Making a Meal Out of Health: 10 Tips to Eat Healthy

Becoming a healthy eater starts with choosing healthy, delicious foods. 

Selecting the right healthy foods might sound overwhelming if it’s new to you, but even small steps and changes pay off in the long run. Oftentimes being exposed to healthy food means you will eventually develop a preference for that food over time, adding years to your life and improving your quality of life.

During November the OrthoCarolina Wellness Center is teaming up with Healthy For Good™ with the American Heart Association to inspire all Americans to live healthier lives and create lasting change. Here are the Wellness Center’s top tips for healthy eating:

1. Sneak in those vegetables at every meal. Add spinach and other veggies to a smoothie for breakfast, cut up raw veggies to have as a mid-afternoon snack, spiralize or julienne your zucchini or squash to replace your pasta and add veggies.
2. Cook food in healthy fats, think avocado or coconut oil, rather than vegetable oil.
3. Eat (or drink) gut healthy foods every day. Examples are yogurt, sauerkraut, kefir, and kombucha.
4. Stay hydrated! Drink water all day long. We like to aim for half of our body weight in ounces of water.
5. Avoid sugary foods. Watch out for those sneaky added sugars in your foods, too.
6. Eat whole, clean foods. Avoid processed foods.
7. Don’t fear carbs. Choose healthy carbs like whole grain oats, yams, spaghetti squash, brown rice, and quinoa.
8. Limit “treats” but also don’t deprive yourself all of the time. The 80/20 rule is great.
9. Seek local or organic produce and meats when possible.
10. Include protein-rich foods with meals to keep blood sugar levels stable and build healthy muscle.

The OrthoCarolina Wellness Center integrates group fitness classes, personal training, youth sports performance, yoga, weight management and wellness services, physical therapy, post-physical therapy fitness and more. The goal of the center is to offer a community-focused, well-rounded approach to health.

This article was originally published on November 6th, 2017, and updated on August 25th, 2021.