Eat Healthy, Live Healthy: 9 Secrets to Proper Dieting

You might want to think twice before reaching for that greasy fried chicken for dinner!

Consider what you have eaten the whole day. Did your body get all the needed protein, vitamins, and minerals?

Eating healthy is not a secret. Just make sure that your body gets a variety of foods like grains, nuts, meat, vegetables, fruits, legumes, seafood and poultry. Drink tons of water and minimize your intake of alcohol, sugar, salt, and saturated fat.

Then, follow these nine tips for healthier eating habits and you're on your way to a healthy lifestyle!

1. Start the day with a healthy breakfast. After hours of sleep, your stomach will be empty. Breakfast will provide energy for you to start your day right and last throughout the day.

2. Variety is a key. Your body needs more than 40 different nutrients to stay healthy. So make sure you have several options for meals and snacks.

3. Eat moderately. Eat only reasonable portions of food. Know when you're already full or when you have eaten enough.

4. Eat meals regularly. This is tricky. Skipping meals can lead you to over-eating on your next meal. So when you're hungry, simply grab a bite.

5. Avoid unhealthy foods. Eating can be both for pleasure and nutrition. If you enjoy eating "unhealthy", do so, but in moderate amounts. You need not entirely eliminate foods high in fat, salt, or sugar; just be sure that they won't be a big part of your diet.

6. Eat healthy snacks. A great way to refuel would be to eat snacks. But choose snacks from different food groups like apples, milk, graham crackers, celery or carrot sticks, raisins, dry cereals, cookies, and bread. Snacks from fast foods like French fries and burgers are not very healthy, so you may want to stay away from them.

7. Check out the labels. Before putting that jar of cream sauce or that bar of chocolate on your grocery shopping cart, read the labels first. Compare nutrition value and the ingredients among different brands and products. This way, you would buy those that contain less fat and more nutrients.

8. Do not rush. Eating healthy is not an overnight success. Being too hasty in changing your eating habit can actually get in the way of success. If you love too much sugar or salt, slowly minimize the amount you are taking in. If you don't like the taste of skim milk, try low-fat first and then slowly integrate skim milk into your diet.

9. Drink lots of water. Of course, the most basic yet most important tip that you have to consider is water consumption. Water can give you that satiated feeling and eliminate toxins from the body.

Remember though that one can not be entirely healthy by healthy eating alone. Have enough sleep, exercise regularly, and minimize, if not entirely avoid, smoking and alcohol consumption.