Eat fresh foods as much as possible, eliminate pre-processed foods, canned, frozen, fast food.

It means as a quick rule of thumb to check the colors in your foods, fruits and vegetables come in dark greens, light greens, strong reds, oranges, yellows.

A healthy wholesome breakfast gets your metabolism started, gives you energy early and prevents cravings.

Gain more control of what you eat, try to make your own foods as much as possible, pre-processed foods include a number of food additives and ingredients that are unhealthy and don't contribute to your nutrition.

Your body requires macronutrients, protein, carbs and fat from all food groups, get this balance every day.

Healthy proteins: eggs, poultry, lean meats, soy. cheese, low fat yogurt.

Healthy carbs: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, legumes.

Healthy fats: fish, olive oil, avocado, walnuts, soybeans, sunflower seeds.

Avoid trans fats (chips, cookies, fried foods).

Avoid saturated fats (animal fats and whole milk dairy).

Eat monosaturated fats (from plants, vegetables and seeds -avocados, olive oil).

Eat polyunsaturated fats (fish, soy, walnuts).

Your body is very efficient to process refined sugars like that on pastries and baked foods into stored fat and to your blood.

Try natural sugars contained in fruits for example.

Same as sugar, they all go into your blood, refined flours are the ones contained in white bread and cakes for example.

Excess salt goes into your blood, absorbs water and makes your heart pump harder, take no more than what your body needs everyday, approximately one teaspoon a day but be mindful that other foods already contain salt.

You must consume 6 to 8 glasses of water a day evenly distributed during the day, de-hydration in the body can result in mis-interpreted signals of hunger that make you eat.

Avoid soda, even diet ones, they contain a number of chemicals like phosphates that are unhealthy.

Planning is reported by healthy lifestyle individuals as one of the main factors of their success, you must spend time in what's important to you.

Your weight, how you feel, planners, counting calories, personal accountability for what you eat can keep you on the right lane.

No need to ban completely any foods, as a matter of fact most healthy lifestyle individuals have their treats but in moderation, your meal's volume shouldn't be bigger thatn your fist.

One of the main factors to deviate from healthy practices is to feel hunger, you should not let more than 3 hours without eating, try healthy snacks between meals.

Savor it, enjoy it, take your time, it takes about 20 mins to get signals of fullness to your brain, if you take your time you will eat less.

Are you really hungry?

If you ask yourself this question you will find yourself eating for other reasons than giving nutrition to your body.

Eat smaller more frequent meals, it helps with cravings, hunger and keeps your metabolism going.

Be patient, you have been practicing unhealthy habits for a while, it will take you time to re-train your body and mind, don't despair, think on the many benefits, think on the long term objective of living a healthy lifestyle.