Tip #3: Eat Healthier

We get it. Taco Bell, Wendy's, McDonald's, Arby's...pretty much all fast food is delicious. Plus, who can resist the tastiness and affordability of buying boxed, bagged, or canned food in bulk? Trust us, we're not judging you. We've all been guilty of it at some point in our lives. But it doesn't have to be this way forever. There are healthier options which are easier - and more affordable - than you might think. And the purpose of this article is to show you what those options are.

Prepping Your Meals With the Right Tools

Meal prep is key if you want to start eating healthier. For example, how often have you been at work and thought to yourself "darn it, I forgot to bring my own lunch - oh screw it, I'll just get some fast food"? Prepping your meals and batch cooking can fix that problem for you.

Both of these skills - meal prep and batch cooking - are essential for busy people who don't usually have time to eat healthy food. Pick a day on your weekend, get a few recipes together, and just go nuts in your kitchen. If you cook big enough batches, you'll have enough healthy food to last you for days.

Of course, you're going to want to have the right tools in your kitchen for batch cooking and meal prep. But this minimal expense will pay for itself in the long run. You may be pleasantly surprised to learn that most of these tools aren't as expensive as you might think.

For starters, a slow cooker (also known as a "crock pot") is a batch cooker/meal prepper's best friend. All you have to do is buy the ingredients, throw them into the pot, set it, and forget it! In a few hours, you'll have a delicious meal that may contain anywhere from 6-8 servings. And if you want to make that food last longer, invest in a rice cooker as well. After all, which will last you longer: a full serving of your crock pot meal, or a half serving of the crock pot food + a half serving of rice? Just be sure to stick to the healthier rices, like brown rice or quinoa. White rice is basically an empty carb with little nutritional value.

Trick Your Tastebuds by Being Sneaky

Do you love hamburgers? Slip some raw spinach in between the bun and the meat. Are you a pizza fanatic? Put as many veggies as you can on your next pie. Are your kids screaming for mac & cheese? Add in some shaved brussel sprouts or minced veggies like bell peppers, garlic, or onions. These are only a few suggestions. Your actual options are endless.

Odds are that right now, your brain is primed to react positively to fatty, sugary, and salty foods. If you suddenly force yourself to do a complete 180 and eat nothing but fresh, healthy food, your body and brain will rebel worse than the French Revolution. But if you sneak in healthy options little by little, like ordering a side of cheesy broccoli instead of fries the next time you order a burger at a restaurant, your brain will eventually develop a taste - or even a craving - for healthier options.

Start Slow and Gradually Ramp Up

Despite the fact that this suggestion is at the bottom of the article, this may be one of the most important tips we can possibly give you. Like we touched on earlier, a sudden and dramatic change from unhealthy to healthy food will probably be met with passionate disgust. But if you do it slow and steady, your odds of success will be much greater.

Consider the metaphor of "boiling the frog". If you try to cook a frog by throwing it into a pot of boiling water, it will jump out because the dramatic change in temperature feels dangerous (the same way your brain, which is primed for unhealthy food, thinks that healthy food is gross). But if you start with room temperature water and slowly turn up the heat, the frog won't notice. It will sit in the pot, perfectly happy, until the heat gets so extreme that it boils the frog to death - and turns it into a delicacy of French cuisine.

Much like the frog, your brain doesn't want to change. But if you slowly but surely introduce healthier food options to it, your palate will learn to appreciate the taste of fresh, healthy produce and minimally processed protein. And this isn't just our assumption.There are plenty of scientific studies which prove that an increasingly healthier diet reprograms the brain to enjoy good food.

Eating healthy isn't nearly as complicated as it seems. With the right tools, the right ingredients, and a slow, patient approach, you can reform your unhealthy diet into a healthy one with relative ease!

Now that you have a game plan for eating better, what's next? All you have to do to find out is return to the ForVita home page!