17 Ways to Eat Healthier in 2017

The new calendar year has many of us thinking about the positive changes we’d like see happen in the year ahead, oftentimes those improvements involve our health goals and visions for ourselves.

However, if you set the bar too high, you may be setting yourself up to fail before you even start.  Listed below are 17 quick tips to ensure you stay on the right track as you work towards your goal of losing weight, eating healthier and living a long energetic life. 

Sugar is now a direct cause of heart disease among diabetes and other avoidable diseases, according to the American Heart Association.

SEE ALSO: More Ways Sugar is Hurting Your Heart

This will keep you from overeating at later meals, give you brainpower and energy the whole day through.

SEE ALSO: Metabolism-Boosting Breakfasts

You can still eat out and enjoy restaurants, just make sure you pick clean eats. Ask for sauces on the side, and for food to be prepared plain, steamed, or grilled. Your waistline will thank you.

Sit down and enjoy your food when it’s time. If you’re busy talking and texting you won’t really be tasting and chewing your food efficiently. Overeating can be a problem here as well if you’re not focusing on what you’re consuming.

SEE ALSO: 8 Ways To Get In A Workout On A Busy Schedule

This is key for those times when you’re not able to eat your scheduled meal.  Maybe you’re stuck in traffic or running late at the office.  Skipping meals only sets you up for overeating. A deficit of more than 500 calories a day can slow down your fat-burning efforts explains Dr. Robert Zembroski, Functional Health Doctor.

SEE ALSO: How To Build A Better Muscle-Building Trail Mix

You don’t need to drink to be social.  Your body turns off its fat-burning furnace when you’re drinking alcohol.  Try seltzer with sliced lemon or lime.  It’ll look like a mixed drink.

SEE ALSO: How Alcohol Affects Your Training

Take responsibility and know exactly what you’re consuming. If a product has a long list of ingredients, then it’s probably not something you want in your cabinet—and body. The shorter the list, usually the better. 

SEE ALSO: The 411 On Food Labels

“You don’t have to stop living as you try to promote weight loss and healthy eating,” says Christopher Tuttle, R.D.  Schedule in a cheat meal (one meal not an entire cheat day) once or twice a week. Just don’t let it become a Thanksgiving free-for-all or look like you’ve entered an eating contest. Don’t feel guilty afterwards, just pick back up the next day and move forward. 

SEE ALSO: Lose More Weight With Cheat Days

Eat most of your food when the sun is out, suggests Dr. Zembroski. If you eat a big meal loaded with carbs at the end of the day or even late, your body’s hormone, insulin, is more likely to store the unused energy as fat.  It will also turn off the release of growth hormone that occurs while you’re resting. This will prohibit your cells from regenerating and healing.

Oatmeal is one grain that raises testosterone levels naturally, resulting in stronger and longer gym workouts.  Grains like oats, rice, faro, amaranth and quinoa all generate a feeling of satiety.  This feeling will keep you fuller longer and resist the need to snack in between meals.  Most grains come in a gluten-free version as well if you’re on a diet that excludes gluten.

SEE ALSO: 5 Tasty Ways To Enjoy Oats

Good-for-you fats like coconut oil and olive oil, avocado, nuts and seeds will add flavor to your foods.  A quality fat will help keep you feeling satiated and in a better mood when you’re following a lower-carb diet.  According to the American College of Cardiology, consuming polyunsaturated fats like fatty fish, walnuts, and sunflower oil may help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

SEE ALSO: 6 Best Fats For Losing Fat

Everyone doesn’t need to follow a dairy-free or gluten-free diet. Unless your physician has told you that you have a sensitivity, there’s no need to cut out these ingredients. Keep foods in your diet that make you feel good and provide quality nutrients. What’s right for you may not be right for your spouse or best friend so eat in a way that optimizes your body’s performance.

Eating a balanced diet with lean sources protein, healthy fat, and complex carb sources in each meal every three to four hours per day will help boost your metabolism, stabilize energy, and control appetite, says Tuttle.

SEE ALSO: The Clean Eating Meal Plan For Effective Recomposition

Some foods are tolerated better by some people and less so by others, says Tuttle. If you are constantly bloating, first look to see if you are chewing too much gum, eating cruciferous vegetables daily, or have a dairy intolerance. Only change one thing at a time (called an elimination diet) to pinpoint the problem foods.

Getting a restful night’s sleep keeps the hormones that allow you to either burn or store fat in check. If you’re constantly sleep-deprived, odds are you will crave processed or fast foods that will be instantly stored as fat. A restful night’s sleep will have you feeling energized all day and make good food choices.

SEE ALSO: 6 Sleep Tips For Weightlifters

Fruits like grapefruit, oranges and lemons slow the production of the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol is responsible for storing body fat around the mid section. In the 2015 issue of Critical Reviews in Food and Science Nutrition, eating grapefruit showed a significant decrease in blood pressure.

SEE ALSO: Harness The Power Of Citrus

Some foods are more tolerated by some people than others. If you’re constantly feeling bloated, you may be chewing too much gum, eating cruciferous vegetables daily, or have a dairy intolerance. Only change one thing at a time to pin oint the problem foods, recommends Tuttle.