Home   >   Health   >   How to Create a Balanced Diet Without Sacrificing Your Favorite Foods

How to Create a Balanced Diet Without Sacrificing Your Favorite Foods

By on January 4, 2022

By Cora Gold

Sometimes people get into routines that don’t support the healthiest lifestyle. Fast food and processed ingredients are easy to eat if you’re busy, but they won’t make you feel good or support your well-being. Make a refreshing change and create a balanced diet without sacrificing your favorite foods.

1. Always Include a Protein

You might feel like the best first step is to swap your favorite quesadillas for a plate of vegetables. Although it’s technically a healthier choice, you’ll become hungry soon after your meal ends. A balanced diet should include protein to keep you satisfied, so add chicken or ground beef to your quesadillas to make them a bit healthier.

2. Avoid Restricting Portion Sizes

It’s common to assume that minimizing your portions improves your meals, but that isn’t true. It only deprives your body of essential nutrients. You’re also more likely to binge on unhealthy foods because you’re desperate to eat. Balance your diet by eating enough to feel satisfied every time you sit down for a meal.

3. Try New Veggies

Experts recommend that adults eat 2-4 cups of vegetables every day, which requires thought at the grocery store. Vary your veggies to keep things interesting. Swap broccoli and cauliflower with peas and carrots sometimes. As you try new recipes, you’ll maintain your balanced diet without sacrificing your favorite foods.

4. Don’t Cut Without Research

Diet fads often have us panicking over some of our favorite foods or drinks. Meanwhile, sometimes what we think of as guilty pleasures might actually have some benefits. Drinking multiple cups of coffee, for example, can provide up to 60% of daily antioxidants.

Things like carbs, sugar and caffeine are often under fire in popular diet trends, but don’t be so quick to cut them out entirely before you know the facts.

5. Find High-Fiber Foods

Healthy diets give your body everything it needs to thrive. Fiber is an essential part of that, but many people forget its importance. It’s vital for keeping your digestive system regular, but it helps your body in other ways, too.

Do you worry about needing to cut bread out of your life to eat better? Whole wheat bread is high in fiber, so it helps control your blood sugar without making you miss out on your favorite carbs. Fiber also prevents weight gain and health conditions like diabetes. You can find it in whole wheat pasta, sweet potatoes and chili beans.

6. Get Daily Healthy Fats

There’s a common misconception that you need to stop eating fats to improve your diet. Although it’s a good idea to avoid too many saturated fats, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated versions are good for your heart, blood pressure and cholesterol. You can eat more of them by adding olive oil, peanut butter and fatty fish to your diet.

7. Eat Three Daily Meals

When people refrain from eating their favorite foods, they sometimes stop eating three meals every day. It seems like the only option if they can’t figure out healthy alternatives to frozen foods or greasy ingredients. When you don’t eat meals regularly, your body shuts down processes like your digestive system and metabolism. You’ll have more energy and feel better by eating a mix of your favorite foods and healthier options every day.

Create a Balanced Diet

It’s possible to create a balanced diet without sacrificing your favorite foods. Add healthy ingredients, swap processed items for homemade recipes and avoid depriving yourself. Doing these things can help you stay on track and achieve whatever health goals you have in mind.

********

Cora Gold has spent over five years writing about her passions for life, love and happiness. As Editor-in-Chief for women’s lifestyle magazine Revivalist and a freelance writer, she enjoys connecting with others who share these passions. Follow Cora on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

About simply...woman!

We encourage spreading the message of knowledge and wisdom. We appreciate and thank our featured partners for their articles. All information provided on Simply…Woman online magazine is for reference only; the content is based on the authors’ experiences and therefore is not intended as a substitute to the services of a fully qualified professional. Although every reasonable effort is made to present current and accurate information, Simply…Woman makes no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information.