Ten Tips for a Balanced Diet

Ten Tips for a Balanced Diet

by Simone Holz, Community Manager, The Global Interview

In the last few decades, the diseases that currently affect millions of people worldwide stopped being acute and become chronic. It is due to factors like poor eating habits, increased number of fast foods and deliveries, sedentary lifestyle, high levels of alcohol consumption, cigarettes, drugs and other kinds of toxicities like food chemicals.  

In regards to preventing and controlling chronic diseases in your life, it is crucial to start to think about the future of life. Adopting attitudes in this present moment will improve your health and wellbeing as you are ageing.  

Here are ten tips to improve your eating habits and to help with a balanced diet.

1 - Avoid processed food

Processed foods generally are not very nutritious and are usually high in calories. The food industry creates formulas that attract people (especially children), which encourages the excessive consumption of these foods, such as:

• Crisps

• Soft drinks

• Instant noodles

• Frozen snacks

• Biscuits

2 - Prioritize real food in your meals

Every time you think about your next meal, try to have more natural food such as grains, beans, pulses, legumes, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, dairy, eggs and meats. These food groups need to be the basis of healthy eating, which will ensure the essential nutrients for the proper functioning of the body.

3 - Improve cooking habits

The way we prepare our meals make a huge difference to how nutritious it is. When you think about having a healthy plate, you can’t just think about the food that is on your scale. A healthy and delicious meal starts with beneficial cooking methods. 

Prioritise healthy fats to cook like coconut oil, lard, ghee. Use less refined salt and use more pink salt or sea salt. Use more spices and herbs to give more taste to the food. Reduce the amount of added sugar in your food or even coffee.

4 - Plan your meals

Healthy eating habits will start with a plan. Try to take a week's menu plan in advance; then, you can share the responsibility for cooking with other family members. It is one way for you to teach your children and others about the importance of a healthy lifestyle.

Food planning moments can be opportunities for everyone to understand the importance of eating healthy. Taking care of your health is not a waste of time but an investment in the quality of life.

5 - Plan your shopping list

Once you have your weekly menu done, you will have a clear path to know what kind of ingredients you will need to prepare the meals for the week. 

Always add in your shopping list fresh fruit, vegetables and, if possible, buy organic. Don’t add to your shopping list crisps, biscuits, cakes, chocolate. Because it is not nutritious and if you have it home you will always eat. 

6 - Avoid buying food high in empty calories

Processed foods are generally food rich in sodium (salt) and sugar and considered "empty calories”. The body will be able to use the food for energy and be provided with little nutrients and minerals to keep it strong and healthy, or sometimes it won’t have any nutrients. Any leftover calories will be stored in the body as fat.

7 - Going Out? Choose a place with fresh meals

I know that it is not always that you have time to prepare your meals at home, or even sometimes we need to go out and have dinner with friends. And there is no problem with doing that. 

However, when you go out, try to choose places where you can find fresh food with varieties of salads, soups, meats, vegetables, carbohydrates. And avoid fast food and highly processed food. Don’t forget that you can always make the right decision.

8 - Read food labels

The label on the food purchased can share details about the product, the ingredients, nutrition, origin and general information. 

However, it can also be attractively designed and tell you a little or nothing about the product you are buying.  The manufacturers sometimes hide ideas and information on the food labels, mainly how the ingredients are sourced, refined and processed into the final product. So, always when shopping, pay attention to what you are buying. It is essential for your health in general.

9 - Eat mindfully

Being mindful of the food you eat can promote better digestion, keep you full with less food. This exercise helps you to make yourself more aware of food and more appreciative of your senses. 

Also, it will influence wiser choices about what you eat in the future. It can also help you free yourself from unhealthy habits around food and eating.

10 - Have family meals

Family meals can promote positive outcomes for the family and improve a child's sense of well-being and health. Family meals offer the opportunity to connect, communicate about family happenings, and give each other time and attention.

Remember that your child doesn't need to have a special meal. Children can eat the same meals as the parents are eating in different amounts (Assuming they don’t have any kind of food intolerance.) So, if you cook three types of vegetables with roasted chicken and mashed potato, it is a healthy option for your child. 

The most important thing about family meals is to make them frequent, fun and family-centred.

It is essential to understand that there isn’t a necessary or prohibited food because nutrition is about balance. You can learn to create a balance in your meals. It will promote a healthy body and life. 

Simone Holz, Community Manager at The Global Interview, is also a Nutrition and Health Coach who helps people improve eating habits and have a balanced diet. Simone encourages her clients to get into a routine of exercise, enhanced sleep patterns, and mindfulness techniques that help manage and promote a healthy lifestyle.
Simon Holz, Nutrition and Health.