Seeking blog inspiration, I reached out to a few friends of mine who I knew were only mildly interested in the topic of Food and nutrition.

I asked them what kind of content it would take for them to actually be interested in reading one of my blogs, and a single major theme persisted.

"How do you make it look so easy?"

Although making things look "easy" is often the sign of a savvy professional, I think it is so easy to fall into the trap of providing nutrition information that may alienate individuals who are not as far along in their relationship with food as you are.

In that spirit, I decided today to discuss five things I would recommend to anyone out there who may be having trouble starting their journey towards Healthy eating.

There are tons of nutrition education resources available to you, but if you aren't really all that into eating well and you don't have a great idea of what it even means to eat well, the Canadian Food Guide is your one stop shop. It is a largely visual/graphical document that can be reviewed pretty quickly and is, in my opinion, very helpful for beginners to understand the types and amounts of foods they should be eating most often.

2. Identify the strengths and limitations in your diet:Once you have reviewed thefood guide,  take a moment to reflect on your own consumption patterns and how they compare to the guide's suggestions. Start to become aware of the strengths and limitations in your diet (ie: eating too much in one food group, not enough in another, eating too many foods that aren't even in the food groups). Once you acknowledge some of your dietary limitations, you have a starting point to improve upon.

3.Know that Rome Was Not Built in a Day:And neither are the eating patterns of very healthy people.  We all started somewhere, even the healthiest eaters. Set small, manageable goals such as eating an extra serving of fruit on a daily basis and know that by following through with that goal you are building your foundation of healthy eating.

Sometimes health personalities are guilty of vilifying unhealthy foods and representing themselves as individuals who eat "flawlessly" every second of the day. This is not a necessary, natural or healthy way to approach eating well.  Eating well should not feel restrictive or cumbersome, I urge you to find a balance that fits both the most healthy foods and some of the other foods that make you happy.

5. Seek out help from people with experience:Whether it is a friend in the field or even an expert such as my self, getting insights from people who are experienced in what is required to consistently eat well is invaluable.  I don't just mean asking for generic guidance either. We all have our own tips, tricks and strategies that we use to help making eating well look easy and, believe me, we are more than happy to share them with anyone who asks.

There you have it everyone, my top 5 tips for helping you demystify  healthy eating.

I hope you found it useful!

Andy De Santis RD MPH

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