Want to Eat Healthier? Enjoy the SilverSneakers store! Want to Eat Healthier? These four simple tweaks can make a big difference. If you have access to the internet, a TV, or even a local newspaper, you know there’s a tremendous amount of healthy eating advice swirling around. Separating the good from the bad from the downright dangerous can be overwhelming. But here’s the thing: Eating for better health and vitality doesn’t need to be nearly as complicated as headlines may lead you to believe. "As we grow older, change is more difficult, as many of our patterns are set," says Nancy Farrell Allen, M.S., R.D.N., a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. If you want to improve your diet, making just a few changes that are easy to implement and sustain is a much better approach, Farrell Allen says. The four steps below are a great place to start. They’re not only highly recommended by nutrition experts - they’re also backed by scientific research as effective ways to make lasting, positive changes to your health. Whatever your goal - to lose a few pounds, maintain a healthy weight, or make sure you’re eating enough of the right foods - having a solid grasp of proper serving sizes can help you get there. "Monitoring serving sizes brings about an awareness that makes us more mindful about our eating behaviors," Farrell Allen says. Plus, with all the supersized quantities of foods and drinks being served these days (at home and in restaurants), many Americans have a skewed perception of what a proper serving really looks like. That’s why relearning the recommended serving sizes for various food groups can be so valuable. It’s important to note that serving size and portion size are not the same thing. Serving size is the recommended amount of a particular food, while portion size refers to the amount you actually eat in a sitting.