Healthy Eating Tips to Kick Off the New Year

DURAND, Mich. –– A popular choice in New Year's resolutions center around eating healthy, getting in shape, losing weight, or a combination of the three. We like to think of resolutions as goals to make them more attainable. We've come up with healthy eating tips to kick off the New Year that'll help you reach your goals without going "full-out" and burning out.

1. Make Smart Switch-Ups

There are plenty of options to replace one of your go-to high fat, high sodium, or high sugar items. Cook with ground lean turkey instead of ground beef. It provides the same texture, similar taste, and way less fat and cholesterol (just make sure you pick lean). Another example is eating quinoa in place of white rice. Quinoa has more protein, fiber, and overall nutritional value. Check out some other ideas here. 

2. Eat Less Processed Foods

You may have heard of certain diets that lean towards "natural" eating. It's not an easy switch for everyone to eat all unprocessed foods, so make choices where you can. For example, eating whole-grain products is much better than "white" products because they are essentially less processed and contain more nutritional value. Take also potatoes, for instance: instead of grabbing sweet potato fries from the frozen section, grab whole sweet potatoes and cut and cook them at home. Be careful to notice labels while grocery shopping and try to stay away from ingredients you can't pronounce. Many times you'll find foods with "low-fat" or "reduced-sodium" have strange chemical ingredients added to make up for the thing they took out.

3. Snack Smart

This is where your switch-ups can really come into play, like choosing carrots and hummus instead of chips and cheese queso dip. As you might have heard, it helps many people to eat little healthy snacks in-between meals to help curb hunger and keep metabolism going. Pay attention to the serving size listed on the label, it's often a lot smaller than the portion you would just grab from the container.

4. Plan Ahead 

Food prep is having a moment in the diet world, and for good reason. We're all living busy lives which means we don't always have time or the energy to make something healthy. You can combat this by preparing your food ahead of time, so you're apt to make a healthy choice on-the-go. Try chopping veggies like broccoli, peppers, and carrots, then portion them into baggies to store in the fridge so they're ready to grab whenever. If you have a commute to work, keep healthy dry foods like almonds in your car so you won't be tempted to go to the drive-thru.

5. Start Small

Our bodies will take time to adjust to a new diet or eating schedule, so start slow and make small changes over the course of time. It will eventually become habit to make healthier eating choices. Even if it's just one meal per day that you eat super healthy with, like having a salad for lunch instead of a fast food burger, it's one step closer to being healthier!

6. Don't Stress

Nobody's perfect! Don't stress if you end up eating a donut from the break room at work. You don't need to skip lunch because you made that little donut mistake. Just continue to make smart choices where you can, and you'll reach your goals! Also, make it a point to treat yourself. You may have heard of "cheat meals". These are things that are bad for you, like a big burger or deep dish pizza, that you plan to have once per week so you don't burnout on eating healthy.

No matter your New Year's resolutions, eating healthy is a way to live a more quality life. Eating healthy is also considered preventative, like the safety features on our Chevrolets are preventative as well. If your goal is to look better this year, you can start with a new car like the impressive Impala or slick new Cruze Limited in your driveway. We have budget friendly options that'll make you look stunning on the road in our used car inventory, too.

Located at 9009 East Lansing Road Durand, MI 48429, Hank Graff Chevrolet Durand is revolutionizing the car buying experience. We provide all the transparency and customer service you need, while simultaneously making your purchase experience fun! Learn more about Hank Graff Chevrolet Durand, or for any questions contact us at (989) 288-2657 or visit our website at www.GraffChevyDurand.com!

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