bags and cans) and increase fresh fruits and veggies. Those things will have the biggest impact, but it does take time to learn new ways of planning, shopping, cooking and eating, so be patient and try to enjoy the new journey rather than force it. Resenting it will only make it hard to stick with.
One of the simplest things is learning to drink herbal teas and hydrating. I do use canned stuff.
For example baked beans yesterday for breakfast, but I washed the sauce away which is intensified with sugar and salt. Added hot chilli sauce instead. I also eat tinned sardines and tinned chickpeas. As for bags. We can get frozen bags of mixed fruit and also mixed veg which are convenient and yum.
@yelik9 , welcome.
First of all, how old are you, please?
Secondly, if you look under the 'diet and habits' sub-forum, there is much food for thought, there, too!
Hey @yelik9
I love to eat oats, Raisins and other dried fruit with Coconut milk for my breakfast. The Oats & Coconut milk are both good for providing natural energy, plus it will help you to keep full until the afternoon - and it tastes good
I soak mine overnight and then chuck them in the microwave in the morning
Good idea to wash the sauce off the beans...I was eyeing a can of them at the store yesterday (didn't buy). Don't know why I hadn't thought of that meself!
Yes, the right ideas are to up fruit/veggie intake - BUT it's ok to butter them peas. Seriously. Cut back on the processed foods, sodas, juice (I water the juices down by 1/3rd).
@federica I'm 13 which some people would consider me weird for wanting to be healthy and such.
Indeed, canned veggies/legumes/fruit (without the syrup) are better than most things, but they tend to be high in sodium and when possible fresh or dried is better. Canned fruit is almost always soaked in syrup plus it's almost always lacking the fiber that slows the uptake of the sugar into the blood stream. I personally can't stand frozen fruits! They taste nothing like their raw version to me, even in a smoothie. The only thing I can do frozen is peaches. Just my preference though, I believe frozen fruits and veggies are a decent way to go. If you do legumes/beans in a pressure cooker, you can do them from dry in a very short period of time without soaking them.
Being only 13 you kind of depend a lot on what your family does. I would recommend finding some healthy recipes and then instead of just asking your parents to provide you with them offer to help plan the shopping and cooking of them. Work with the rest of your family too to try to find healthy things that they all are willing to eat, ie. don't force them to eat tempeh and sprout sandwiches and expect them to get on board.
Soaking oats (@kerance) now we are cooking ...
In the body/Shingon cult I was indoctrinated/taught to believe food is potentially medicine. The Sangha are in some schools not permitted garlic.
Pah! Nun the Wiser?
Eat like a None/monk. Frugally and mindfully. Poisons and luxury food/consumption are too advanced for most of us ...
I make batter with gram/bean flour. Pancakes for vegan breakfasts ...
Do you have a Buddha statue? Eat with/like the Buddha. Remember to offer the food to HH (Her Holiness) Tara/Buddha break fast ...
Take it easy on yourself and go slowly but steadily
increase fruit and veg and cut out your junk food. I normally start the day with a huge smoothie - I normally put some greens in mine (they are supposedly the healthiest food on the planet - packed full of nutrients), add in some fruit- berries will turn the smoothie dark purple (good if you don't want your fam teasing you for drinking green sludge 
). There are some good recipes online 
. Also join a fun exercise class doing something you enjoy - people there are more likely (hopefully!!) to embrace healthy eating, which will make it easier. You can also join online forums for healthy eating for online support.
Eat what you like to eat and experiment with different flavours - I like snacking on apples and peanut butter, or Naked bars (made from dates and nuts), or stuffed pitta breads. Experiment with tasty recipes - you'll start to crave them!! I love Minimalist Baker and Thug Kitchen for some awesome, tasty recipes
.
Good luck
Everything in moderation ...including ice cream
Simplest way is to not eat until you are full. Enough so that the hunger is eased, yet not until you are about to pop.
Something I still struggle with time to time myself, especially with jambalaya.
^^. Improve your diet. Eat more Jambhala