How to Kick Start Healthy Eating in the New Year

With the new year comes new goals and resolutions–one of the most popular being to eat healthier! Healthy eating in the new year doesn't mean changing your diet completely or committing to a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle. Eating healthier can be accomplished with just a few simple swaps that you can add to your routine gradually. While it may seem like a challenging task, we've rounded up some of our best tips and tricks to keep you on track this new year. Use the motivation of those around you, and this fresh start to begin living your best life and stick to your resolutions. This January, add these five steps into your daily routine. Your body will thank you for it, and you'll head into this year feeling your best yet! 

Choose Whole Foods

Swap out processed foods for more wholesome foods like fruits, veggies and whole grains. These foods are naturally packed with vitamins and minerals. The healthy fats, antioxidants and nutrients found in whole foods are an essential part of a healthy diet. These vitamin-packed foods are easily digested in your body, helping it run the way nature intended. Whole foods are often less sugary and lower in calories than processed foods, meaning that they provide your body with actual fuel and necessary calories, as opposed to the empty calories that many unhealthy foods offer. Choose whole foods daily and commit to adding a serving of fruits or vegetables to each of your meals. You'll quickly notice the difference in how your body feels and looks! 

At Bob's Red Mill, we say unprocessed is our process. We genuinely believe in providing you and your body with nutritious foods that are full of flavor and nutrients. To help you learn how to start eating healthy, we've listed some of our favorite grains and whole food mixes below! 

Hulled Millet - A gluten free, ancient grain that's actually a seed! Hulled millet cooks quickly and is the ideal whole grain to mix into your next salad or soup. Swap it in as an alternative to rice or serve it up as a delicious warm breakfast. The possibilities are endless! 

Organic Cracked Freekeh - A plant-based food loaded with heart-healthy nutrients, cracked freekeh is an excellent choice for those wanting to add more whole grains to their diet. Our organic cracked freekeh is young green wheat that has been roasted and cracked to perfection. It's flavorful, a good source of fiber, and has a delicious nutty flavor that can be cooked in just 25 minutes.

Keep Healthy Food Readily Available

Now that you've taken a look at your pantry, it's time to do the great pantry purge of 2020. When you're hungry, you are likely to eat the first thing that's in front of you, especially if it's a tasty treat. The trick to healthy eating in the new year is to keep nutritious, delicious food readily available, particularly in places that you're likely to reach for a snack. Make it easy for yourself by placing fresh fruits on the counter, storing healthy treats at eye level and pre-cooking healthy whole grains to have ready when you want a quick snack. Small snackable treats like almonds, pumpkin seeds and dried berries are also a great treat to have on hand. Swap your usual candy for these treats, and your body will thank you! 

Seeds like our Organic Pumpkin Seeds are a great treat to have on hand because they're full of protein, healthy fats and minerals. A true superfood, this seed pack a delicious nutritional punch. Eaten alone or used as a topping on salads, oatmeal and even yogurt, they're a great way to add essential vitamins and antioxidants to a meal without changing the flavor. Similarly, seeds like Bob's Red Mill Organic Chia Seeds can be worked into breakfast bars, baking recipes or even as a replacement for eggs! 

Try Whole Grain and Gluten Free Flours

Unlike refined flour, whole grain flour includes the bran, making it much more nutritious. If you're skeptical and worried about the taste of your baked treat, start by subbing in half of the flour in the recipe with flour like our Organic Spelt Flour. Subbing just a part of the flour at first will allow you to get a feel for the taste and texture and see how it works in that recipe. 

Here are a few other nutritious flours that to help you learn how to start eating healthy in the new year.

Paleo Baking Flour - A unparalleled blend of almond flour, arrowroot starch, coconut flour and tapioca flour, it's the perfect flour for paleo and grain free baking! Use it to make everything from grain free crackers to guiltless brownies. It's a good source of fiber and only ten net carbs per serving!

Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour - Going gluten free but don't want to say goodbye to all of your favorite sweets? With our Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour, you don't have to. This blend takes the guesswork out of gluten free baking and produces delicious baked goods like muffins, flatbread, cookies and more. Straightforward to use and easily swapped in many recipes that call for traditional flour, it's great for those following a gluten free diet. 

Add More Nutrition to Your Diet

Healthy eating for the new year is as simple as finding easy ways to add more subsistence to your diet. Often, our body is lacking in nutrition one way or another. Whether you're not eating enough veggies or simply not eating enough of the right ones, it's hard to make sure that all of your body's nutritional needs are accounted for. By adding boosts of nourishment into your daily meals, you'll make sure that all of your vitamins and minerals are considered for. If taking actual vitamins aren't your thing, then we challenge you to try out one of our nutritional boosters. They're delicious and packed with essential vitamins and minerals to help you feel your healthiest at all times. 

Some of our Tasty Nutritional Boosters:

Chocolate Protein Powder Nutritional Booster - Yummy and astonishingly healthy, this chocolate protein powder only has 2 grams of sugar per serving! It's completely vegan, an excellent source of protein and contains essential amino acids. Add it to your morning smoothie or use its delicious flavor in your baked goods. 

Psyllium Fiber Powder - Psyllium fiber powder is an excellent source of soluble fiber, which may help stabilize blood sugar levels and lower blood pressure. This powder dissolves quickly, is gluten free and unflavored, making it a great way to add nutrition to your recipe without changing its flavor. 

Try Meatless Mondays

Vegetarian or not, Meatless Mondays are a great way to add whole foods and creativity to your diet. Preparing a meal without meat forces you to break out of your routine and get creative with new recipes. When creating a vegetarian dish, you'll naturally add more fruits, veggies and grains to it. Doing this will help you find unique ways to incorporate them into your other meals when practicing how to start eating healthy this new year.

To help you get started, we've rounded up some of our favorite Meatless Monday recipes. Check them out and let us know what you think. 

A couple of our favorite Meatless Monday Recipes:

Bulgur Black Bean Mushroom Enchilada Casserole - Instead of ground beef, our delicious bulgur is used in this vegetarian dish to give it a flavorful, meat-like texture. Traditional enchilada ingredients like black beans, cheese and enchilada sauce are added to the mix.

Beet, Carrot and Sorghum Burgers - Create a delicious, healthy burger this New Year's by swapping the meat for beets, carrots and sorghum. Top it with melted cheddar or goat cheese and additional burger toppings to create a batch of burgers that are bursting with flavor. 

Sweet Potato Black Bean and Quinoa Chili - In this dish, the quinoa gives the chili a meat-like texture while the sweet potatoes provide a pleasing balance to the spicy flavor of the chilis. Top it with sour cream, cheese, cilantro and avocado to create a hearty and healthy meal to indulge in this New Year.

Wrapping Up

Ready to start eating healthier and lighter in the new year? By following these tips above, you’ll have no problems adapting to a more wholesome diet. Just remember, one of the easiest ways in making sure you are eating healthy is by preparing all your food yourself. By knowing exactly what ingredients are being prepared in your food, you’ll have more control over your diet and overall health. For more healthy eating tips and recipes, check out blog at Bob’s Red Mill today.