Healthy Living Tips From a Registered Dietitian

Hearing food and diet tips and tricks is often very difficult because you tend to hear so many different things. There is always new trends and diets out there that claim to be the next best thing. However, your diet does not need to be that difficult and it is not about following a specific diet plan in order to reach your health goals. Below are some helpful, simple tips about your diet from a registered dietitian who makes things easy to follow and doesn't try to preach about the newest trends in the health and wellness field, but preaches that eating for overall health should not be defined by rules and "good" and "bad" foods.

• Eat Based on your Hunger Cues
• Increase your awareness to when your body is truly hungry and listening to those hunger cues. Doing this will help prevent overeating, emotional eating and eating out of boredom. While increasing your awareness to your body and hunger cues, you may also start to notice how certain foods make you feel after you eat them. This will help to truly understand your body, and be in tune with how it feels and what makes it feel good and what makes it feel not so good. Eat slow, listen to your body when it is full and drink water with your meals. Incorporating all of these into your life will allow you to understand your body and feed it needs to be fed and not eat due to emotional reasons or boredom. 
• Eat Whole Foods for Optimum Nutrition
• Rather than wasting money on supplements, diet products and processed foods, buy real, whole foods as a way to create a lasting, healthy lifestyle. Avoid foods with ingredients you can't pronounce, stick to the outside of the grocery store (meats, produce and dairy) and replace sodas with seltzer water. If you stick to this, there is no reason to buy into a diet or need to buy a ton of supplements to be healthy. Simply eat whole, real, unprocessed foods, and the results will come. 
• Eat a Balanced Diet
• The best way to make sure you are doing this is to eat nutrient-dense foods that include all macronutrients (carbs, fat and protein), eat a colorful diet and avoid fat-free products (often include added sugar and other ingredients). Eating a balanced diet also includes enjoying your favorite treats! Just because you enjoy your favorite dessert or glass of wine every once in a while, doesn't mean you can't have a healthy diet and healthy life. 
• Be Smart When Dining Out 
• When dining out, restaurants often use the cheapest (and most unhealthy) ingredients to cook and prepare their foods. So, eating out should be saved fore special occasions and should not be an everyday occurrence. Additionally, be cautious of the foods you are ordering and be sure that they are not fried, creamy or battered, but instead, look for sauteed, broiled, baked or steamed.