Ever since you were very little you were always taught to clean your plate, not to be wasteful. Your parents would pile on the food and you were forced to sit at the table until somehow you managed to shove everything down, saving your least favorite for last. Of course your parents had good intentions in mind, wanting you to grow big and strong. But were they really just teaching you bad eating habits? As an adult you have always felt guilty about leaving anything left on your plate. So you willingly scarf every last bit down, knowing that you have had enough and are about to burst, you wouldn’t want to be wasteful!

Stop the cycle of guilt and over eating. Change the way you look at your plate. Think about how much you realistically should eat before you pile it on, not how much you want to eat.

Here are a few easy Healthy Eating Tips that just make sense:

1. You don’t have to clean your plate, eat half and take the rest to go!

Especially when dining out. Restaurants almost always serve huge portions of food, more than anyone needs to eat at one time. Take half of it home, not only will you save your stomach you’ll also save some time and money the next day at lunch.

2. Focus on just eating 1 food on your plate at a time.

Research has shown that if you eat one thing at a time on your plate before moving on to the next food you will eat less. Your taste buds tend to get tired of a single flavor pretty quickly and you’ll be more likely to think you’ve had enough. In a study in the journal Appetite, the researches found that the subjects ate 18% more fries and 16% more brownies when they switched between foods instead of eating just one food at a time.

3. Eat your vegetable first!

It may seem silly but eat the healthiest thing on your plate first. Fill up on sweet potatoes and green beans not your fried chicken.

Check out this article for some great sweet potato healthy recipes.

Keeping your skin fresh and young looking starts with what you eat. A great, tasty vegetable that can help you with that is the sweet potato. They are jammed packed with beta-carotene which is what gives it it’s great color. Beta-carotene, which is also found in carrots, is an antioxidant that converts vitamin A in your body and switches on the DNA that produces new skin cells in your body. When you shed your old skin, you’re left with a younger, fresher, sexy looking face.

Check out these delicious & healthy recipes:

Cheesy Sweet Potato Crisps

Serves 8

• 1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled
• 2 1/2 oz finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (about 1 cup)
• 2 egg whites
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 3/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
• Parchment paper

Heat oven to 425˚. Finely grate sweet potatoes into a bowl. Squeeze grated sweet potatoes in batches to release as much moisture as possible and place in another bowl; fluff with a fork. Stir in cheese, egg whites, rosemary and pepper. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Spoon 1 rounded tbsp batter onto cookie sheet and flatten into a thin, 2- to 2 1/2-inch round. Repeat with remaining batter, leaving 1 inch between rounds. Bake until edges and underside are crisp and browned, 13 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool slightly and remove from parchment. Serve warm with Rosemary-Balsamic Cream.

144 calories per 3 crisps with cream, 5.2 g fat (3.2 g saturated), 17 g carbs, 1.8 g fiber, 6 g protein

1. Sweet Potato and Avocado Sandwich w/Poppy Seed Spread

Serves 2

1. 1 small sweet potato (about 7 ounces), peeled and cut into three 2-inch-thick slices

Cook sweet potato slices in boiling salted water until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water, then drain again. Let cool for 5 minutes, then cut each slice into two thinner slices. Whisk together honey mustard, mayonnaise, and poppy seeds in a small bowl. To construct the sandwiches, first spread half the poppy seed mixture on 2 of the bread slices, then place half of the onion, avocado, and tomato slices on top of each slice; sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Add a layer of sweet potato slices, cheese and lettuce. Top with remaining bread. Slice each sandwich in half, securing each half with a toothpick. Serve with sliced dill pickles and a handful of baked chips.