healthy without rules

The Healthiest Diet: Eat Real Food

The healthiest diet is all about eating real food. What you eat affects absolutely everything: your health, mood, and what diseases you might develop over time.

If you are looking to lose weight, it is more effective to prioritize your nutrition instead. It’s vital to get proper nutrients into your body. I’m sure you already know to not eat fried foods, drink soda or eat doughnuts all the time. Stop listening to what you’ve been told is “healthy” eating and do what feels good for your body.

A Few Tips For Staying Healthy:

1. Avoid Ultra Processed Foods.

If you don’t understand what’s on the label, try to avoid it if possible. Start looking at ingredient lists rather than the nutrition facts label. Who cares if something has less carbs if it also has a laundry list of junk in it as well? If you plan to buy something in a box or can, make sure you know what everything is. We do not know what those additives do in our body. We do know that other countries ban some of the things the U.S. does not. “Ultra processed food” includes foods with extra additives, colors, flavorings, but “processed” food can still include food that is okay, like canned vegetables or crackers. 

  • Pay attention to ingredient lists
Canned 'O's Ingedients
A common O shaped canned meal
the healthiest diet
Healthier chocolate almond bar

2. Avoid “Dieting”

Don’t make yourself anxious by counting calories, carbs, and fat and making yourself feel guilty if it doesn’t happen how you thought; just eat real food and eat when you’re hungry. Eat food that will fill you up and not food that will make you hungry two hours later. It is a process that takes time and listening to your body. Below is a representation of what is best when consumed. 

 

3. Try to Eat More Vegetables

Vegetables are one of the more nutritious foods you can eat and definitely a part of a healthy diet. Most of us grow up disliking vegetables. Vegetables don’t have to be boring, it makes such a huge difference if they are flavored properly. If you only like certain vegetables, just start with that and maybe try a new one each month. If you really can’t stand vegetables, you aren’t alone. You can find tons of recipes online that show you how to hide them in your meals. For example, I’ve made pizza that uses cauliflower for the crust instead of flour. 

  • Embrace the few vegetables you like
  • Hide vegetables in tasty recipes
the healthiest diet
Cauliflower pizza

4. Eat Healthy Fats

For decades we have been told that fat and cholesterol are bad but that is not the case.  Of course we should make sure our fat comes from healthy sources. This will help with fullness from a meal. Find healthy fats such as pasture raised animal protein, avocados, nuts, olive oil, coconut oil, butter, eggs. Healthy fats allow our cell membranes to work properly and allow certain vitamins to get absorbed more easily. Cholesterol has vital roles in the body as well with our hormones and production of vitamin D.

  • Good fat does not make you fat
  • Include healthy fats
the healthiest diet
Omelet with bacon, spinach, feta cheese and avocado

 

5. Learn To Cook

This is probably the most important of all. Cooking really encourages the use of real ingredients and allows you to realize the potential that all of these foods have. When you see a recipe out there that says “Add 1 can of this and 1 can of that” this is not necessarily cooking but a good start. You need to take the bare ingredients and put them together in order to eliminate all of the extra junk that we don’t want in our food. I know it’s easier and we all have to start somewhere but our goal is to get the point where we aren’t combining cans and boxes but actually creating something from basic ingredients. 

If you need help getting the hang of cooking, Blue Apron and similar delivery services will send you quality ingredients with recipes (at a cost!). If you can follow directions, you can cook. It really is that easy. Go to Pinterest or Google, look for something you like and you will find tons of recipes. After a while, when you are feeling more confident, you can get creative and experiment then you’ll be making up your own recipes. If you feel like you might not have time, you can throw ingredients in a crock pot all day while you are at work and it will be done when you get home. 

  • Find recipes and start cooking
  • Make it easier by using a slow cooker
the healthiest diet
Crock pot meals are great for saving time and effort

 

the healthiest diet
Cooking preparation from Blue Apron

 

the healthiest diet
An easy to follow Blue Apron meal

6. Drink Water

I know you’ve heard it before but it is very important to drink enough water every day. Avoid drinking empty sugar drinks or ones filled with chemicals. We think Crystal Light packets are healthy, but have you really taken a look at what is in it? You may be surprised. Water is wonderful. Add some fruit if you’d like. I have purchased a Drinkmate to carbonate and add lemon juice and lime juice and it really works for me. Every system in your body needs water to function. Just a little dehydration and things don’t work as they should. This can show up in many ways like headaches and dry skin.

  • Drink water instead of empty flavored drinks

Healthiest Diet is eating real food


Fresh Idea: The healthiest “diet” is to eat real food.


Mindyfresh is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com

 

Let's get healthy together!

34 Comments

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  • Amy

    June 29, 2017

    I need more posts like this in my life!! Thanks for a wonderful post!

    Reply
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  • Emily

    May 11, 2017

    So simple and easy! Just eat real food. Love it 🙂

    Reply
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  • Heather

    March 7, 2017

    I really appreciate all these tips! I am working on eating a healthier diet, and this is what I’m following.

    Reply
  • Kristin

    March 7, 2017

    I am motivated to eat more real foods, and definitely more fruits and vegetables. It is hard to stay away from processed foods when you are always on the go, but that is something I have been working towards. I will be checking out the cauliflower pizza crust.

    Reply
    • Mindy Voet

      March 7, 2017

      That’s great to hear! I know it can be difficult to try, one step at a time!

      Reply
  • Sarah Althouse

    March 7, 2017

    You can’t hear but I’m clapping in agreeance over here. It’s not about being a certain weight or fitting today’s standards, it’s about eating real food and feeling better because of .

    Reply
    • Mindy Voet

      March 7, 2017

      Yay. That’s exactly right and I hope the word spreads to more people!

      Reply
  • Willow

    March 7, 2017

    I totally agree that the food pyramid and the My Plate have the wrong amounts on them. I have been eating low carb since September. I have also been eating a lot of healthy fats like avocado and coconut oil. I had no allergy symptoms this last Fall, which I have dealt with for about 17 years. I truly believe it is because of my low carb diet. I also cut way back on sugar, so I am sure that has helped too!

    Reply
    • Mindy Voet

      March 7, 2017

      That’s awesome to hear! It is really nourishing to eat real foods and a lot of conditions can be healed. I’m so glad it helped you!

      Reply
  • jessica

    March 7, 2017

    great information…it’s what i’m teaching my coaching clients and it’s always so fun to help them put it in practice and hold them accountable. the transformations people experience when they eat whole foods is amazing! cheers to healthy eating (:

    Reply
    • Mindy Voet

      March 7, 2017

      Really cool. I love that you’re teaching it!

      Reply
  • SparksFly

    January 31, 2017

    I need to check in more often 🙂 Great ideas and simple, too – now just have to do it 🙂

    Reply
  • Love seeing other “real food” bloggers and eaters out there! We are about 90% processed food free…but we still eat the yummy things we love…we just make it at home and it DOES taste better!! I wish and hope that more people will jump on this healthy band wagon.

    Reply
    • Mindy Voet

      January 30, 2017

      That’s great to hear! I love hearing about others eating real food and hope others join us and realize how important it truly is!

      Reply
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  • Pineapple

    June 8, 2016

    Awesome first post! This was filled with wonderful information. This has just motivated me to jump start my diet again! Want to be my personal coach? Hahaha jk!
    Keep the blogs coming! I love it!

    Reply
  • Jill

    June 6, 2016

    Awesome first post! I am one of those people who really struggles with drinking enough water, but I haven’t had soda in almost 2 weeks and instead have been drinking a ton of water, and I’m definitely already seeing the benefits. Looking forward to more posts!

    Reply
  • Nickname ( required )

    June 5, 2016

    Mindy I really like all you had to share in your article, it’s soo true!

    Reply
  • Danielle

    June 5, 2016

    Good first post! Can you post some easy recipes in your blog?

    Reply
  • Law

    June 5, 2016

    Great information Mindy, thank you. Will look forward to you elaborating on fats and grains.

    Reply

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