Eating healthily can be a tricky feat, especially for those who work full time and simply don’t have the time to cook three intricate meals a day. As a result, we all need that extra bit of extra motivation to keep us going in our healthy eating journey. In Islam, fasting Muslims are required to pay Kaffara if they fail to fast and don’t have a valid reason. When it comes to healthy eating, you must be as strict on yourself and implement a variety of measures to encourage you to eat healthily. So, what does this self-encouragement include when it comes to healthy eating?

Establish Manageable Goals

Firstly, you should establish goals that aren’t too difficult to reach, whilst also ensuring that these goals are within reach. For example, you should aim to drink eight glasses of water a day and eat five servings of fruit and vegetables. You must first master the basics before you can progress on your healthy eating journey. Notice how this intake is counted so that you can actually observe your progress as a figure rather than an idea. Once these new habits become the norm, you can start setting yourself new goals and continue doing this until you’ve reached the point where you wish to be.

Keep a Food Journal

Another way to stay motivated is by keeping a food journal so that you can track what you’re eating, when you’re eating, and how much you’re eating. You’d be surprised by how much the odd snack here and there can really add up and impact your daily intake. By recording your eating habits, you’ll be able to easily identify bad habits and then go on to amend them in the future. There are many ways that you can keep a food journal, whether you physically write it, type it out, or even download an app such as MyFitnessPal.

Replace Processed Junk Food with Nutritious Whole Foods

Processed junk food is full of fat and salt, which leads to cravings and energy crashes. It may not feel the same to begin with and you may still experience cravings for processed goods. Despite this, over time, you’ll become used to the swaps, and your body will thank you for it. For example, you might have vegan chocolate in place of milk chocolate or homemade tortilla chips in place of crisps. No one expects you to cut out snacking completely, but there are some healthier swaps that can be made when you’re looking to improve your diet.

Prioritise the Fridge over the Pantry

The fridge isn’t really the place for processed food; instead, you’ll find the majority of your processed snacks in the pantry. This is because processed foods are designed to be self-stable, as they’re packed full of preservatives. Therefore, if you fancy a light snack, pay a visit to your fridge instead of your pantry. In your fridge you may find houmous, vegetables, fruit, or non-fat Greek yoghurt. In contrast, your pantry will likely be filled with crisps, chocolate, cakes, biscuits, and sweets. The former list will allow you to reap a lot more benefits when it comes to eating healthily.

Try New Foods

When it comes to eating healthily, you’ll inevitably get bored of eating the same thing night after night. Consequently, you’ll want to get your hands on new recipes and try new foods so that you don’t end up resorting to fast food and takeaways. Look online, sift through magazines, and get yourself a cookbook in order to discover some tasty yet healthy recipe ideas.