Adapting healthy eating habits is worth it, however sticking with it throughout the year instead of disappearing mid-february like half the people is the difficult part unless we set strategy plans .
If you're going into January with the mindset that a habit change is what you need, not just a crash diet that'll help you drop pounds fast, you're already on track. To help you reach your goal faster, here are some simple tweaks you can make ti how you eat.
Before getting started with changes in you diet, it's important to prepare yourself mentally. Take time to think through the changes you are going to make in your diet.
Remember this: adopting healthy eating habits is like a marathon and not a sprint!
Before you implement your new year’s resolutions, you need to plan and prepare yourself mentally for the changes you are making! If you’re not ready, the healthy eating habits will not be sustainable.
1. Don’t Go Overboard
You’re more likely to stick to your new year’s resolution if you start with small and short steps at a time, even if you are desperate to lose weight. Avoid going overboard with your new diet and eating habits all at once.
Commit to not more than two new changes per week and build on them rather than going overboard with a sudden drastic change. Start with skipping your after-dinner treats. Small changes bigger result.
2. Learn Healthy Cooking / Meal prep
Meal prepping and planning might sound daunting, but it doesn't have to be. It can be easy as thinking a head and sketching out what you want to eat for the next several days before making a grocery list. It can be structured spending a weekend afternoon prepping and portioning single serving meals you going to have for upcoming week's. It's a shift in prioritisation of you're going to do this work on the front end to be kind to your future self. It will save you time, money, you will eat healthier, you will reduce food waste and it so much fun to know you are in control of what you are eating! In the process all of this you will educate yourself the nutritional benefits of eating certain variety of food and what to eliminate.
3. Do not skip meals specially breakfast
When you are too busy and have to rush through your morning hours, the most common thing is to sacrifice your breakfast. However, skipping your breakfast, or for that matter, any meal, is the most common mistake executives do.
These eating habits are surely going to backfire. When you skip a meal, you set yourself up for a poor eating pattern for the day ahead.
According to a study skipping breakfasts can cause a net energy deficit of approximately 400 kcal a day. This calorie deficit can make you feel lethargic and affect your focus, concentration, and productivity.
Also, these eating habits can cause your blood sugar levels to drop and this will result in you feeling hungrier later on. Hence, this time, make a new year’s resolution to not skip your meals.
4. Drink more water
You need to stay hydrated all day every day, not just when it’s hot outside or you’re sweating it out at the gym. Focus on making sure you’re drinking enough water by employing tricks like keeping a water bottle at your desk or using an app to track how much you're drinking. If you drink lots of sugary drinks, try swapping them for unsweetened seltzer water or fruit-infused water.
5. Eat veggies first
Try to eat veggies or salads when you sit down for lunch or dinner and then you eat the rest of your food. Taking the time to chew lettuce and veggies “pulls you into the moment so you’re not mindlessly eating. Plus, it’s always a good idea to fill up on the most nutritious foods first.
6. Don't beat yourself up over food
Eating should be a positive experience. You're fueling your body and hopefully enjoying the taste while doing so. Want to eat that cookie? Eat Love that cookie! Savor it and be glad you did. Focusing too much on eating "right" can become a slippery slope, from paying attention to obsession. Healthy eating like so much of life is all about balance.
7. Read ingredient labels
The only way you’ll finally cut back on added sugar or eat less sodium whatever your specific healthy-eating goal is if you know what’s in the food you’re consuming. Packaged foods we buy at the grocery store can have a lot of unnecessary ingredients. Try to buy foods with a shorter list so that you’re eating the nutrients that are naturally in foods it is a good way to stay within healthy limits of your daily macros like fat, carbs, and sugar.
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