5 Tips For Healthy Eating

Eating healthy during a shelter in place order can be difficult. You aren’t getting to the store as often as you should nor are you out buying fresh fruits and veggies. Many of us purchased dry goods or even an overabundance of snacks when all of this hit. I can tell you I am guilty of the snack buying. I am an emotional eater and the stress led to over sixty dollars worth of snacks. Lets not talk about it. I feel awful about it and even worst, I hid them to keep the family from binge eating them. I put together five tips to help you survive this.

1. Try Frozen

If you are like me and love fresh fruits and vegetables now is the time to try frozen. I will tell you that corn is my favorite frozen vegetable. It tastes so good and I can buy a large bag. While you can’t get every fruit or vegetable that you may eat, you can certainly get enough to satisfy your palate. The best part is they last longer than fresh. That being said, go easy on the frozen dinners. Yes, they are easy but can be high in fat, sodium, and calories. I would suggest limiting them to one or two a month.

2. Practice the Plate Method

One easy way is to practice the plate method when you eat. To do that you simply fill half your plate with non-starchy vegetables. then put 3-4 lean protein and use that last small space for carbohydrates. This combination of fiber is more filling plus it will help you control your practicing portion control with carbohydrates, and filling half your plate with non-starchy vegetables. This combo of protein and fiber is more filling than a plateful of pasta, and can help control blood sugars.

3. Be Aware

You may need to pay closer attention to the number of calories and nutrients you are consuming right now. If you are like me and stress eater, you can certainly get out of control before you realize it. Keep a food diary, use an app, anything that works for you. Be aware of what your body need and what it doesn’t. Investigate this site, to check out you can consume less yet healthy nutrients needed by our body.

4. Good Snacks

Snacks are certainly one of those areas that you need to be aware of. Two of our favorite snacks are apples and grapes. However, we can’t go to the farmer’s market or to the mountain and pick apples at moment. So that means we get what we can at the store and then have to be creative when it comes to other snacks. I have been baking more which means I can control the amount of sugar that goes into anything. We have cheese sticks and other items that the kids enjoy from our last grocery run. I have made a point of limiting the number of snacks we have during the day. Also if I make a cake we have it for dessert and then take a short walk. The rest of those snacks I purchased are hidden in the bottom of the freezer.

5. Get Out

I know you’re thinking “I can’t” or even what in the world this has to do with eating healthy. Everything! You are less likely to stress eat if you are feeling good. Getting outside, if it is possible, will help you feel better. When you feel better you get better. If all you are able to do is step out onto your back porch for a few minutes each day, do it. Get out into the sunshine and soak it all in. If you are able to exercise while you are out that’s great. Our little town has a walking track that is open as long as every social distances. We don’t go there but that is because our little neighborhood is secluded with very little full time residents. So we are able to go out and walk the neighborhood and usually don’t see anyone while we are out.