Tips for healthy eating habits and maintaining a balanced diet

1. Stock your pantry and kitchen with a variety of whole foods, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, leafy greens, herbs and spices, nuts and seeds, mineral salts, and healthy oils/fats.

2. Eat home-cooked meals at least 4-5 days a week. This practice allows you to be in control of what you cook and eat, and the ingredients used in your food.

3. Avoid sweetened drinks like soft drinks, juices, and sugar in coffee and tea. This is a simple way to significantly reduce your refined sugar intake.

4. Always read ingredient labels before purchasing packaged foods. Most packaged and processed foods are made with a variety of artificial and unhealthy ingredients, such as refined sugars, oils, sodium, bleached flour, food coloring, and the list goes on and on. A simple tip: if you don’t know what the ingredients mean, it’s probably not going to benefit you. This is how you become a conscious consumer. These practices allow you to consciously choose if you want a product or not, instead of purchasing out of habit.

5. Eat a warm breakfast that is filling but also easy to digest. Digestion is at its peak between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Meals eaten outside of this time frame should be easy to digest. Meals like soups, porridges, stews, and casseroles.

6. Eat wholesome meals that will keep you feeling nourished and satisfied. Meals made from whole foods, grains, legumes, greens, and spices give our bodies the nutrients they need to feel satisfied. Highly processed foods are usually nutrient-void foods and therefore leave us feeling unsatisfied and wanting to eat more.

7. Allow at least 3-5 hours between meals to aid in the proper digestion of your previous meal. Imagine your body processing three meals a day, each with different types of food and ingredients. Visualizing the effort your body expends to break down food and absorb nutrients makes it clear why we should avoid overeating, frequent eating, combining incompatible foods, and regularly consuming highly processed foods.

Digestion demands significant energy from our body—energy needed for other activities. Thus, spacing out meals significantly supports energy levels, overall health, and enables your body to function optimally! This also aids in weight management and self-discipline.

If this is challenging, consider snacks like fruit, a few nuts, pumpkin/sunflower seeds, dates, spiced milk (e.g., golden milk), herbal teas, hummus, or avocado. Ensure you soak nuts, seeds, and dried fruit for several hours or overnight, then drain and rinse well before eating. Remember to remove the skin from almonds before consuming to improve digestibility.

8. Try to avoid eating past 7pm or 8pm on a regular basis, this practice supports maintaining a healthy weight and allows your body sufficient time to digest food before the liver, in particular, begins its natural detoxification process from 10pm to 2am.

These mindful eating practices build self-discipline, consciousness, and a healthy relationship with food. You can ease yourself into a routine like this, and you will see that over time it will become natural for you to eat like this. Remember, highly processed foods with lots of processed sugars, oils, sodium, and synthetic ingredients are very addictive. When you eliminate them from your daily diet, your taste buds will naturally alter themselves to enjoy clean, wholesome, nutritious foods. Experiment with this so that you can become in tune with your food and your body.

You can find a variety of easy-to-make wholesome meals on my website blog.

https://www.theyouthfulvegan.com/blog I also offer online Ayurvedic consultations and programs. Learn more in the menu section.