Whether you’re trying to win an upcoming fitness competition or simply want to look and feel your best, it’s important to know that eating well is one of the best ways to realize your goal. Unfortunately, the majority of Americans follow a Standard American Diet (SAD) that is lacking in the nutrients necessary to optimize physical and mental well-being. Luckily, there are numerous relatively simple strategies you can employ to ensure that your body attains all of the nutrients it needs to function optimally. Some of them include:

Clean Out Your Refrigerator And Pantry

One reason that people fail to attain all of the nutrients their bodies need for optimal functioning is that they fill up on lackluster items. As noted in NutritionFacts.org, the Standard American Diet (SAD) is high in junk foods, sugar, fat, meat, and dairy. By eating these items in large amounts, people oftentimes leave no room for delicious, nutritious items like kale, spinach, broccoli, arugula, and bananas. With this reality in mind, it’s important to consider the value of cleaning out your refrigerator and pantry. You can then replace the nutritionally vacuous items with fresher, healthier items. Remember that we tend to consume whatever food is immediately available to us, meaning that keeping healthy items in the vicinity will typically play a key role in ensuring that you remain on the road to eating optimally.

Juice

Juicing is a wonderful way to ensure that you’re consistently flooding your body with the wide range of nutrients that it requires in order to function optimally. While juicing was at one point thought to be a fad, many people have permanently incorporated it into their health routine due to the excellent results they’ve received. You can juice almost any fruit and vegetable, including pineapples, bok choy, grapes, tomatoes, celery, and apples. And as noted in Mayo Clinic, you may want to consider blending as an alternative to juicing. Blending is advantageous because it will help you attain the fiber that is eliminated when you juice.

Use Supplements

In many cases, people are not willing to make the behavioral changes necessary to stick to a healthy meal plan. If this is the case for you but you’re determined to attain the nutrients necessary for your body to thrive, be sure to consider the value of supplementation. There are now hundreds of online retailers that sell high quality supplements, many of which are specifically designed for the distinct needs of women and men. Do some online research to determine which brands are the most reputable, as well as which are the most cost-effective. A bit of poking around should be able to find you some discount nutrition supplements. Your research should involve carefully reading through the online reviews left about a specific brand or company.

Utilize An Online Food Journal

One final strategy you should implement to ensure that you’re getting the nutrients you need is utilizing an online food journal. This strategy will help you carefully analyze your food intake in terms of key factors like carb/protein/fat ratios as well as macronutrient/micronutrient ratios. You can use an online resource like www.cronometer.com for this purpose. Once you start logging in your food intake regularly, you’ll be able to locate any nutritional gaps and make the dietary adjustments necessary to get in the nutrients your body craves.

Don’t Delay: Start Optimizing Your Diet Today!

No matter where you are in life, eating well will always take you a step farther. This is the case because eating well is the key to mood stability, enhanced immunity, better sleep, excellent cognitive function, and much more. Start using the tips and techniques outlined above to ensure that you can attain all of the nutrients necessary to optimize your physical and mental well-being!