11 Reasons To Try Healthy Eating Rather Than Dieting

Caroline Potter is a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (NTP), creator of the blog Colorful Eats, and published author of All American Paleo Table: Classic Homestyle Cooking from a Grain-free Perspective. Click ahead to see why she suggests ditching your diet and embarking on a healthy eating lifestyle.

Healthy eating promotes a healthy body image. Eating real, fresh, and unprocessed food will make you feel great and give you energy to enjoy life. When you feel good, you will be comfortable in your own skin, rather than constantly focusing on your size or weight. When we find freedom in the food we eat, a huge emotional burden is lifted, allowing us to love and accept ourselves for who we are.

Restricting your calories actually slows down your metabolism and causes your body to panic because there aren't enough incoming calories for optimal functioning. Quite often, eating more of the right foods rather than simply eating less food will prompt and sustain weight loss!

When you eat a balanced meal of protein, fresh vegetables, healthy carbohydrates, and good quality fats, you satisfy your body and hunger hormones so that you are not constantly reaching for snacks or junk food. Satisfying your hunger and taste buds will allow you to eat and enjoy a meal and then move on rather than constantly focusing on your hunger.

Food is central to everyday life and an important part of holidays, birthdays, summer BBQs, and most celebrations! People love to eat, and eating is fun! Choosing the foods that you put into your mouth wisely will leave you feeling satisfied so you can enjoy these special occasions rather than feeling sleepy or sick afterwards.

Healthy eating allows you to find what works for your body type and lifestyle. As the saying goes, there truly is no "one size fits all!" Some people need more protein and some need more carbohydrates. If you are an athlete or super active you may need to eat more often while some do best with just three meals per day. Each and every person needs to find what works best for their health and lifestyle. Paying attention to how food interacts with your body is one of the keys to healthy eating success!

Eating healthily gives you more energy to enjoy life. When we feel good, we have more time to focus on what really matters in life —spending time with our significant other, children, or friends, enjoying time outdoors, or taking pride in our business!

Healthy eating goes beyond just food. Often people that take the time and effort to eat healthily will also take the time to improve other areas of their lives, like regulating stress, exercise, sleep, and general well-being. Discipline in the arena of healthy eating will prompt self-control and good intentions in every aspect of life!

Making healthy eating choices will set you up for long-term success. Eating super healthy for a few days or few weeks is great, but this is no way to go through life. Putting the mechanisms in place to make healthy eating choices each and every day is a discipline that you will carry through life and also one that you can pass along to your children or spouse as they watch your healthy choices.

Healthy eating promotes natural detoxing. Our bodies are constantly detoxing, working to filter out any toxins and junk. But in order to properly detox, we need to consume the nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that are found in fresh, real foods — grass-fed beef, fresh vegetables, eggs, bone broth, grass-fed butter, and colorful fruit. Detoxing cannot happen when you do not feed yourself real food.

Eating balanced meals regulates your blood sugar. Often diets or juice-type cleanse programs are actually high in sugar and cause your body to pump out insulin, which, in excess, can cause your body to hold onto unnecessary weight. A balanced diet of good quality proteins, healthy fats, and fresh vegetables will keep your blood sugar more stable, causing your body to burn off excess weight and fat.

Healthy eating allows you to treat yourself. When we eat healthily on a daily basis, we greatly increase our self-control when it comes to desserts. Most often, we will feel satisfied after a meal that we won't crave sugar as often as we used to because we have actually filled our stomachs with calories and nutrients. Healthy eating opens up the freedom to treat ourselves, enjoying the occasional cookie or ice cream cone without shame and being able to stop at one cookie rather than devouring the whole dozen.