Are you someone who struggles to eat healthy consistently? Don’t worry, you’re not alone.
Eating healthily is a form of self-care that should be non-negotiable. And as a teacher, you know that it should be a top priority for you to keep yourself in tip-top shape as your role as a teacher can be very demanding both physically and mentally.
But at times it can be a little too overwhelming with the information overload you’ll find online saying that you should do this and you should do that asap.
Resulting in you giving up when you haven’t even started yet.
But it doesn’t have to be that way, because today I’ll be sharing 5 realistic and doable tips on how to start eating healthy this year!
5 Realistic Tips On How To Start Eating Healthy This Year As A Teacher!
1.) Make small and steady changes
Sporadically overhauling your diet can definitely be overwhelming for anyone. You don’t have to change everything at once, instead try to make small and steady healthy changes in your diet and start to work your way up—one meal at a time.
Here are some ideas for you to try to make healthy eating a part of your daily life:
- Find three go-to meals that you absolutely love and most importantly are healthy for you, and won’t get easily bored with even if you have to eat them more than a few times a week. Take your time to master these meals and make them healthier.
Now, these three meals will be your go-to meal whenever you are snacking late, pressed for time, or when you’re just not in the mood to whip something up from scratch spontaneously.
My personal go-to would be a salad with grilled herb chicken or an absolute favorite of mine which is tuna salad that’s super easy to make. Both of these meals use ingredients that are easily accessible to me.
I just make sure that the ingredients I use are that of a much healthier choice. It doesn’t have to be that complicated; just choose what sounds good for that particular time your hunger arises and then go for it! - When trying to start eating healthier, there should be no extreme changes and no or all nothing. Try to make one meal in your day a healthy meal. Maybe it will not be realistic for you to make every meal a healthy meal.
But maybe it can be realistic for you to make one meal a day a healthy meal, then gradually sustain it for a week, and then work your way up to a month. Try committing yourself to eating one meal a day as a healthy one—if successful, aim for two meals a day and three after that! But never force it, just let it happen when it can.
2.) Build good eating habits
Old habits die hard, but that doesn’t mean they should stick with you forever, especially those pesky unhealthy eating habits that you might have developed while drowning yourself with schoolwork over the course of the years.
It’s better to break the pattern today than to repeat the loop tomorrow. The thing about building good eating habits is that you should never try integrating new habits all at the same time because you’ll inevitably fail to do so.
Instead, try picking up one good habit and incorporating it into your life for a solid 21 days, and then move on to a new habit.
It could be something as simple as switching out refined grains for whole grains in your diet, or maybe try to add more fruits and vegetables to your meals consistently. It’s the little things that when you add up make a huge difference to the way you are feeding yourself.
You also probably know that eating healthy can help you feel and look better, but did you know that it can also save you a lot of money? Try incorporating these good habits into your daily routine.
- Make time for making a healthy breakfast every day.
- Start eating more whole foods and avoid junk foods.
- Focus on homecooked meals as much as possible
- Build your meal around a good protein
- See to it that there are 4-5 colors on your plate
- Replace unhealthy snacks with healthier alternatives
- Experiment with new healthy recipes once a week
3.) Moderation is key
Well, the good news about eating healthier is that there’s no such thing as good food and bad food, therefore you can eat anything your heart desires, but, yes there’s a but—it should be in great moderation.
A healthy lifestyle does not mean restriction, and that’s absolutely true because if you are to follow a random diet that you found online you’ll most likely not be able to sustain it long term because it will be so different from the food that you are used to.
It’s like becoming homesick, that’s why you shouldn’t stop eating the food you enjoy eating, but rather try to find meals that you love to eat and make a healthier version of them. Yes, it’s not going to taste the same but once you learn how to season and cook it correctly it’ll be absolutely gastronomical and nutritious at the same time.
4.) Stay hydrated
The first and easiest step you can take to start eating healthy is to drink more water. Intake as much as 6-8 glasses of water a day and you can also add a little bit of twist by infusing your water with fresh-cut fruits and herbs.
Drinking water is the best way for you to flush out toxins and not to mention it can also help with a number of illnesses. Regular intake of water can also aid you to lose weight by keeping you feeling full and curving down your appetite.
Keeping yourself hydrated can also help your body boost your metabolism and improve digestion making it easier for you to burn unwanted fats. Plus, you’ll also get rid of terrible headaches, constipation, and other digestive issues that are caused by non-other than dehydration. So drink up and keep your water bottle near you at all times.
5.) Plan your meals and groceries ahead
Eating healthy requires you to be prepared, you making healthy choices, and you changing old habits. And planning your meals and groceries ahead will help you do just that.
A meal plan is simply you planning what you will eat over a period of time. Start by writing down what you want for each day or it could be more detailed than that. In this way, you’ll be able to lay out and start your grocery list for the week.
Keeping a meal plan will help you keep track of what you are eating in a way that makes sense for your budget and lifestyle as well. Meal planning does not have to be done meticulously and you don’t need to allot much of your time to do it.
It’s just about you making sure that you won’t be pressed for time thinking about what to cook and getting the ingredients you need just to make your healthy meal happen. This will decrease the chances of you being tempted by fast food or other unhealthy option.
It’s also important for you to plan around your schedule, knowing how busy teachers are it can be helpful to plan out some meals that are easy to grab on the go and it can also give you time for cooking at home.
Try to also incorporate diversity into your diet because with increased diversity you also increase your health and expand your taste palate.
Shop for produce that’s in season—this ensures that the food you’re getting is packed and peak in nutrients and better for the environment as well.
Try investing in a wide array of spices as well, this will be a game-changer in making your healthy food taste delicious.
In conclusion,
It’s high time for us to remove the stigma that eating healthy means revamping and implementing restrictions on your diet. Eating healthy should be learning about nutrition and how you can cater foods that you love into your diet in a healthy way.
So this is me telling you to go ahead and eat that pizza! Go ahead and dig into that chocolate ice cream, just remember to eat in moderation because we all know that too much of something is never good for you.
I hope you implement these tips to start your healthy eating journey because eating well can be rewarding in more ways than one! After all, who doesn’t want a longer life and healthier body? Plus the clear skin and clear mind, right?
And that’s it for our healthy eating saga for today and remember it’s not about being perfect but rather giving it your best, until our next one!
