Chefapproved Tips For Keeping Up A Healthy Diet For The Rest Of The Year

It's almost February, the power you first felt when you set your New Year's resolutions is starting to fade, and keeping eating healthy can seem like an uphill battle.

But what if instead of spending money on a meal, instead of settling for a soggy salad, you could stick to your goals in a colorful, vibrant, and delicious way?

If you want to maintain a healthy diet throughout the rest of the year, these chef-approved tips can help.

genaro contaldo

For chef Gennaro Contaldo, staying healthy is a matter of balance and never completely depriving yourself.

“I try to eat healthy [but] I've never been on a diet. I need it? I don't believe it. Today it is a good dough and tomorrow it is a good vegetable treat. I try to balance it. Are we eating too much meat today? We are going to eat a lot of fish tomorrow. Balance,” says Contaldo, who taught Jamie Oliver Italian cooking.

He recently made a sandwich with a side of pork at a local butcher shop. "It's a beautiful bread," he recalls. “But in the next few days I am going to eat something else, I am going to eat toast.

"A sweet cake? Yes, I'll eat whatever is put in front of me. But only in small portions, not because I can't eat it, because at my age you can't eat [mostly] a lot, a lot of good sweet, but I try everything."

Gennaro's Kitchen: Great budget Italian food from Gennaro Contaldo (HarperCollins, £25)

Kwoklin Van

For Kvoklyn Wan, cooking more Chinese food at home may be the key to staying healthy.

"The good thing about Chinese food is that you can make it healthy very easily," he said. “So instead of using vegetable oil, coconut oil, or any other oil, you can use cooking spray with grilled chicken and vegetables.

"Here's the rub: You have protein, you have vegetables and vitamins, and then you have boiled rice instead of fried rice.

“Or you can eat noodles or rice noodles. I am very lucky to have been born into this wonderful culture with food that you can easily prepare in a healthy way without losing any of its flavor.

One Wok, One Pot by Kvoklyn Wan (Quadrille, £16.99)

Skye McAlpine

Eating healthy doesn't have to mean giving up your favorite foods, but it may require some smart adjustments.

"When I make pesto pasta, I like to add fresh herbs to the pasta water: green beans, chopped dill, zucchini bits, broccoli florets, beans in season... whatever I have on hand, really." she says. Skye McAlpine.

“Basically, you cook vegetables in pasta water, then add pesto. It's delicious and it's a very nutritious and complete meal."

A Table Full of Love by Skye McAlpine (Bloomsbury Publishing, £26)

Suzanne Mulholland aka the lady of the lot

It's no surprise that Suzanne Mulholland, who worked as a time management expert before writing cookbooks, has the best advice when it comes to planning.

"Plan ahead and prepare as much as you can, then everything is in your fridge... So it's easier to stick to a routine, right?" he says.

"If you've made a couscous salad and packed [extras] that you can rent, you're less likely to Pret and eat a 700-calorie sandwich because you made it ahead of time and eat it with you."

"So doing it ahead of time, thinking it through, and doing it in writing or over the phone, the confusion, means you're more likely to achieve the goals you want to set."

The Batch Lady: Cooking on a Budget by Suzanne Mulholland (HQ, £22)

Erica Thomas

To really get excited about the idea of ​​healthy eating, and hopefully continue beyond January, Heather Thomas wants to eat seasonally first.

At the beginning of the year, it is citrus that excites him the most. "I live mainly in Greece and I can pick [oranges and lemons] from the trees on the streets of Athens, they are everywhere," he says.

After a "Christmas and New Year's party," he recommends eating "really refreshing, tart, lemony and light."

Heather Thomas' The Vegetarian Christmas Cookbook (HarperNonFiction, £12.99)

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