Organice Your Life

Follow this Column

The questions I get all the time are: "I want to eat healthy. I want to get in shape. How do I do that? What should I eat? I am confused!"

Courtesy of Lonneke Engel

I have to admit, eating healthy is confusing. The grocery aisles have become a marketing maze that's nearly impossible to navigate. For instance, some foods labeled "low-fat", contain such a large amount of sugar it can make you fat! (The excess energy from calorie-laden sugar is converted to fat in your body.) Also, a lot of foods you thought were great for you many contain so many artificial ingredients, or are so processed that they are not good for you at all. 

MORE: Five Healthy Snacks Under 150 Calories

No wonder most of us have no clue what foods to buy anymore!

How do I try to make sense of it all, to eat the foods I think are good for me, and also so I can do my work as a model right? Simplicity is the key.

1. Cook for Yourself

Whenever possible, I prefer to cook for myself. Then you really know what is in your food. My experience is that the simpler the ingredients, and the fresher those ingredients, the better tasting dish they will create. Of course putting a little love into your dish makes it taste even better! I also make a lot of food at once, so I can save it and have healthy dishes for the coming days.

GALLERY: 15 Ways to Eat Healthily On a Budget

Courtesy of Lonneke Engel

2. Eat Locally-Grown, Seasonal Foods

I like to go to the farmer's market, and speak to the people who grow the vegetables, or raised the chicken that lays the fresh brown eggs. This way you know where your food comes from, and how it was grown! And of course the food is way fresher, since it's grown locally. 

Farm-raised foods are not processed in a factory, so they usually won't contain artificial ingredients. They are simple, delicious, nature ripened vegetables, fruits and fresh animal products. A lot of things at the farmer's market are also organic, so that is even better of course! Ask the person you buy products from, how it was grown, or what is the best way to prepare it. They are the experts of their own products.