Most people want to lose weight at some point in their lives but they struggle with eating healthy food. While losing 140 pounds, I learned the hardest part of losing weight was finding the balance between eating healthy food and having some junk food every so often.

As a registered nurse I knew the benefits of healthy eating but my experience with diets never allowed me to splurge. Following a high protein diet, low fat diet plan or no carb diet left little room for me to treat myself to foods I loved. Once, I went off the diet, I found myself following my bad eating habits and that is how I ballooned to 280 pounds and stayed that way as an adult. How did I turn my bad eating habits into healthy ones? Here are some tips I used to adjust to eating healthy food and lose and keep off over 140 pounds.

Learn the Basics
Understanding the macronutrients, carbohydrates, protein and fats, is key to learning to eat healthy food. Knowing how these macronutrients are used by the body can help you with your decisions in eating healthy food. The healthy eating pyramid at the My Pyramid website is a great resource to use to follow for healthy eating guidelines.

Make Better Choices
Once you know the basics, you can use the information to make better choices. Choosing complex carbohydrates over simple ones is one way of eating healthy food. Understanding the benefits of healthy eating, such as complex carbohydrates and how they break down slowly in the body, empowers you to make better choices for your body.

This is the same with choosing the right amount of protein and fats. Choosing lean protein and avoiding a high protein diet and excess fats are part healthy eating guidelines.

Start Slow
Turning bad eating habits into healthy ones is easy if you take it one step at a time. Try to eliminate one high calorie food weekly from your diet rather than go cold turkey! Eliminating or reducing one high calorie food while introducing a low calorie one will help you stick to a healthy eating plan.

Experiment
I found many ways to add flavor to my diet while reducing and eliminating fats. Marinating protein in non fat dressings, using herbs and spices and trying non-fat substitutes like Butter Buds are practices I still use today on my healthy eating plan.

Georgene Dana Collins is a registered nurse who educates the public on safe natural weight management strategies. Drawing from her personal experience with obesity as well as her professional nursing training, Georgene shares how she lost over 140 pounds using the most current researched information to help others reach their weight loss goals at her site Obesity-Free-Forever.com.