In this age of luncheon meats, skimmed milk products, white flour, ready made meals and dried pasta, etc. I realised that eating “real food” will turn out to be much more difficult. If you’re inspired to eat more real food like me, what you can do is to start slow and focus on eating the following foods.
I consider real food as food that is as close to its natural and original state without any alteration of any kind. It is actually harder than you think if you had to force yourself to eat only real food.
I’m not advocating to villainizing all processed foods. I’m advocating for people to eat more real food. The health benefits are aplenty.
Here’s a list of easily accessible Real Food to start with:
1) Fresh fruits and vegetables
You can go for salads but it really depends where you buy the salads cos even the salads at McDonald’s aren’t that healthy & whole. Plus the sauces that come with salads are definitely not real food. You do what you can.
It’s simple, my basic rule of thumb is, read the ingredients list and if there are too many ingredients that you cannot pronounce, it’s probably processed.
2) Drink more natural beverages
Natural beverages like water, fresh fruit juices, milk, unsweetened coffee and tea (unless you use natural sweeteners like honey). Technically wine and beers are also natural beverages.
Check out this calorie chart I did of sugared drinks we consume. Even “green tea” may contain sugar.
3) Fresh meat
Go for fresh meats like chicken, seafood and beef. Avoid adding sauces or marinates which are usually processed. Go for herbs to give flavour to your meat.
I find grilling and baking with herbs a great way to make a healthy meal.
4) Eat whole foods
Whole grains, whole wheats, oats, granola, brown rice and so on. Avoid anything white like white rice and noodles!
Go for brown rice wherever possible, and ask for whole wheat breads instead of white bread!
5) Cook it!
My take is to cook whatever you can! Cooking it yourself is way better than eating out. And please, avoid “imitation” food like meat balls and crab sticks. They are made of so many ingredients that aren’t at all healthy!
I hope you found this post useful. Check out my other posts on weight loss and diet tips here.
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