A healthy eating hack?! Is there such a thing? Do you think making healthy meal takes too much time? Yet you want to feel good after eating?
The good news is there is such a thing, and all you need is to follow the base idea.
In this article, you’ll find a secret to make a Healthy eating hack that makes you feel good every time!
With sauteed mushrooms, onion, and cheese…This omelette looks pretty good, doesn’t it? But, it doesn’t really look appetizing. It’s rather boring unless you’re a teenager who has hollow legs. And that’s not what we want. We want food that makes us feel good & healthy!
How do we make it exciting and satisfactory? The clue is in the national food education in Japan. I didn’t know the true value of it until I came to Canada.
Don’t worry, you don’t have to learn everything. This simple strategy will help you eat healthier. Did I mention that it only takes 5 min?
What’s the simple strategy for healthy eating?
The answer is adding colors to your meal! Imagine you order two burgers at a restaurant. One comes with french fries & a bit of coleslaw, and the other one with a colorful side dish like salad or fresh fruit. Which one would you choose? Or which one do you think you’d feel better eating afterwards?
It’s obviously the latter. Why? It’s because different colors (food) means a variety of nutrients are going into your body. As you know, “We are what we eat”.
But I know you’re not interested in learning nutritional values. So what I want you to do is focus on 3 primary colors: red, yellow, and green.
Examples of 3 primary colors for healthy eating
As you can see in the picture above, all I did was add different colors on the side. None of them require cooking – very easy! Now, here are the lists of 5 foods for each color.
Red
- red onion
- apples (keep the peel)
- tomatoes
- red peppers
- strawberries & raspberries
Yellow/Orange
- yellow/orange pepper
- sliced lemon
- yellow tomatoes
- carrots
- oranges
Green
- leafy veggies (darker green is better for nutritional value like spinach or kale)
- broccoli
- cucumbers
- peas
- herbs (parsley, basil, cilantro e.t.c.)
Some on the list with vibrant colors contain beta carotene that has amazing health benefits. So you may want to consider cooking yams, pumpkins, beets, and others to add as well.
As long as you have the 3 primary colors in your meal, it’ll look good and comes full of nutrients. The best part is you feel good, and that’s how you know you’re eating healthy!
In the Japanese culture, we eat with our eyes first as you can see pictures above. So the presentation is also very important for healthy eating. When you use all 5 senses (sight, taste, smell, touch, and hearing), it creates mindful experiences especially with our busy life style.
Now I want you to try one thing to start eating healthy.
- Check the color of ingredients you have at home → Now you know what you need to get!
- Go grocery shopping and find the 3 primary colors *please bring your kids!
- Pick one meal/a day to have all 3 colors
Try it for a week or two, and see if you start noticing things. And when you do, please let us know!