10 Ways to Start a Healthy Lifestyle Change – Motunrayo Ogunwumiju

With the increase of obesity, life-shortening illnesses and disabling conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, strokes and autoimmune diseases. We are now more influence to make healthier day-to-day choices to maintain vitality and life longevity. I know very well how daunting it can be to make healthy lifestyle changes without feeling overwhelmed, what you really need is to change your habits, how you feel, and look will change on their own. Don’t try to make too many changes all at once, below are my tips to starting a healthy lifestyle change with ease.

1. Cut Down on Processed Food – Processed food is not good because (a) most nutritional value is lost in the creation of these foods and (b) the added preservatives are bad for our health. Many processed foods contain a high amount of salt, which leads to higher blood pressure and heart disease. In general, the more ingredients a food has on the label, the more processed it is. Eating 50 grams of processed meat a day has also been found to increase the risk of colorectal cancer by 18%. Go for less processed food, such as a baked potato over deep fried chips, a fresh fruit over canned fruit, steamed fish over canned fish, or organic produce over food with high preservatives.

3. Cut Down on Sugary Food & Drinks
– Sugary food – These are your candy bars, pastries, chocolate, cookies, cakes, and jelly donuts. Not only do they not fill you, but they trigger you to eat more due to the sugar rush. Eating these foods occasionally is okay, but not daily. Go for healthy snacks instead.
– Soda and sugary drinks – Frizzy drink is unhealthy, causes weight gain, and is an artificial stimulant. Go for plain water, green tea, or vegetable/fruit smoothies instead!

5. Choose Healthy Snack Alternatives – If you are hungry in-between meals, eat healthy snacks like fruits, vegetable or smoothies, and yogurts. These are nutritional and do not give you that sugar rush. Have them readily available so it’s available to eat for whenever you can get a munch, eat them in moderation  stop when you fill full. Stay away from cookies and candy bars.

6. Avoid Trigger Foods – Trigger foods make you go and binge after you eat them. Everyone’s trigger foods are different (mine used to be biscuits and pastries), but generally trigger foods are sweets, chocolate, chips, cookies, or anything with a high level of refined sugar, salt, or flour. These foods cause a blood imbalance, hence triggering one to eat more. What are your trigger foods? Identify them and remove them from your diet.