How to Eat Healthy in Six Weeks

Improving your diet for just six weeks can help you to lose weight and look younger. You don't need to keep to strict routines or avoid all of your favorite foods to be healthy; instead, adapt your meals and snacks to include the food types you're lacking. Improving your nutrition reduces your susceptibility to heart disease, cancer, diabetes and depression. You will see improvements in your memory, energy levels and mood. Devise meal ideas in advance over the six-week period to ensure you stick to your plan.

Instructions

• 1

  Make sure that every meal you eat contains protein, such as 3 to 4 ounces of skinless poultry, lean beef or seafood. Alternatively, eat one egg or two to three egg whites. Protein provides your body with amino acids for growth of muscle tissue, hair, nails, skin, bone and blood cells.

• 2

  Add at least one serving of any fresh or frozen fruits, vegetables or legumes to each meal. A serving could be one apple, two apricots, one cup of salad, half a cup of cooked vegetables or half a cup of beans.

• 3

  Snack on unsalted nuts or seeds and fresh fruit twice a day. Choose nuts with fewer calories; for instance, eat almonds instead of Brazil nuts. Have an additional snack if you eat your last meal more than three hours before you go to bed. Nuts will satisfy your hunger and provide you with a good source of protein, fiber, essential fats and antioxidants to fight aging.

• 4

  Cut dairy, soy and grain out of your diet for the first three or four weeks. These foods can lead to bloating, low energy levels and dry skin.

• 5

  Incorporate up to 100 calories of dairy or soy foods to every meal after the third or fourth week, such as 7 ounces of low fat milk or 4 ounces of tofu.

• 6

  Add potatoes, sweet potatoes and 100 calories of whole grain products to your meals after week five. Sources of whole grain could be a slice of multigrain bread, half a cup of oatmeal, half a cup of whole wheat pasta or a third of a cup of brown rice. Avoid these foods for longer if you begin to feel bloated.

• 7

  Cut out processed foods, such as cookies and chips, from your diet. Continue to reduce how much you eat of these foods after the six weeks. Processed foods contain high levels of carbohydrates that cause inflammation, leading to aging.

• 8

  Drink 10 to 12 fluid ounces of water, sparkling water or unsweetened green or herbal iced tea every time you eat. Completely avoid soda, including diet soda. Allow yourself one or two cups of black coffee or tea daily.

• 9

  Take a daily high-potency multivitamin containing 5 micrograms of vitamin D to assist with calcium absorption. Take 2 to 3 grams of cold-water fish oil for inflammation, reduction of sun damage and skin improvement. Take two calcium tablets of 350 to 500 milligrams daily to strengthen bones and two magnesium tablets of 200 to 400 milligrams daily, also for calcium absorption.