Straight from the Spartan’s Mouths . . . Top 10 Healthy Eating Tips
We all know that eating well is important to good health. But when life gets busy, eating well can be a real challenge. We recently asked the MSU community, via the Healthy State Weekly Poll, to give us your best tips for making healthy food choices. Here’s the top 10 things we heard, straight from the Spartans’ mouths:
1. Pack a lunch. 
You told us that going out to lunch during the work week is one of the greatest dietary temptations. In the midst of a busy day, a fast food drive through is just too convenient to resist if you don’t have a healthier and more convenient option with you.
2. Eat breakfast. While it may be tempting to just grab a cup of java in the early morning and rush out the door, you told us that’s a bad idea. Regular breakfast eaters say taking the time for a good breakfast wards off the mid-morning snack attacks and makes it less likely that you’ll head to the vending machines or be ravenous at lunch.
3. Find healthy foods you actually like. Sometimes people think about healthy eating as an austere existence, nibbling on fiber pellets and lettuce. But it doesn’t have to be that way! There are thousands of delicious varieties of fruits, vegetables and whole grains out there to sample. Don’t try to make yourself eat stuff you hate . . . make it a fun and tasty mission to try exotic fruits and vegetables and grains you’ve never had before. Keep searching until you find some options you really like – so healthy eating is a pleasurable experience.
4. Plan ahead! Pack your lunch the night before so it doesn’t slow you down in the morning. Consider planning out a tasty breakfast and the next night’s dinner the night before too. If you have a plan, it’s more likely you’ll follow through and eat the things you want to eat, instead of munching on whatever is convenient.
5. Cook ahead in bulk! Some of you told us you cook enough meals for a whole week (or even two) on a weekend and then freeze them in single serving containers for easy grab and go lunches and dinners during the busy weekdays.
6. Shop well! 
One great tip an MSU employee shared is to pick one of the smaller carts when you go to the grocery store and shop for produce first, filling your cart with fruits and vegetables. Then you can add a few treat items in the space remaining instead of loading your cart with processed foods.
7. Packaging is everything! Many of you say you chop up and package fruit and veggies into single serving sizes as soon as you get home from grocery shopping so you’ll have easy access to yummy healthy snacks during the week without any extra work.
8. Arrange food strategically. Some of you told us it helps you to give healthy snacks center stage in your refrigerator, on your counter top in pretty bowls, in your car and in your desk at work so you’ll see tempting healthy choices everywhere you look. Hide those less healthy packaged foods away in the back of a high cabinet so it takes some work to get to them.
9. Break out the crock-pot! 
Many of you told us that having a crock pot at home simmering away with a delicious and healthy homemade stew or soup takes the hassle out of dinner time and helps you avoid drive-through dinners.
10. Keep your freezer stocked with frozen fruits and veggies! Lots of you told us you rely on frozen fruit and veggies as dietary staples. A variety of new “steam in the bag” frozen vegetables mean that adding perfectly steamed fresh veggies to any meal is as easy as popping the whole bag in the microwave for 5 minutes. And frozen fruit can be a tasty treat alone or whipped into a wonderful smoothie for a fast and healthful breakfast.
Special thanks to all the Spartans who shared your healthy eating tips with us through the Healthy State Weekly Poll! For some great additional information on nutrition and healthy, pleasurable eating, check out the “Nutrition Matters” section of the Health4U Web site at: http://www.health4u.msu.edu/focusareas/nm.html.
And watch this site for a future feature article on all the wonderful healthy eating resources available to the MSU community through Health4U.
