How to Improve your
Eating Habits
How many of us regularly eat according to the American Heart Association's guidelines
for a healthy diet? Sure, the guidelines seem simple enough, but sometimes they
clash with our busy lifestyles. When they do, we often find ourselves eating
food that isn't good for us. It's important, therefore, to find a way to incorporate
these guidelines into our daily routines. In this article, we will offer suggestions
for putting together a plan that will work.
Set Goals
Perhaps you know that your
present eating habits are not good for you, and you want to make a change. Therefore,
you set a goal of gradually changing your eating habits over the next 6 months.
At that time, you expect to have completely altered your lifestyle to one that
is much healthier.
Certainly, this is a worthy
goal, but how will you achieve it? What will keep you focused on your objective?
One way is to set short-term
goals. These are usually easier to accomplish than long-term goals and are relatively
simple. Accomplishing them will give you the incentive to make additional improvements.
Here are some examples:
Week 1 - Switch from regular
soda to water preferably and the occasional diet soda.
Week 2 - Replace the sugar in your coffee to a no-calorie sugar substitute.
Week 3 - Replace the bag of chips that you have in the afternoon with a cup
of pretzels.
Week 4 - Replace red meat in one meal per week with fish.
As a note, these 4 simple
changes have removed at least 200 calories per day from your diet. In addition,
your cholesterol intake has been reduced.
You can see how these short-term
goals would work for someone who needed to lose 30 - 40 pounds. After all, losing
this amount of weight (in a healthy manner) may take more than 20 weeks. Accomplishing
the short-term goals would keep this individual motivated and focused on the
long-term weight loss goal.
Keep a Food Diary
To track what you've been
eating, keep a log of the foods that you eat and at what time of the day you
eat them. This will allow you to see that your diet is changing for the better
and expose times of the day when you are more susceptible to eating things that
are unhealthy. It's both a motivational tool and a compass to keep you heading
in the right direction.
Be Prepared
When you are short on time
or energy, it's usually easier to grab some fast food than to prepare something
healthful at home. In order to stay on track, consider the following:
- Try to plan up to 30
- 40 easy breakfasts, lunches and dinners in advance, particularly in the
first month. Having several easy meals already thought out can come in handy
when you don't feel like putting a full meal together. This can include new
recipes that you find in magazines or even some of the healthier frozen meals.
- Keep your kitchen stocked
with the ingredients that you'll need for healthy meals. If you're tired,
missing one important component may make going to the drive-through an easier
choice than going to the supermarket and then preparing the food upon your
return.
- Keep healthful snacks
such as ready-to-eat raw vegetables and fresh (or frozen) fruit in your house
at all times.
- Consider buying the right
tools for your kitchen. Do you have a metal steamer that can be inserted into
a saucepan for steamed vegetables? Are you able to grill your food? Having
the right tools on hand allows for the speedy and nutritious preparation of
food.
Make Changes to
What and How Much You Eat
As you begin to make changes
in your diet, it's best if you gradually transition to the proper foods and
keep an eye on your portions. For example:
- Begin making small substitutions
such as adding an extra dish of vegetables to a family meal and eliminating
a serving of bread and butter.
- Switch to healthier cooking
oils like olive and Canola.
- Find simple ways to make
substitutions in recipes that you like, such as using ground turkey instead
of ground beef or applesauce instead of oil. These significantly reduce the
amount of fat you are eating.
- Measure your servings
appropriately. The fact is most of us underestimate what constitutes a "normal"
serving. A recommended serving of meat is 3 oz., which is about the size of
a deck of cards. This indicates that a lot of us have been having double,
even triple, servings of meat at one sitting. By understanding what a "normal"
serving looks like, it's easier to follow the guidelines while eating out
or at home.
Know What to Do
When Temptation Knocks
There are times when you
will be more likely to go back to poor eating habits. The timing and circumstances
which "trigger" these impulses are different for everyone. Here are
a few situations and possible solutions:
- Your job requires that
you travel frequently. Because you miss your family, or are in unfamiliar
surroundings, you generally eat whatever you want to make yourself feel better.
Or perhaps you have to have many client dinners.
Solution: Go
to a local mall and have a salad with pasta or chicken. Once you're done,
walk around the mall for some mild exercise. Or with the client dinners,
choose a healthy meal, such as fish and a salad and avoid the bread and
desserts.
- Around 8 p.m., you're
at home and getting bored. You hear a bag of potato chips calling your name.
Solution: First,
don't keep foods that tempt you (and are bad for you) in the house. Instead,
have a piece of fruit or a bag of low-fat microwave popcorn. If your goal
is to eat nothing at all, go for a nice walk. This will cure your boredom
and provide you with moderate exercise.
- It's the holidays and
everyone wants you to have some of their delicious recipes.
Solution: Go
ahead. Just remember to keep your servings moderate. This way, you get to
enjoy the food and no one's feelings get hurt. Be sure, however, to get
back to your proper eating habits the next day (or as soon as possible).
It's important to keep in
mind that there may be times when you won't eat properly. However, try to keep
everything in perspective. One piece of cheesecake won't cause you to be overweight;
one piece every night will. Approaching these issues with a certain amount of
flexibility and common sense will make sticking with your new eating habits
easier.
Keep it Fun
Since changing your eating
habits represents a permanent change in your lifestyle, you should make it fun.
This process isn't about making you miserable. It's about keeping your healthy
so you can enjoy a rich, full life. With that in mind, consider the following:
- Have a least one food
that you truly enjoy each day. For example, if you love chocolate, allow yourself
1 or 2 bite-size pieces of really good chocolate each day. Set aside time
to actually enjoy this treat as opposed to eating it on the run. This is a
reasonable compromise to the mass consumption of chocolate.
- Try at least one new
food item or dish per week. For example, if you've never eaten papaya and
they're in season, try one.
- Experiment with new spices
to flavor your food. Some you may like, others you may not, but it's worth
a try.
Get Moral Support
It's always easier to change
your lifestyle if you've got the support of those closest to you. Make sure
those individuals know what your goals are and ask for their encouragement.
Better yet, see if they want to join you. When you have your own "cheering
section", you don't have to celebrate the accomplishment of short-term
goals alone. They'll be among the first to let you know that the changes you're
making are working.
Summary
Remember, small changes
over time can make a big difference. Try adding one or two of these suggestions
to your routine each week. Pretty soon you will be eating healthy and not even
missing that burger and large fries!
This is for
general informational purposes only and it is not intended to provide anyone
with specific advice or recommendation. This is not a substitute for advice
from an appropriate professional. If you feel you need further help, we strongly
suggest you seek assistance from an appropriate professional.
© 2004
AlignMark, Inc. All rights reserved.
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