When I finished telling you about Our Healthy Eating Journey, I told you I wanted to begin a new series to help break down some specific things you can do if you would like to begin your own journey toward healthy eating.

You may already feel great about where you are on your healthy eating journey. You may already be eating a wonderfully healthy diet. If so, great! I hope you’ll still join us during this series, leaving your own helpful comments and ideas on each post!

But, if you are just beginning your journey toward healthy eating and would like some practical tips and attainable advice on how to make this journey simple and do-able…stick around. I don’t promise to write this series very quickly. I may only be able to post a new “simple step” once every few weeks or so. But, that may be just the pace you need to begin making changes in the way you and your family eat and think about food. If you want to move faster, that’s just fine…but making too many healthy changes too quickly may be overwhelming to you and can certainly make a husband or child want to run away to find the nearest Cheeto. 

Take small steps. Take simple steps.

But do take steps. 

It is important for your health and for the health of your loved ones that you start taking some simple steps toward healthy eating. Our bodies need nourishment. Start doing what you can to fill your bodies up with great nourishment! It isn’t as hard as you think! You can do this!

Here is what I am going to suggest as a first small step toward healthier eating:  Focus on eating more fruits and vegetables.

That’s it. All I’m asking you to do is eat a grape.  See? I’m totally reasonable and practical. Nothing weird. Nothing freaky or icky. Just focus on colorful fruits and vegetables.

Here are a few helpful tips and ideas to encourage your fruit and vegetable intake:

• Fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables are the most nutritious. Canned is better than none at all. Organic is best, but if that isn’t a step you’re ready to take yet, don’t worry. Just eat fruits and vegetables. 
• Look for fruits and vegetables that are on sale…but try very hard not to focus on how difficult it might be to spend money on produce. I’ve heard people talk about how they just can’t stand to spend $3.50 on a fresh pineapple…but they’ll turn right around and throw a big bag of potato chips into their cart that costs the same amount. Let the fruits and vegetables replace some of the processed snacks that you normally buy and you won’t even feel the financial difference.
• Stock up on your favorites. I personally can’t stand red delicious apples from the store. They taste grainy and nasty to me, so if all I have in the house are red delicious apples…I will not eat them. BUT put gala apples in the house and I’ll eat three. Each day. I LOVE gala apples. Get your favorite fruits and veggies, get your husband’s favorites, get your kids’ favorites. You are all much more likely to eat them if you love them.
• Try something new. Have a little fun trying fruits or vegetables you’ve never tried before. Try fixing your old favorites in a new way.
• Hide them. If you haven’t tried these Strawberry-Peach Slushies (that secretly have raw spinach in them) you are missing out. My whole family devours these slushies and never think twice about the fact that there is something green hiding within. 

• Make eating fruits and veggies fun!

• Search around my site, specifically (but not limited to) my side dishes recipes page for yummy fruit and vegetable recipes.
• Take a look at Have Your Fruits…and Veggies Too! ebook for many more ideas and yummy recipes.

Focus on how packed full of vitamins and wonderfulness fruits and vegetables are! Work on eating them as an incredible way to improve your health and the health of your family! What a perfect first step toward healthy eating!

So tell me…what are your favorite fruits and vegetables? Think you can challenge yourself to eat just a few more?  (Nod your head yes.)

Right before publishing this, I asked my husband what HE would recommend as the first, most important step a person should take toward healthy eating. I found his answer so very interesting and insightful…as well as completely different from what I was thinking. Want to know Matt’s advice and idea for a great first step? I’ll write about that next in this series!