How to Enjoy Some of Your Favorite Foods While Eating Well

Eating well doesn't mean sacrificing taste. You can create a more balanced diet while enjoying your favorite foods by making small, sustainable healthy lifestyle changes, easy substitutions, and using strategies to eat mindfully.

The Benefits of a Balanced Diet

Eating a balanced diet with nutrient-dense foods has more benefits than good taste. When you practice healthy eating habits and add nutrient-rich foods to your diet, you may notice sustained energy levels, better overall health, and a general improvement in your well-being.

Increased energy levels

Consider minimally processed foods like vegetables, whole grains, fruits, and beans when looking for healthy energy sources. These load you up with carbohydrates for energy use and also tend to include vitamins and other nutrients for your body.[1]

Foods like chicken, fish, beans, and avocado can provide you with B Vitamins, which are essential in converting food into cellular energy.^†

Improved overall health

Selecting foods that include essential vitamins and minerals for a balanced diet gives your body the materials it needs to do its job.

Foods high in Vitamin C and minerals like Zinc and Selenium add immune-support nutrients to your diet.

If you're looking for a convenient way to top up your daily dose of those vitamins and minerals, Nature Made^® Super D Immune Complex Tablets are a convenient way to give yourself some immune-support nutrients.^†

Enhanced well-being

Our well-being is more than just our health; it's how we go through life and face daily challenges. A solid base of nutrition through a balanced diet leaves you better prepared to face the day with everything you've got.

Incorporating Healthy Foods into Your Daily Life

Eating a balanced diet doesn't mean cutting out the flavor that makes life enjoyable.

Selecting foods that provide the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients you need means picking from a bevy of tasty foods, including some of your favorites. Here are some healthy food tips for incorporating nutrient-rich meals into your daily diet:

Small, sustainable changes

It's easy to fall into the trap of "all-or-nothing"; either you completely change your eating habits or it's not worth changing anything at all. Thankfully, that's not true.

Making sustainable healthy lifestyle changes is a great way to start; you are much more likely to keep them up. Changing habits entirely is difficult; but changing one thing can be easy. In the big picture, it's much better to consistently eat a slightly more balanced diet than to try to change your entire diet and give up immediately.

Whether it's making a conscious effort to reduce the amount of soda you drink or eating at least one fresh fruit a day, these healthy lifestyle changes will consistently add up to healthier habits.

Meal planning and grocery shopping tips

Meal planning around healthy foods is a great way to achieve a more balanced diet. Knowing what you're looking for when grocery shopping can help you pick nutritious ingredients rather than overly processed foods.

Look for non-starchy vegetables like broccoli, fruits, beans, and whole grains when you're at your local grocery store.[2]

Planning out meals with these ingredients ahead of time makes grocery shopping for healthy foods easier.

Cooking healthy meals at home

Cooking healthy meals at home means you know what's going into your body, which makes it easier to ensure a balanced diet.

One way many people combine healthy at-home cooking with the fast-paced modern world is through meal prep: once a week, they set aside time to home-cook multiple portions of a nutritious dish, then they split that into several smaller meals that they refrigerate or freeze, giving them a week's worth of enjoyable healthy meals.

Adding Healthy Options to Your Favorite Dishes

Don't worry, working towards a balanced diet doesn't mean you have to drop your favorite dishes. Incorporating healthy options into foods you love can help you boost their nutritional value without sacrificing your favorite flavors.

Here’s how to eat healthy without giving up my favorite foods:

Boosting nutrition without sacrificing taste

Including healthy foods in addition to your current diet can help you add essential nutrients without completely upending your eating habits.

The change can be as easy as snacking on blueberries, which have Vitamin C, which is an antioxidant that helps fight off free radicals that contribute to oxidative stress. Greek yogurt (which has protein and probiotics) with fresh fruit and nuts is not only a nutritious breakfast; it's a tasty one.^†

Creative substitutions for unhealthy ingredients

Here’s one of our healthy eating hacks: If your favorite meals include some less-than-nutritious ingredients, fret not! Many ingredients have healthier substitutes for added nutrition and flavor.

If you've got a sweet tooth and love candy, why not go straight to the source: fresh fruit tastes better than processed candy and it’s better for you.

Oatmeal can be a fiber choice alternative to heavily processed cereals and is much more open to personalization with spices and fruits.

Pizza is one of America's favorite comfort foods, and it's just as comforting when made with feta cheese to provide some protein and veggies like broccoli to provide nutrients like Vitamin A and Vitamin C.

Incorporating more vegetables and whole grains

It's easy to incorporate healthier options into your meals.

Most grain products, like bread and pasta, have readily available whole-grain alternatives that are less processed and retain more of the nutrients we're looking for.

Fresh vegetables, including dark leafy greens like spinach and kale, can be stewed into your favorite soup or tossed into your breakfast smoothie for an extra portion of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and Vitamin K.[3]

The Importance of Mindful Eating and Portion Control

Mindful eating is another way to support a more balanced diet. This includes eating when you're hungry and not feeling pressured to overeat.

When practicing mindful eating, try this healthy lifestyle tip for beginners:

Paying attention to hunger and fullness cues

Our bodies will tell us what we need; all we need to do is listen. Instead of snacking when it's convenient or you're bored, eat when your body tells you it's hungry. Go for something nutritious instead of filling yourself with ultra-processed snacks.

Pay attention to when you're full: When you feel like you've satiated yourself, don't be afraid to pack the leftovers away in the fridge for another meal.

Delicious and Nutritious Recipes

The internet makes it easier to seek recipes that fulfill your nutrient needs with panache. Countless sites and blogs specialize in nutritious recipes to please your taste buds and body. Here are a few tips for eating healthy and delicious meals:

Easy-to-follow recipes for busy lifestyles

It can be easy to fall back on filling (but unhealthy) fast food when our lives get hectic, but that doesn’t have to be the case, we have some easy meal ideas for busy people. "Bowl food" has become particularly popular in recent years, and it's easy to see why.

With simple prep, easy portability, and plenty of options, bowl foods are perfect for our busy lives. Nature Made^® has some Healthy Super Bowl Recipes that are simple, tasty, and nutritious.

Flavorful dishes that satisfy cravings

We're lucky that some of our most nutritious foods are part of incredibly flavorful meals.

For flavorful ways to include Vitamin D in your diet, try the sweet potato, spinach, and mushroom egg bake or a warm Brussels sprout and salmon salad from our blog on 5 Recipes to Support Vitamin D Intake.

Healthy alternatives to your favorite comfort foods

We all have favorite dishes we retreat to when we want something to provide us with tasty comfort. While there's nothing wrong with indulging in less-healthy dishes occasionally, there are plenty of healthy alternatives to these foods that can add some nutrition and comfort.

Try using black bean patties for your burgers to provide your gut with some essential fiber, which aids digestion.

If you want some pizza goodness without the grease, try dropping the “z”s and having a pita wrap stuffed with leafy greens, sliced olives, and fresh tomatoes.

Consistently eating a balanced, nutritious diet is the goal, and it's the best way to get all the vitamins and minerals we need, but it's not always possible.

Nature Made^® offers sugar-free gummy vitamins for adults, like our Zero Sugar‡ Multivitamin Gummies, which can help you fill possible nutrient gaps in your daily diet by providing a daily dose of critical nutrients.

We also offer a wide variety of nutrient-rich supplements in our Multivitamin Collection to help support a balanced diet.

Our "Subscribe & Save" feature provides a 10% discount and regularly ships supplements directly to your door, making a healthy supplement routine even more convenient.^†

‡ Not a low calorie food

† These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

References

1. Carbohydrates. The Nutrition Source. Published September 18, 2012. https://nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu/carbohydrates/
2. American Association Professional Practice Committee; 5. Facilitating Positive Health Behaviors and Well-being to Improve Health Outcomes: Standards of Care in Diabetes—2024. Diabetes Care 1 January 2024; 47 (Supplement_1): S77–S110. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc24-S005
3. Dark Green Leafy Vegetables : USDA ARS. www.ars.usda.gov. https://www.ars.usda.gov/plains-area/gfnd/gfhnrc/docs/news-articles/2013/dark-green-leafy-vegetables/