Why Should I Make Healthy Food Choices?
To truly understand the importance of establishing healthy eating habits, you need to ask yourself a very simple question. “Why do humans need to eat?” Simply put, humans need to eat to supply their bodies with nutrients (carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins and minerals). That then will fuel the body, aid in tissue growth and repair, act in various biochemical reactions, and more. The basic need for food is pretty simple and could be compared to putting gas in your car. If you put correct fuel into your car, it will spring to life with a single turn of the key. But if you put soda pop and sugar in your gas tank, it’s going to ruin your car. In this sense, your car and your body are very much alike. They both run well on the right kind of fuel. But, they will deteriorate over time if you neglect their basic fueling needs.
Read our 10 healthy food swap ideas.
Why Should I Strive for a Healthy Lifestyle?
It’s a lot of work to eat healthily; it takes discipline and isn’t always fun, so why bother? At some point in your life, you will face the realization that the health of your body is the factor for what kind of lifestyle you can lead. Just like a smoker faces a possible future of emphysema and lung cancer if you neglect healthy eating habits you not only face a possible future of being overweight or obese, you also run the risk of depression, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, bowel complications and much more. The choices you make each day. From what to eat for breakfast to whether or not to have that extra slice of pie. It will affect how you feel and how you perform. Choose wisely, and you will soon find that feeding your body well translates into a longer, healthier, more enjoyable life.
Once you decide that learning healthy eating habits is worthwhile, it’s time to make some changes to your diet. Challenge yourself to come up with some new healthy eating habits every day and put them to good use, like drinking more water or using mustard on your sandwiches instead of mayo. Instead of trying to cut out all the “bad” foods you currently eat, like any processed foods, sweets, soda, candy, and other junk food, it’s much easier and safer to start by adding more healthy foods to your diet, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, low-fat dairy products, nuts, and legumes. This way, you will slowly be replacing your bad diet with a good diet and won’t be left with a huge, gaping void where your bad foods once were. As you start filling up on healthier foods, you’ll have an easier time letting go of some of your most coveted unhealthy foods.
