The key to eating healthy is eating a wide variety of foods without getting too many calories or too much of any one nutrient. Here are 10 diet tips you need to make a note of.

10 ways to healthy eating

• Eat a variety of nutrient-rich foods: You need more than 40 different nutrients for good health, and no single food supplies them all. Your daily food selection should include bread and other whole-grain products, fruits, vegetables, dairy products as well as meat, poultry, fish and other protein-rich foods.
• Enjoy plenty of whole grains, fruits and vegetables: If you don’t relish vegetarian food, give these essential food items an interesting spin. Look through cookbooks for tasty ways to prepare them. For instance, a lightly spiced fresh vegetable stew with meat might be more interesting than a boring ol’ vegetable side dish.
• Maintain a healthy weight: Your sex, height, age and heredity all play an important role in determining your ideal weight. Excess body fat increases your chances for high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, some types of cancer and other illnesses. Being too thin can increase your risk of osteoporosis, menstrual irregularities and other health problems. Regular exercise is also important to maintain a healthy weight.
• Eat moderate portions: If you keep portion sizes reasonable, it’s easier to eat the foods you want and stay healthy. It’s better to eat five-six meals consisting of small portions in a day rather than three large meals.
• Eat regular meals: Skipping meals can lead to out-of-control hunger, often resulting in overeating. When you’re very hungry, it’s also tempting to forget about good nutrition. Snacking between meals can help curb hunger, but don’t eat so much that your snack becomes an entire meal. And don’t snack on junk!
• Reduce, don’t eliminate, certain foods: If your favorite foods are high in fat, salt or sugar, the key is moderating how much of these foods you eat and how often you eat them. If you love fried chicken, you don’t have to give it up, just eat it less often.
• Balance your food choices over time: When eating a food high in fat, salt or sugar, eat other foods that are low in these ingredients during the day to balance it out. If you miss out on any food group one day, make up for it the next. Your food choices over several days should fit together into a healthy pattern.
• Know your diet pitfalls: To improve your eating habits, you first have to know what’s wrong with them. Write down everything you eat for three days. Then check your list according to the rest of these tips. Do you add a lot of butter or salad dressing? Rather than eliminating these foods, simply cut down your portions. Make sure you are getting enough fruits and vegetables in your diet or you could be missing out on vital nutrients.
• Make changes gradually: Just as there are no ‘super foods’ or easy answers to a healthy diet, don’t expect to totally revamp your eating habits overnight. Changing too much too fast can get in the way of success. Begin to remedy excesses or deficiencies with modest changes that can add up to positive, lifelong eating habits.
• Remember, foods are not good or bad: Select foods based on your total eating patterns, not whether any individual food is ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ Don’t feel guilty if you love foods such as potato chips, chocolate bars or ice cream. Eat them in moderation and choose other foods to provide the balance and variety that are vital to good health.