Making Healthy Easy

 
There are unlimited excuses for why healthy living is impractical, unrealistic and flat out difficult! But understanding basic nutrition guidelines and goals can give you the motivation and ability to make realistic lifestyle changes to improve your health and well-being. 

The food label is a great tool to assist in nutrition awareness and education. For a quick overview and ease of explanation click HERE!

Making the healthy choice the easy choice can be simple, inexpensive and realistic! 

1) Aim for natural foods: When selecting foods aim for your most natural option. A great way to do this is to spend the majority of your grocery time and $ shopping the corners of the store. Generally the more processed foods are in the inner store isles. 

Spend a minute familiarizing yourself with the food label. The ingredient list shows everything in the product! Typically the fewer ingredients the more natural the product. So aim for foods with fewer ingredients on the label! 

2) Moderation and portion control:

Moderation is a key factor to healthy living. Finding balance on your plate will improve your nutrient intake and cut unnecessary calories. A great tool for portioning is the USDA's MyPlate guide. This model promotes balance and diverse nutrient intake to ensure healthy growth and development. For more information on MyPlate visit the official website by clicking HERE!

3) Purchase in season: Purchasing produce in season cuts cost and improves taste. This can be done when shopping for snacks and ingredients. Also consider produce that is in season when creating your weekly menu. This helps you eat in season and save $$ at the store. Check out this list of produce in season this month by clicking HERE!.

4) Food prep: Pre-washing and cutting produce makes it easier and more accessible. This 

encourages your family to choose the healthy choice when looking for a quick snack.

5) Increase accessibility: Increasing exposure to healthy food increases the likelihood of ingestion. This can be done by prepping and proportioning healthy snacks in the fridge. As well as storing produce on the counter and in visible places.

Make the effort today, to make your families easy choice, the healthy choice!