Switching to a healthier lifestyle where you fuel your body, but don’t follow a restrictive diet, can feel a little overwhelming at first. It is even more true if you are used to the yo-yo dieting lifestyle, where you go back and forth from restricting your food to eating anything and everything before your next diet. This is where the benefit of crowding out unhealthy foods comes in. It means you start crowding out the unhealthier foods by adding in more healthy foods. It is a slow, gradual process that helps you get used to eating more nutritious meals but not being on a diet.
Add Fruits and Veggie Side Dishes
This is probably the first thing people do when crowding out unhealthy foods. Begin by adding side dishes that are primarily healthy ingredients, like fruits or veggies. You aren’t replacing anything but adding something else to your plate that is good for you.
If you like to eat pasta with bread, go ahead and have your pasta and bread, but also have a side salad or some veggies on the side. Chances are, you won’t eat as much bread and pasta and, over time, start to love your veggies. This works with any meal or snack you are eating.
Sneak in Veggies to Soups and Sauces
There are so many dishes that can be healthier simply by adding more vegetables to them. The easiest way to start is with your soups and sauces. For example, tomato sauces taste great with veggies like onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, and even diced pieces of broccoli or cauliflower.
You can sneak in quite a bit of veggie into your sauces. Soups work even better to boost the veggie content to increase how many nutrients you are eating.
Make the Switch to Whole Grains
You might not want to eliminate grains like rice, but you can increase the nutrients by switching to whole grains.
A couple of days a week, use brown rice or quinoa instead of white rice or try sweet potatoes instead of white russet potatoes. You don’t need to do this every time and never eat a white potato again, but it mixes up the nutrients you get, and you can try new flavors.
Eat the Healthy Foods First
As you keep crowding out the unhealthy foods on your plate, try to eat the healthiest portions first, then move on to the rest of your meal. This often means salad, vegetable or fruit, whole grains, and protein sources. Save your carbs and bread for last, and stop eating when you’re full.
Crowding out is a great way to start eating healthier but not a restrictive diet. You can quickly add in whole grains and veggies without having to say goodbye forever to the foods you like. You can also mix it up by adding whole-grain pasta, brown rice instead of white rice, and quinoa instead of oatmeal.
It doesn’t mean you have to eat healthier all the time forever. It’s just a way to get more healthy foods into your diet that are also very delicious.
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