Eating healthy doesn’t have to be expensive or time consuming if you know the right habits to cultivate in order to make the most of your grocery shopping and meal preparation. In fact, when it comes to healthy eating habits, women don’t always have the best track record. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 60 percent of American women are either overweight or obese.
Achieving a healthier lifestyle starts with understanding the importance of nutrition and being mindful about your eating habits on a daily basis. Making simple changes to your diet can make a huge difference to losing weight, staying energized throughout the day, and living an overall happier life. We’ll cover some of the most important aspects of dveeloping healthy eating habits in this article.
Healthy Eating Habits #1 – Meal Preparation
Healthy eating can be a challenge, but it doesn’t have to be. Meal prepping can help you plan out healthy meals while controlling your budget. Taking an hour out of your week to meal-plan and prepare will save you both time and money. By doing this you won’t waste your groceries by stocking up on items that you don’t end up using, and you gain clarity as to why meals are healthy in the first place.
You can start with a reputable meal planner or cookbook, then locate what healthy ingredients you’d need for the recipes. This can take some legwork occasionally, but knowing if there’s leftover rice in your fridge from last week could save you cooking extra food.
Set aside the necessary components before prepping all of them at once. Not only does this save from taking too much time grueling in the kitchen, but it can help freeze cooked ingredients for later use. Also, assign a day or two each week for prepping lunches and dinners so leftovers can last multiple days.
When it’s tie to decide what meals to make during meal-planning sessions, you can diversify byincluding proteins such as tofu or turkey breast instead of red meat. Eating healthy not only boosts productivity levels during the day but also keeps financial budgets in check while grocery shopping!
Healthy Eating Habits #2 – Make a Grocery List
Making a grocery list ahead of time is an essential step to completing healthy meals on a budget. It also ensures that you keep track of what items are already in your kitchen.
When making this list, consider buying in bulk where possible for items like grains, oils and nuts as these can potentially be stored for a longer period of time. Also if you plan on buying packaged or canned goods such as beans and soups, read the labels and compare prices, opting for ones with lower fat, sugar and sodium levels that are also more affordable.
Healthy Eating Habits #3 – Take advantage of sales
An important healthy eating tip is to take advantage of weekly specials and sales at your local grocery store. Buying healthy foods such as lean proteins, fruits, vegetables and whole grains during the sale week can save you money in the long run. Regularly checking for these sales will not only reduce your food bill but allows you to stock up on healthy items when prices are at their lowest.
Buying healthy items in bulk can help you save money and it also saves time since stocking up and reducing the number of shopping trips to the grovery store every week.
Another healthy eating tip is to check healthy food websites and blogs that offer new recipe ideas using ingredients that are available on sale. You can also print coupons where applicable and double-check flyers for special promotions that provide extra rewards after a certain amount is spent on healthy foods like healthy snacks or organic produce.
Healthy Eating Habits #4 – Buy in bulk
Buying in bulk can be one of the best healthy eating habits that you can devvelop. Bulk shoppers can save money on food like rice, beans, nuts and seeds. This ensures that you will always have healthy ingredients to hand in your pantry and refrigerator. Before committing to buying large quantities, however, it’s important to pay attention to expiration dates so that you can be sure that you are not wasting money by purchasing food items that will soon expire.
Also, having a well organized inventory system can help you remain aware of what products have to cook with and make it easier to plan meals ahead of time.
Bulk buying also enables healthy eaters to get larger quantities of healthy snacks like nuts and dried fruit that wouldn’t typically be available in individual portion sizes outside of grocery stores.
Healthy Eating Habits #5 – Grow your own produce
Growing your own produce is an essential healthy eating tip that can help save both money and time when done correctly. Utilizing a garden at home or within a community space gives individuals the ability to have full control of the harvesting process and ensure nothing but healthy, natural ingredients make their way into meals.
It also serves as an excellent way to teach yourself or children about where food comes from, how it’s grown, and how to properly care for a garden. Home harvested goods also tend to be surprisingly more flavorful than store-bought goods due to the lack of processing. Regardless of your previous gardening experience,you will gain tangible benefits when growing you own produce.
Healthy Eating Habits #6 – Buy frozen food
When it comes to healthy eating options, one of the top tips we have found is to is to buy frozen fruits and vegetables. They are just as healthy and nutritious as fresh produce, but they are often more cost-effective and last longer if kept in the freezer.
This is an excellent way to stock up on healthy foods without spending too much money or wasting food due to spoilage. Not only that, but frozen fruits and veggies are simpler to prepare than their fresh counterparts. In fact, frozen produce may already have been washed, peeled, and chopped for convenience before being placed in the freezer.
Buying frozen food will also give you access to a larger variety of fruits and vegetables year-round since some foods can be harder to find during certain seasons or times of year. When buying frozen make sure you choose products with no added sugar or salt so you can maintain healthy eating habits when enjoying your meals.
Healthy Eating Habits #7 – Make healthy snacks accessible
When it comes to healthy eating, many people forget the importance of healthy snacks. Having healthy snacks on hand is essential to staying away from high-calorie processed foods when hunger strikes. To make healthy snacking easier and more accessible, filling your pantry with healthy alternatives is key.
Nuts such as almonds, cashews, and pistachios contained in a resealable container can last weeks without losing freshness. You should also stock up on yogurts for a quick snack full of probiotics or pre-pop popcorn that can be made in minutes. Dried fruits are also a great choice – not only are they tasty, but you can keep them for months as long as they’re stored properly in an airtight container.
You can also store granola bars in your car or desk drawer at work so that you don’t have to settle for unhealthy processed snack foods when cravings hit while you’re away from home. Remember that if healthy options aren’t easily accessible, then out of convenience you’re likely to reach for something unhealthier than what your body needs. Make healthy snacks top priority and create a habit of choosing healthy alternatives over processed snack foods!
By following these simple habits on a daily basis you can ensure that you are consistently creating healthy meals and snacks on a tight budget. Eating healthy doesn’t have to be expensive or time consuming if you know how to make it work for your lifestyle!
