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Subscribing! I feel like we eat relatively healthy but I always think I could eat more veggies.

Green smoothies was where I started! I just started drinking them daily and then it was a slow process if about a year changing my eating habits. If I ever tried to change too fast I'd find myself reverting to old habits too quickly. A lot of foods were acquired tastes and some things really took time. But I have had great success! To the point that any fast food makes me so sick I can't function. My body outright rejects it. Most sweets are way too sweet for me, I can only eat two pieces of very dark chocolate now, and only make paleo sweets made with healthy sweeteners.

I'm so proud of myself because I never thought I could be like this!

Yeah so definitely take things slow. I would only make one goal for myself every few months. So initially it was green smoothies and then slowly adding in more and more greens and less fruit as I grew accustomed to the taste (in my beginners smoothies you can't taste any green).

Then next was slowly cutting out sugar. First I switched to making my sweets at home with raw honey. Just as sweet but with a better taste and much healthier. Then I started limiting my sweets (I used to eat sweets nightly), choose fruit instead. Now I only eat (my healthy homemade sweets) a few times a month.

After that I took on grains. I gave up bread that had HFCS, sugar, soy, and any other ingredients I knew weren't good for me. I started eating gluten free: when I baked I used almond or coconut flour instead. We gave up pasta (and used quinoa pasta instead). For a year I was completely gluten and grain free! Now I eat sprouted wheat bread, rice, quinoa and very limited amounts of whole wheat.

Hope that helps and good luck!

@Mrs. Champagne: I would also try to make sure you get some kind of protein for breakfast - eggs, quinoa, meat, yogurt...

It will help get your metabolism on the right track for the day.

@Mrs. Champagne: You can cook it up like a hot breakfast cereal! You can make it with cinnamon and it's really delicious. I cook it with almond milk, cinnamon, maple syrup, and some chopped pecans. My husband adds banana to his.

There are a whole bunch of breakfast recipes here for quinoa -
http://www.wholeliving.com/155615/quinoa-breakfast-recipes/@center/155850/healthy-breakfasts

@zippylef: did you rinse it first? It has a bitter taste if not rinsed in cold water for about 2-5 minutes!

We also eat quinoa for breakfast! I made it as a fruit salad for J's party: strawberries, Blueberries, mango etc and a dressing of line and honey.

Another way is to rinse it and then put it in the blender so it somewhat grinds up. Then it makes more of a porridge cereal. Then eat it how you would oatmeal.

Or you can add it to granola and eat it as cereal with milk

@zippylef: I would. Especially if you're finding it still tasted gross. That's the only difference I've found . I made t for my aunt and uncle, they'd never had and loved it. They then went home and made some and hated it. The only difference was I rinsed mine!

Eating whole foods, and cooking more! I think our eating improved the most when we started to get really in to cooking.
Less meat is important too- before I was pregnant we ate meat maybe two or three times a month. Now we eat it about once or twice a week. There are lots of great ways to have a whole meal without meat, and its not hard to get enough protein if you add in other foods (nuts & legumes).

Also, meal planning, which reduces those moments when you reach for the easiest thing (plus, you can keep your grocery shopping trips limited to just the ingredients you need for your meals).
Try to eat green vegetables with each meal (I rarely do with breakfast- unless I have time to cook, then I add spinach to eggs or make a green smoothie).

We cook healthy dinners (mostly) and make sure to have enough leftovers for lunches. So each week we plan breakfasts for ourselves, and then dinners (we take turns cooking).

Big pots of soup are easy to make, and you can freeze leftovers for quick dinners later on. I usually do one soup a week (except in the summer).
Find a couple go-to recipes that are healthy and rotate them in each week.

Here are some ideas that we often use:
black beans w/ onions, tomatoes & spices all cooked together on whole wheat tortillas with greens & taco toppings (healthy tacos)

this salad is one of my favorites (for two people I use only one can of chick peas, and then extra greens- we prefer it with arugula): http://joythebaker.com/2011/03/spicy-chickpea-salad/

for our pasta night (every other week or so) we cook 1 pound whole wheat penne pasta, pour it into the strainer over a bag of spinach, and toss it with homemade pesto (or a jar of red sauce- whatever). Since I'm pregnant and needed to increase protein, we add some sliced chicken sausage.

For breakfast this week I'm having: glass oj, bowl of bran cereal w/ milk and strawberries, and whole wheat english muffin w/ peanut butter. If I wasn't pregnant and starving all of the time, I would probably just have either the english muffin or the cereal. and I never used to drink juice- but I've been craving it during pregnancy, so I have one glass a day.

I just wrote a novel- sorry! I love food and cooking and eating out- I think "eating healthy" is pretty easy if you have the philosophy of local, whole foods, and embrace cooking!

@zippylef: maybe it's your brand?!? Idk! I get the big bag of organic quinoa from Costco!

@zippylef: was it white/beige colored quinoa or red/black? I hate the red/black quinoa; I've tried it many times/many ways and gross gross. Love the beige kind though!!

@Mrs. Pen: ahh that was great advice! I've been trying to eat healthier and would eventually like to not eat the processed and junky grossness and I'll do really well then totally revert back to old ways (we bought a gallon of Blue Bell cookie dough ice cream last night)! I think I'm trying to do too much all at once and it's causing me to crash and burn.

I appreciate how realistic your advice it. I read a lot of Paleo blogs and it intimidates me and then makes me feel like a failure if I am not strict, which I know is not a healthy lifestyle. I'm not one to "diet" or count calories, but I am working towards making healthier food choices. Thanks for your input!

@Mrs. Pen: So so true! I know I will never be 100% either and I'm ok with that- but I do think I need to sloooow it down a bit.

We don't eat as healthy as I'd like but much healthier than we used to. I made a point to not have junk food in the house (because I can go to town on a bag of kettle cooked chips)s, I try to cook with real food (not processed shortcuts) so I can control what's going in it. And we cut our meat consumption down to 1-2 times a week, if that. I don't even usually miss the meat.

I think BLW has helped me make smarter choices in what I cook. If I know E will be eating bits of whatever I make it gives me motivation to make healthier, more nutritious choices.

Keep it simple to begin with so you aren't overwhelmed. Eat whole foods and stay away from processed stuff.

ie when you go grocery shopping--stick to the perimeter of the store. Lots of fresh meat, veggies, etc. Cook with them....roast them, bake them. Learn new ways to cook with these foods

i have a great interview with a nutritionist going up tomorrow that answers a lot of questions you have. stay tuned!

@Mrs. Champagne: Try more complex carbs like butternut squash, sweet potato and spaghetti squash. I also find that heartier veggies like brussel sprouts are really good.

For me, the best thing to fill my DH up and not make him feel like he is missing out has been to do more than one side veggie. For example, tonight we are having oven roasted chicken and brussel sprouts with sauteed mushrooms and tomatoes in garlic, chives and olive oil. Because there are so many different items on his plate, he feels like he is having a very complete meal and stays full.

@Mrs. Champagne: we have the same problem. DH feels a meal must include meat to "count" as a meal, and I tend to overeat at dinner! I'm actually trying to become ok with not eating a "filling" meal at dinner. I figure if we eat a balanced meal and he has a snack later, that's better than us getting overfull on dinner. Plus by limiting snack food I buy, I force us to eat healthier snacks.