Good nutrition is an important part of leading a healthy lifestyle. Combined with physical activity, your diet can help you to reach and maintain a healthy weight, reduce your risk of chronic diseases (like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer), and promote your overall health.

Wondering what you need to do to take control of your eating habits in order to live well?

Here are six simple steps you can take to improve not only your own nutrition but your family’s nutrition as well:

1. Start now. Don’t wait until a medical crisis, such as cancer, diabetes, or a heart attack forces you to really understand the importance of nutrition. You don’t have to almost die to keep yourself from dying prematurely.
2.  Be passionate. Have you ever believed in a cause so much that it consumes every free moment? Believe in your body and your need to feed it right.
3. Know your nutrition. The more you know about the importance of nutrition, the better the good food will taste. Increasing your knowledge on the importance of good nutrition will make healthy foods more appealing to you, not only because of the taste but also because of their nutritional content. It’s fun to eat when you truly understand what you’re putting into your body. (Stick to the ‘5 ingredients or less’ rule when reading a food label. If it has more than 5 ingredients or ingredients that you can’t even pronounce, put it back.)
4. Change your mindset about food. Think of food as medicine – the best preventative pill you’ll ever swallow, and a tasty one at that. “Health foods” are not about self-denial but rather about the promise of enjoying good health and living well.
5. Shape young tastes. The first three years of a child’s life are the best opportunity to instill lifelong eating patterns. The food you serve and the habits you promote become your child’s nutritional norms. Set the standard.
6. Model the importance of good nutrition to your children. Since you teach mostly by example, you have to evaluate and change your own eating habits before you can shape your children’s. Monkey see, monkey do. Be the role model of good health, so you can live long enough to play with your grandchildren.

Credit to Meredith Reinhard from The Bar Athletics for providing this article.