Okay so I wasn't going to say anything but here goes.. I'll explain.

To begin with..

Download a food app like cronometer.

Now "health"means making sure you're actually getting the right nutritional value out of your food. Simply adding more vegetables or fruits or protein isn't necessarily going to be what your body needs to be and feel healthy.

But you won't know what you actually need and are missing until you log it. It completely revolutionized my diet when I thought I was already being healthy. Turns out I wasn't getting enough of the right macros.

In terms of goals, especially as we age over 40, it's important to be getting a decent amount of protein. The base amount is way more than most of us realize. I'm 155 lb and I try to hit 120 g of protein a day. If meat is too expensive, meat alternatives also work. You can make these out of seitan or high density tofu. Good quality mince meat will also work, those tend to be quite cheap.

Depending on what your baseline is, you might need more carbs or fats as well.

The key to all of this as others are saying is to eat whole foods. Absolutely no food that comes out of a package. Frozen fresh vegetables will also work in a pinch. Sometimes they are cheaper.

Have a side of vegetables with every meal including breakfast. Try to get one or two fruits in a day, they will help with your sugar cravings.

You might feel like shit for the first couple of weeks when you make the switch over but it's your body cleansing itself out. Expect to feel more tired and have headaches and cranky. But you'll feel great after that.

Having a meal plan will help you, meaning make a list of different meal recipes and what you might need in terms of those ingredients so that you can show up for those specifically and not be distracted by other things at the supermarket. You can then make 7 days worth of meals on a weekend day. And freeze them. You will have your own "fast food" that does not require meal prep everyday.

Try to aim for 40 g of carbs, 30 g of protein and 20 g of fat for each meal on average.