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This guide is the perfect tool for healthy eating for beginners. It will help you on your new clean eating journey.
Do you want to start eating healthy but you have no idea where to start? Does the thought of eating healthy food on a regular basis intimidate you? Well, I’ve created this healthy eating guide for beginners to help ease your way into healthy eating. This guide will help you take the steps that are necessary for eating real and nourishing food and will help you make healthy eating part of your lifestyle.
Sometimes people who are new to healthy lifestyles are intimated by grocery shopping and frustrated with figuring out what to eat. That’s why I wanted to write this post about healthy eating for beginners. We are striving toward progress and not perfection. Sure there are people who are excited to start this journey and approach it head-on by doing a total 180 all at once. This is perfectly fine of course! If you feel like you can handle doing a total 180 and a rapid shift to eating healthy foods then that is great!
This post is all about healthy eating for beginners.
THE BEST HEALTHY EATING FOR BEGINNERS TIPS:
1. Set personal goals for eating healthy foods
Setting personal goals is great whether it has to do with finance, spirituality, health, etc. Setting health goals for yourself or for you and your family is beneficial especially when first starting out.
You should set specific goals for eating healthy foods. Are you often constipated? Maybe a healthy goal for you would be to include more fiber in your diet as well as drink more water. Do you rarely eat fruits and vegetables? Maybe a healthy goal of yours would be to include at least one vegetable in your lunches. Do you eat fast food daily? Maybe a goal of yours would be to have more healthy eating habits such as cooking and eating at home more.
Here are a few amazing general goals for eating healthy foods for those who prefer a slow shift:
- Change one ingredient in your current meals to a healthy alternative. Example: Instead of using canola oil use olive oil.
- Eat one healthy meal daily. Choose either breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
- Eat one home-cooked meal daily.
Here are a few amazing general goals for eating healthy foods for those who prefer a rapid shift:
- Do a complete pantry and fridge cleanout. (More on that in the next section)
- Try a new vegetable every week.
- Pack your lunches 3 to 5 times per week.
2. Do a pantry & fridge cleanout
This wouldn’t be a healthy eating for beginners guide without including a pantry and fridge cleanout. This is one of my top clean eating tips for beginners. It’s easy to eat healthy foods and choose healthier options when your fridge and pantry are stocked with foods that will nourish your body! So, this is a necessary step in eating healthy foods and creating healthy eating habits.
To do your pantry and fridge cleanout, choose a few things to swap out initially. You could do a complete overhaul of your fridge and pantry, but I’m going to share how to do this without unnecessary overwhelm and intimidation. We’re going to take it slow. This cleanout can be done in stages. Again, the aim is progress and not perfection.
As I mentioned before if you are ready to do a complete 180 shift and a big leap to healthy eating then that is amazing and perfectly fine. I have created different levels of the pantry and fridge cleanout. Choose the level that best fits what you are able to manage currently.
Healthy eating for beginners- pantry & fridge cleanout Levels 1 – 4
Level 1
- STEP 1: Check the expiration date on perishable and non-perishable items and get rid of anything that is expired. Also, toss anything that is moldy or spoiled.
- STEP 2: Toss vegetable oils. Get rid of canola, cottonseed, peanut, corn, rice bran, safflower oils, and margarine. Replace with olive oil, coconut oil, ghee, tallow, avocado oil, lard, or butter.
Level 2
- All of STEP 1 & STEP 2
- STEP 3: Examine packages and get rid of anything that says “hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated.” These are trans fat. For a slower approach, clean out 3 to 5 items per week.
Level 3
- All of STEPS 1, 2, & 3
- STEP 4: Examine packages for chemicals. These are artificial flavoring, artificial sweeteners, food dyes, MSG, and anything that uses a number or acronym (ex. yellow #5 and BHT). For an extensive list of food additives click here. A good rule of thumb is if you cannot pronounce an ingredient then it’s probably not good for you.
Level 4
- All of STEPS 1 through 4
- STEP 5: Examine food for added sugar, especially artificial sweeteners and chemically altered sugar. These include dextrose, maltodextrin, high fructose corn syrup, and aspartame. This is not an extensive list, there are a lot more! Use natural sugars such as raw honey and maple syrup as sweeteners.
- STEP 6: Replace bleached white flour and enriched wheat flour with sprouted flour, einkorn, and spelt. You can also replace them with gluten-free flours made from coconut, tiger nut, cassava, and teff.
{RELATED POST: The 4 Worst Foods For Gut Health To Avoid Like The Plague}
3. Focus on healthy additions
Start by adding more healthy foods that are enjoyable instead of getting rid of everything bad all at once. So for example, try adding more fruits and vegetables to your diet or use ghee to scramble your eggs.
4. Plan your meals
Plan your meals starting from what you are going to eat for breakfast all the way through dinner. Also, plan what you are going to eat as your snacks. Planning your meals helps so much with grocery shopping and making sure you stay on track with eating healthy foods.
Meal planning is great for people who are trying to incorporate healthy eating habits and it is also great for people who are not new to healthy eating. I started my healthy eating lifestyle many years ago but I still plan my meals! It helps me out so much!
5. Meal prep for success
After you plan your meals and have bought everything for the week, it’s time to meal prep. Meal prepping saves so much time throughout the week especially if you are super busy. Meal prepping helps you eat more home-cooked meals and reduce the chances of you eating out. You can choose to meal prep every day or once a week.
6. Practice healthy eating habits by packing healthy snacks when traveling
Preparation is key for healthy eating for beginners. When traveling pack some healthy snacks to bring along on your trips.
7. Adjust macronutrients to meet your body’s needs
Everyone has different macronutrient needs so it is important to adjust macronutrient ratios to fit your body’s needs. To determine your ideal intake of protein, fats, and carbohydrates you will have to factor in things like your health goals, activity level, age, digestive health, etc. But, as a basic starting point aim to consume 19-35% protein, 28-58% fats, and 22-40% carbohydrates. Then adjust as needed.
8. Diversify your plate
The next tip in this healthy eating for beginners guide is to eat a variety of food. Eating a variety of food ensures that you get different vitamins and minerals. This also helps prevent food sensitivities resulting from overconsumption of a specific food. Get at least five different colors on your plate to ensure you are eating a variety of food. Another great way to eat a variety of food is by eating seasonally.
9. Use non-toxic cookware
It is important to prepare your food with non-toxic tools to avoid chemicals leeching into your food. You are putting a lot of effort into eating healthy so you don’t want to ruin that by cooking your food in Teflon or storing your hot food in plastic containers.
Instead of storing food in plastic containers, use glass containers or make sure that your food is 100% cooled before storing it in plastic containers.
Beginners Guide To Healthy Eating: Grocery Shopping
Let’s talk a little bit more about grocery shopping. It can be an intimidating task if you are just starting your healthy eating journey and don’t have any guidance, but it doesn’t have to be intimidating. Here is a list of foods that will help you plan meals and grocery shop!
Here is a printable version: Clean Eating Grocery List
Meat & eggs
- Wild-caught fish & seafood (sardines, salmon, mackerel, cod, shrimp)
- Pasture-raised poultry (chicken, turkey, etc.)
- Grass-fed beef
- Organic goat
- Pasture-raised pork
- Pasture-raised eggs
Oils & other fats
- Coconut oil
- Olive oil
- Avocado oil
- Ghee
- Tallow
- Flaxseed oil (do not heat)
Vegetables
- Spinach
- Kale
- Broccoli
- Dandelion greens
- Okra
- Beets
- Carrots
- Sweet potatoes
- Cassava
- Any local and in-season vegetables
{RELATED POST: 7 Tips On How To Start Eating Healthy On A Budget}
Fruits
- Apple
- Mango
- Banana
- Strawberry
- Blueberry
- Kiwi
- Orange
- Pineapple
- Any local and in-season fruits
Grains & Legumes
- Rice
- Buckwheat
- Quinoa
- Oats
- Teff
- Lentils
- Black beans
- Chickpeas
- Red beans
- Etc.
Dairy
- Organic, raw, full-fat cream, milk, cheese, butter
Snacks
- Barnana plantain chips
- Terra plantain chips
- Simple Mills crackers
- Evolved Keto Cups
- Nuts
- Purely Elizabeth granola
- Siete tortilla chips
- Epic jerky
- Dried mango
- Alter Eco chocolate
others
- One Degree oats
- Jovial cassava pasta
- Malk almond milk
- Elmhurst unsweetened plant milk
Sweeteners
- Raw honey
- Maple syrup
Protein powders
- Perfect Supplements Collagen
- Perfect Supplements Plant Protein
- Mt. Capra Goat Whey Protein
I’m sure that this beginners guide to clean eating will help you tremendously on your journey to healthier living!
This post was all about healthy eating for beginners.
Loved what you read? Then you should definitely check out these other posts:
- 27 Life-Changing Habits For A Healthy Lifestyle
- 7 Tips On How To Start Eating Healthy On A Budget
- 9 Healthy Eating Ideas To Get You Through The Week
