Have you fallen off the diet wagon? Have you ever really located the wagon to begin with? Giving in to drive-in cravings? It may be time for a healthy eating edit.
Building better eating habits
We’re busy, easily distracted, overwhelmed by larger challenges in life. Eating healthy tends to get pushed down the priority list when you’ve got a crazy work schedule, a brood of kids, or a gaggle of friends insisting on happy hour.
Eating right is what your body is truly craving; proper nutrition is the best way to help the mind tackle those bigger priorities. And it doesn’t have to be about punishing or depriving yourself either. Making small choices for the long run will lead to the most success. Begin now.
Edit
Start by taking an honest look at your current habits and readiness to change them. Are you willing to make changes? Are you aware of the benefits? Ask yourself what you are getting from your bad habits. What your future holds.
Rethinking your plate
Instead of a fatty cut of meat as your entree, shift the focus to vegetables, fruits, and whole grains — with the fat and protein being the side dish. If you can’t stand the taste of broccoli, then vowing to eat it more often is pretty unrealistic. So, find more vegetables that you can work with. Think of it as enjoying what you are adding not dwelling on what you are eliminating. Veggies allow you to eat more without over doing on the calories or leading to over eating later in the evening.
Don’t forget the fat
Success to a healthy diet is to substitute healthy fats for negative fats — and to avoid trans fats. This means swapping saturated and trans fats — the hamburgers, French fries, and buttery foods — with the healthy fats such as those found in avocados, nuts, a variety of fish, healthy oils, soybeans, and nuts.
Eating — calories & vitamins
What to know – you need to aim for three meals with two snacks in between, so that you’re eating something every three hours on average. Avoiding/eliminating eating only does harm not help – doing so will maintain proper blood glucose levels. The average calorie intake should be your weight x 10 (Ex. 150lbs = 1500 calories). Next, take a daily multivitamin.
Fuel with fluid
Water intake! Your goal should be a minimum of ½ your body weight in ounces daily. Don’t make water intake a hassle. Find out how it works for you, adding in ice and fruit, with a straw, from a mug. Play around with it. Yet while you are doing it evaluate all your other drinking habits -the calorie add up in juice, the additives in soda, the junk added to your coffee.
Say farewell
Don’t set yourself up for failure. Stock up on plenty of fresh produce and remove all your current temptations. The cupboards, the fridge, even the diaper bag in the car. Most people are creatures of habit. We go to the grocery store on the same day every week and fill our carts with the same stuff. We are comforted with knowing what to expect—even if our meals aren’t that exciting, we know what we’re going to eat. Even the same routine snacks every time we fill up our gas tanks.
Remember that diet is the largest battle. If you are overwhelmed where to start, still throwing up every excuse why you can’t exercise or simply stuck in your own routine — START HERE!
For more information, visit www.teambeachbody.com/jessamynleesha, www.facebook.com/coachjessamyn or email Jessamynleesha@yahoo.com.
