Eating a healthy and varied diet is perhaps easier than you think. By adding variety to your meals and diet, eating won't get boring quickly, and preparing meals will remain an enjoyable activity.
Breakfast
There are more options than starting the morning with a sandwich. For example, quark and porridge are good alternatives. There are many types of porridge: oatmeal, rice porridge, buckwheat porridge, barley porridge, etc. These porridges are quick and easy to prepare using, for example, milk, soy milk, oat milk, rice milk, or water.
Or make a healthy smoothie with various types of fruit, yogurt, nuts and wheat germ or bran.
Lunch
Vary your lunch with different types of bread. Also try spelt, rye, or sourdough bread. These types of bread are more compact and keep you feeling full for longer. They are available at health food stores. Nowadays, many bakeries also sell sourdough bread.
For variety, alternate savory and sweet toppings. Peanut butter can be swapped for mixed nut butter, cashew, hazelnut, and almond butter, or tahini. These are available at health food stores. Slices of tomato, cucumber, and radishes can also be placed on bread, or fruit such as apple, strawberries, and banana. This makes the bread even tastier and healthier.
In between
Whether you want to gain weight or lose weight, a good distribution of meals throughout the day is important. Choose healthy snacks. For example, raw vegetables or a piece of fruit can be alternated with a rice cake with cottage cheese, quark with nuts, muesli or fruit, a handful of unroasted and unsalted nuts, or a boiled egg, stuffed avocado, etc.
There are also healthier alternatives for coffee, such as grain coffee. This drink consists of one or more types of grain and fruit. It can be mixed with milk or water. Grain coffee contains no caffeine and can therefore also be consumed in the evening before going to sleep. Various types of tea are also available. Vary with different flavors or herbal tea.
Dinner
Various products can be used as a source of starch at dinner, such as potatoes or different types of grains. Wheat (pasta, noodles, couscous), rice, and corn are commonly used grains, but grains such as barley, millet, quinoa, and buckwheat (the latter two are not officially grains) are a healthy alternative. Legumes can be combined with rice for better nutritional value. For the use of vegetables There are many alternatives that may be less well-known, such as: salsify, purslane, parsnip, radish, samphire, and sea lavender. These are also known as the 'forgotten vegetables'.
You don't have to be a vegetarian to occasionally skip the piece of meat at dinner. There are many healthy and tasty alternatives to meat, such as tofu, tempeh, vegetarian burgers (preferably unbreaded), and vegetarian mince. Often, you only need to fry these. Or replace the piece of meat with fish twice a week.
Preparation techniques
Different preparation techniques make the meals different every time. For example, healthy preparation techniques are:
- To cook
- Steaming / stewing
- Blanching / poaching
- Cook in the oven
- Wok
Would you like personal advice about your current eating habits and what you can adjust to improve them? Click here and read more about our personalized nutritional advice.
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