If this is your first time looking at how you eat there are two very important items that I believe help. The first is understanding that a "diet" is how you eat, not a short term solution to weight loss. Why would you eat healthy (or sometimes unhealthy) for a short time to get results only to return to old habits which will lead to how you were to start with, in need of a diet? You must realize your diet is how you eat, all the time. The second thing you can do is find out what makes up your diet. Many of us don't realize how much or what we eat. Keeping a food journal is a great way to find that out. Get a notebook that will fit in your pocket and write down everything you eat through the day. Try to estimate portion sizes as well, even if its as simple as a large plate of spaghetti. After a week sit down and review how you ate. See where you can make changes. You might need to cut back your overall food consumption. You might need to change from so much fast food to packing a lunch. You can find little areas to begin improving.
I think the easiest way to change eating habits to have a good/better diet is to do it one piece at a time. An entire diet change make be too much for some people to handle. If you are a cold turkey kind of person then by all means, make the entire change at once. For those others, we should start with the essence of life, water. Most people don't drink the recommended 9-13 glasses (its not 8 anymore) of water a day. Water is free and easily transportable.
Next is making food changes. Many people think eating healthy has to be expensive. Here is a link to help with that: www.choosemyplate.gov/healthy-eating-on-budget.html. Now, start taking items out of your meals or snacks and replacing them with healthy alternatives. Instead of a candy bar or bag of chips mid afternoon, have an apple or banana. You might try celery with peanut butter. Possibly replace regular pasta with multi-grain pasta and then to whole wheat. If you are interested in gluten free diets I suggest speaking with your doctor to see if you need one. Less then 1% of people are allergic to gluten according to some studies. You might be better off with whole grains getting their full benefit. WebMD talks about gluten allergies here: http://www.webmd.com/allergies/guide/wheat-allergy.
Don't be drastic in my opinion. Have days where you eat a brownie with ice cream. Have that extra creamy cheese sauce on your pasta sometimes, but the majority of the time make the conscious effort to eat healthy. You might even learn that healthy foods actually taste good and you like them. My 8 year old's favorite meal is salmon and broccoli. I love that.
I highly suggest once you have moved to proper eating habits you instill those in your children as early as possible. If children grow up without putting too much salt on everything they won't miss it when you try to cut it out of your diet. If they grow up eating healthy foods they will be used to it and it will be a part of them. There will be less arguments about eating fruits and vegetables verses more french fries. And with you setting the example, they will learn the right things. Good job mom and dad.
There are many places you can learn healthy eating habits. Speak with your doctor, use www.choosemyplate.gov, and other medical or government sponsored sites. Choosemyplate also has sections for weight management, tracking tools, and physical activity. Share meal ideas with friends who are eating right too. You could even have a healthy food idea night and have friends bring different dishes to share.
After fueling up with a healthy meal, get out and GET SOME!!!
