Some people jump into healthy eating with both feet. There’s nothing wrong with that approach, but going slow and steady can sometimes be the difference between lasting progress and quick burnout. Have you been thinking about making healthier food choices?
Before you make your way to a nearby Organic Foods and Café to shop for more nutritious food and ingredients, take a few moments to read the tips below. They will guide you and ensure you don’t feel overwhelmed as you switch. In the end, these will imbue you with the know-how and a system you can use to maintain a healthier diet for the long term.
1. Pinpoint your healthy eating objective
Before deciding to eat entirely organic or adopt a flexitarian lifestyle (i.e., primarily vegetarian but eats meat and fish occasionally), take a moment to figure out what motivates you to switch in the first place. Understanding your main “why” is the first step, especially if you plan to stay the course and not lose sight of your goals.
Do you want to reduce pesticide, chemical, and antibiotic exposure? This is the top reason people shift to organic. If your goal is to be healthier, but you’re uncertain about your resolve to cut all meat from your diet, opt for reducetarianism. This means increasing your vegetable, fruit, and grain intake. You can combine reducetarianism easily with an organic lifestyle by eating only certified organic meat, vegetables, fruits, and other products.
2. Refresh your pantry and plan
After deciding why you want to change your diet and the type of change you must make, a simple next step is to clear out the old junk in your pantry. You don’t have to toss everything, but you should consider phasing out highly processed items to make room for healthier additions.
Replacing everything at once can seem too expensive or wasteful. As an alternative, you can pick three items each week to replace with or upgrade to an organic or healthier version. Those you do not need to replace (i.e., if you’ve decided to opt for veganism, these are animal-based or animal products), you can also gradually cut from your inventory.
At the end of the first month, take stock of your pantry contents. Sort them out and take stock of the items you still need to replace and dispose of every cycle. Make this monthly check-in a habit to see how consistently you’ve stuck to your new pantry essentials.
Once your pantry or kitchen is stocked with only the items that align with your new diet, you’ll have made significant progress. Sticking to a healthier eating plan is easier when you have the right ingredients.
3. Go where you can find healthy options
Grocery runs can throw a wrench in your plans by tempting you to get things that are unaligned with your healthy eating objectives. It gets worse if you’re unsure how to read labels. For instance, how can you tell something truly organic or those that use “organic” only for marketing?
To reduce friction, shop in a specialty supermarket that sells only healthy products. For instance, if you’ve decided to switch to an organic lifestyle, shop in an organic supermarket, particularly one that actively curates its selections. This way, you’ll never go wrong with whatever you choose from its shelves.
Of course, just because a supermarket says it’s exclusively organic doesn’t automatically mean it is. Find a certified organic supermarket, preferably one audited yearly by an established organic certification body like Ecocert Germany.
Note: Opt for an organic supermarket with a loyalty program in the UAE to enjoy preferred pricing and save money.
4. Opt for convenient, ready-to-eat meals
Long work days can sap your energy, leaving little desire to cook from scratch and making it difficult to stick to a healthier diet. Therefore, don’t eschew the convenience offered by ready-to-eat options.
Go to your trusted organic supermarket and stock up on freshly prepared or frozen ready-to-eat meals. You can get one whole rotisserie organic chicken for your family’s dinner. Follow it up with organic carrot cake slices.
If you work near your preferred organic supermarket, you can get a fresh salad or sandwich every day. On your way home, you can stop by again to buy a ready-made, healthy dinner for your family.
5. Experiment with plant-based or reducetarian options
Going organic often goes hand-in-hand with an interest in plant-based or reduced-meat diets. Decreasing your consumption of animal products (particularly from non-organic sources) can give you a double benefit: fewer chemicals in your meals and a smaller environmental footprint.
A plant-forward approach also naturally pushes you to explore new vegetables, grains, and legumes, all readily available organic foods. It also challenges you to be more creative in the kitchen. You might discover a taste for lentils, chickpeas, or ancient grains you never considered before.
Choose at least one day per week (e.g., Meatless Mondays) to go entirely vegetarian or vegan. Keep a simple chart on your fridge or phone to mark which days you stuck to your plant-based plan.
Most people can manage one day per week. If that feels easy, expand it to two or three days. Do this for one month. If you enjoy the variety and notice improvements in your mood and health, set a fresh goal for the following month.
Embrace a sustainable, healthier path forward
If you want to switch to a healthier diet, try doing it slowly, one step at a time, and adjusting as needed until you get accustomed to your new healthy eating plan.
Follow the tips above, and watch yourself become a little more confident and get closer to developing better eating habits.
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