We all want to do what is best for our bodies. We start off strong, eating a good, healthy breakfast and maybe following it up with an apple or yogurt, but it falls apart quickly.
Improving your eating habits is a conscious change that needs to be made. There are a lot of conflicting ideas out there, and it might make it overwhelming when you try finding a starting point.
Here are some tips and ideas on how you can begin to improve your eating habits for better health:
Track your food
This might seem like an extra, unnecessary step, but before you make any changes track your food for a week. You are aware that you’re not doing what is best for your body, but how bad is it really?
Get a small notebook or diary, and write down every single thing you consume and in what capacity. Everything from your morning pancakes to that fry you took off your best friend’s plate needs to be written down.
Once you have an idea of what you’re doing wrong, or what bad habits you have, it can be much easier to move forward with healthier choices.
Fast
Following your ‘binge’ week, which you used for tracking, kick start your metabolism with a week or two of intermittent fasting. This does not mean you stop eating for days upon days, but rather that you eat within certain times and only eat certain amounts.
Lifeapps.io lays out the stages of fasting and all the benefits they bring. You can also find plans for intermittent fasting, as well as tips and guides for sticking to it. Contrary to popular belief, intermittent fasting does not cause your body to go into survival mode.
Rather, it is a way to get everything running smoothly again. So long as you make healthier choices at food time, and eat deliberately and with purpose, you are giving your body the best start on your way to a new you. The best part is, intermittent fasting has no negative effects and you can fast as frequently as you choose.
Make healthier choices
This is a more obvious one; however, it is simpler than you think. Rather than trying to plan your meals for the next week, try making the healthier choice at the next meal. Switching out breakfast pancakes for wholegrain cereal, or the 4 pm muffin for an apple can go a long way in helping you improve your habits.
Being physically and mentally present at mealtimes is important. Ignore your phone or the television. Focus on what is on your plate and spending time with your loved ones. By focusing, you are able to make healthier choices because you are conscious of your decisions, and you are likely to eat less, since you are focused on your food.
Eat with purpose
Moving hand-in-hand with being present when eating is eating with purpose. Often you are snacking because you are bored or just want something to do with your hands. Pay attention to your body, and eat to nourish it.
While this seems silly, it is a good way to assess your reason for eating or go for a proper eating attitude test: if you are hungry, ask yourself if that hunger will be satisfied by an apple. If your answer is that you’d prefer a bag of chips, then you are most likely not actually hungry. If you could do with an apple, you’re probably actually hungry and should go eat that apple.
Similarly, if you are hungry, you should first drink a glass of water and then wait twenty minutes. If you are still hungry after the water, you are most likely genuinely hungry. If not, then you were probably only dehydrated.
Health Expert