How to Eat Healthy and Transform Your Life

Transform your life with healthy eating habits:  your best resource guide

If you eat healthy you can improve you life in so many ways. Ready to make this year the best it can be? Let’s do this!

One sure-fire way is to improve your diet.

A healthy diet has the power to transform your health, your life, and your future.

It can give you vitality that you didn’t think possible.

This Isn’t a Diet

This is not a diet. This is a lifestyle. Diet’s are usually temporary fixes. We are not recommending a temporary diet adjustment. The goal is to change eating behavior for life. This is what Fred did.

To maintain results you have to maintain your eating healthy. 

Don’t worry. Take it one day at a time. The hardest part is the beginning, when you are adjusting. You have to undo unhealthy habits. You have to get used to new habits. Creating new habits is hard. Maintaining habits once they are set is the easy part.

 

Fred made the transition fairly easily. But he did miss drinking coke and a few other things. But after a little while his taste buds adjusted. He adjusted, and he completely embraced his new way of eating.

I’ve also experienced this. I haven’t had a soda in about 12 years. Last time I took a sip I had to spit it out. Yuck! I have learned throughout life that you can get used to anything.

So don’t worry too much about “the long haul.” Focus on today, and making your best choices right now. The future will take care of itself.

Benefits When You Eat Healthy

Benefits of healthy diet:

• weight loss
• improve your mental agility
• help with memory
• give you a face lift
• clear skin, younger skin
• better mood
• lesson anxiety/depression
• more energy
• better sleep
• the list is virtually endless

It can mean the difference between life and death.

 

Healthy Goals Made Possible by Eating Healthy

15 years ago, Fred had a physical that revealed to him he had a cholesterol problem. His cholesterol was 230 even though he wasn’t overweight. Turned out he inherited a predisposition for high cholesterol. His doctor said that if he didn’t change his diet and get it lowered, he would have to go on medication. Fred was adamant that he would do whatever it took to avoid medication. 

He began by researching. He came across many different diets. Each diet had differing benefits. He noticed that many foods overlapped in the variety of diets he found.

Instead of choosing between the many diets he decided to take the wealth of information and create his own.

He began creating a list of healthy foods and a rating system. This system helped him make the best choices to transform his eating and his life.

Now it can do the same for you.

Examples of Fred’s Healthy Eating for Breakfast

Here are some specific meals Fred has for breakfast:

1. Old fashioned oatmeal with fresh berries. He adds blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and grapes.
2. One whole avocado. He slices it in half, removes the pit, and eats each half with a spoon.
3. Plain Greek yogurt with blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and grapes.

Examples of Fred’s Healthy Eating for Lunch & Dinner

Here are a couple of Fred’s favorite options for lunches and dinners:

Fred’s Salad

• A bed of fresh spinach
• fresh fruit: strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, grapes
• fresh raw vegetables: carrots, Brussels sprouts, onion (I prefer red), beets, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, zucchini, cucumber, bok choy, asparagus, red, yellow & orange bell peppers.
• dried or fresh spices: basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, turmeric, ground pepper
• finishing ingredients: lemon, vinegar (white wine, apple cider or balsamic), olive oil
• optional protein: pre-grilled salmon or cod or smoked salmon

 

Fred’s Cooked Vegetable-Egg Dish

• 3-4 egg whites
• fresh vegetables from his healthy eating list (you can choose your favorites)
• cook eggs and vegetables covered on low heat about 10 minutes.
• add fresh and dried spices: basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, turmeric, ground pepper.

Fred advises, “You can see from the list of vegetables we included. There are plenty of choices. Choose the widest range of vegetables you can. I keep a wide variety on hand, so every day I have a good mix. Some weeks I have a slight variation. Sometimes it depends on the vegetables available at the store. But you can’t go wrong with any of the vegetables. Choose the ones you like. Keep trying new ones. You might slowly come to like them all.”

Healthy Eating Q & A

What are healthy beverage choices?

Keep it simple.

• Water, water, water. Fred begins his day with a large glass and ends the day with a large glass. He accompanies each meal with a large glass.
• In between, he drinks Tea Forte Jasmine Green Tea almost exclusively.
• As an occasional treat he drinks Zevia soda (stevia sweetened, zero calorie).

 

Are supplements necessary/important to eat healthy?

If your diet isn’t complete or is lacking, then supplements are essential. But if you eat a healthy diet, they are less important. Fred takes a men’s multi vitamin and fish oil every day.

I take a women’s multi vitamin with fish oil, vitamin D, and a probiotic.

Does eating healthy help skin?

Absolutely. Both Fred and I have experienced improvements in skin clarity, texture and color by eating healthy. After Fred changed his diet, the first thing I noticed was his skin. After a couple months his once dark undereye circles had vanished. As he has maintained this diet they have never returned, even as he has aged over 15 years. In many ways, he looks better and younger than he did 15 years ago.

If vanity is a priority or even a motivator for you, you’ll be happy to learn that when you eat healthy your skin will show it. Your skin is the outer example of your inner health. You can literally eat your way to fabulous skin

What is the definition of “eating healthy”?

There are many variations of a healthy diet. People have different health issues and requirements. 

Many things affect dietary needs:

• age
• health issues
• body type
• body size

But there are also characteristics that will always define a healthy diet:

1. well balanced
2. eat a variety of foods, a variety of colors
3. low in saturated fats
4. avoid processed foods

How does a healthy diet affect physical fitness?

A healthy diet is key to physical fitness, whether your motivation is healthy living, more mobility, or you have ambitions to be a competitive athlete. If you don’t eat healthy you won’t have the energy or strength to exercise. You can’t have one without the other. Healthy eating and fitness are intrinsically linked. 

“By Improving your diet, you will enjoy increased energy levels, a stronger immune system, and generally feel well more often. A nutritious and balanced diet of lean proteins, carbs, and good fats can help you eliminate extra weight and reduce your risk of many diseases….” 

What about drinking alcohol when trying to eat healthy?

Health benefits of red wine:

When Fred started eating healthy, he added red wine to his diet. He wasn’t much of a drinker, but he read about the cholesterol-lowering benefits, so he decided to add a few glasses a week to his diet. Now neither of us drink any alcohol as a lifestyle preference, but this is something to keep in mind.

There are many potential health benefits to very moderate consumption of red wine like lowering bad cholesterol, heart benefits, rich in antioxidants, and even memory-boosting benefits. 

My grandmother was a firm believer in all things in moderation. She drank one glass of red wine about 4 days a week, which is the recommended amount. She lived a vibrant life until she passed at age 96.

What are 3 principles of a good diet?

1. Keep track of what you eat. Keep a food journey. Especially as you begin this journey this is important.
2. Don’t skip meals. 
3. Eat out less often. 

The Benefits of Healthy Foods

Fred categorized foods by into 6 categories based on specific benefits:

1. Artery Cleansing (AC) 
2. Cholesterol Lowering (CL) 
3. Keto Diet (K)
4. Nitrate, VO2max (N)
5. Anti-Inflammatory (AI)
6. Cancer Fighting (CF)

Click below to receive Fred’s full alphabetized list of healthy foods (along with the benefits categories).

Let’s Be Realistic to Eat Healthy

We can’t all be Fred! I sure am not.

When we know what to eat, it helps. When we know easy ways to put it all together helps.

Remember: The power of food to impact our health cannot be overstated.

Cheers to better eating and better health.