The Best Tips for Eating Healthy in the New Year

The holidays are a wonderful time of togetherness, joy, and cheer. They can also wreak havoc on even the healthiest diet with the myriad of temptations that abound during the festive season. If you’re one of those special unicorn people that can make it through the holidays without giving in to temptation, more power to you! For most of us though, we can find ourselves straying a little bit from being our healthiest selves. 

Even if you shy away from making “New Year’s Resolutions”, the dawn of a new year can be a great time to reset, recharge, and restart your healthy habits if they’ve fallen by the wayside. Whether you’re someone who eats healthy on the regular and just needs a bit of a jumpstart to get back to your best practices or you’re looking to make lasting lifestyle changes for the first time, it helps to have a little bit of inspiration to guide you. 

Eating healthy doesn’t need to be restrictive - quite the opposite! With a little bit of planning and clever substitutions, you can make even your favorite “fast food” dishes fit into a healthy diet. When we think of eating healthy, we don’t think of cutting calories or counting macros, but rather we focus on including wholesome, nutrient dense foods in our diet and eliminating processed foods and grains. 

Here are some of the best tips for eating healthy in the New Year:

1. Slow down - eating healthy doesn’t need to be complicated. In fact, eating more slowly is one of the best ways to increase your nutrient intake and inspire healthy weight loss. Our digestive process begins in our mouths, and the more you chew your food the easier it is digested, and the more nutrients your body absorbs as food makes its way through the digestive process. Experts suggest that you should chew each bite about 32 times prior to swallowing. This may sound burdensome, but like any new habit, it can take a little bit of time to get the hang of it but it soon becomes second nature. 

In addition to improving your digestion and nutrient absorption, you’ll likely find that eating mindfully makes meals more enjoyable. You’ll really take the time to savor your meals and may find that you’re better able to tell when you’re full and thus cut down on overeating. 

1. Eat wholesome meals - it’s easier than you think to eat whole foods-based, nutrient dense meals. While homemade meals may take a little more work on the outset, the end result is well worth it. You’ll get way more bang for your buck eating a diet filled with healthy fats, protein (such as pasture raised chicken or grassfed beef), and fresh fruits and vegetables. But eating whole foods vs. processed foods doesn’t have to be difficult! As this helpful blog post describes, a baked potato is considered a whole food, while boxed mashed potatoes are processed. Broiled fish or baked chicken would be considered whole foods, while fish sticks or chicken nuggets are processed. Each takes about the same amount of time to prepare, but while the whole food choices provide you with vitamins, minerals, and fiber, the processed foods are usually loaded with added sugar and preservatives. 

If you’re used to eating a diet heavy in processed food, you may be surprised at how much more full and satisfied you feel when you switch to whole foods. That’s because of the fiber content and the fact that when you eat whole foods you’re getting actual nutrients rather than fillers. 

1. Make sure your meat is pasture raised or grassfed - not only are these methods better for the animals, but raising animals on pasture results in healthier (not to mention tastier) meat. We make sure our chickens live their best lives possible while they’re on this earth. They live in a floorless mobile coop that protects them from inclement weather and predators, and they have ample access to fresh air and sunshine every single day. They’re able to peck, scratch, and forage on pasture, and we supplement that natural diet of worms, insects, grasses, nuts, and seeds with a high-quality non-GMO feed that is also certified glyphosate free.

Because of their healthy lifestyle, our Pasturebird chickens have naturally robust immune systems, and are never given antibiotics or drugs. Their meat has proven to be healthier and more nutrient dense than conventionally-raised chicken, including:

• 50% more vitamins A and E
• 3x the omega 3s
• 3x more NADH
• 21 % less saturated fat, and 
• 4x more ATP

Our chicken is chock full of nutrients and has a much more savory and bold taste because of the varied diet our chickens are exposed to. Take a look at our reviews to see what our customers think of the taste of Pasturebird, or better yet, give it a try yourself! We make it easy to order from anywhere in the United States, and have healthy pasture raised chicken shipped right to your door. 

Life is hectic these days, but eating healthy doesn’t have to be. By making a few simple life changes, you can start your new year off right and focus on making 2023 your healthiest year yet. Feel free to indulge every once in a while - life is short and should be enjoyed! And if that means eating ice cream or the “bad” cookies every once in a blue moon, you do you. Once you switch to a healthier way of eating you’ll notice it makes a difference in the way you feel, and you may even find that you’re ok with your old “treats” being replaced by a healthier alternative. But if not, that’s ok too. As long as you’re maintaining a regular diet rich in wholesome foods, healthy fats, pasture raised meats, and focusing on maintaining a healthy gut and immune system, it should be pretty easy to get back to your healthy routines even after a little splurge.     

Our blog is full of wholesome recipes that can help give you some inspiration for eating healthy in the new year. So let’s do this - shake off the holiday sugar slump, and let’s all get back to our best health for 2023!