Your Guide to Healthy Food Choices: Simple Eating

Hello! And welcome to the Simple Eating series on SkinnyFatLife. I’m excited to start this series because it’s so near and dear to my heart. I’m back in school to become a registered dietitian (one more year to go!) and juggling work, CrossFit, and my social life. Staying organized and focused on healthy eating has been a struggle.

My youngest sister is about to move into her first apartment and recently asked me how to eat healthy. You see, growing up, we didn’t get many cooking lessons from my mom.

We weren’t involved in meal preparation, so we never really learned how to make anything.

Yes, my mom very successfully passed on the importance of making smart choices and controlling our portions, but when it came to cooking chicken or cutting up produce, I was a little lost.

What is this series about?

It’s about learning the basics of cooking and making smart, healthy food choices. We’re not becoming Martha Stewart. We’re not following any strict diets. We’re not counting calories or measuring out carbs. We’re not abolishing any food groups. We’re just figuring out what it means to eat well in a way that fits our busy lifestyles.

This series is for:

• College students or young adults who have used the excuse, “I’m just too busy to eat healthy,” one too many times.
• People who aren’t super comfortable in the kitchen yet and just want to start with the basics.
• Those of us who really don’t like complicated recipes and feel silly standing in the seasonings aisle looking for some herb we’ve never heard of.
• People who need the basics without the bullshit.

What am I going to have to do?

First and foremost, be patient with yourself while you learn. You’re not going to feel like a healthy eating expert overnight. You’re going to forgive yourself when you make decisions that are less than ideal. You’re going to realize that you need to be realistic about what you can accomplish.

But you know what else? You’re going to have to agree to not give up. Don’t throw in the towel when you’ve fallen off the wagon. This is a never-ending process. A lifestyle. What you’re doing now — building this foundation — will stick with you for life if you stick with it now. We’re making habits. Really good ones. But habits are hard to create. So be patient.

With that little warning, let’s dive right in!

Healthy Eating Tips

These are the simple tips that will make all the difference:

What’s Next?

This is just the beginning. Over the series, we’re going to talk through:

• Kitchen necessities
• The food groups
• Simple breakfast and lunch options
• Smart snacking
• Easy, easy dinner ideas

Here we go!