adpapa Editor
26 August 2020
I know that changing the way that you eat can be very hard to some people. Have you made an attempt to change your eating habits for good, only to go back to the unhealthy food you were eating? You are not alone, I will give you steps to eating better that you can use that will have you eating healthy now and into the future.
These are the same steps to eating better that I learned when I started to develop good eating habits. They helped me loose a ton of weight and that I still use today. Keep in mind that some of these tips may work better for you than others. Choose the ones that will work for you.
Start exercising
Now before you ask, “what does exercise have to do with changing my eating habits?” Think about this for a minute, when you begin to exercise you will most likely make a conscious effort to really watch the food that you are eating. Would you want to put cheap gas in your Ferrari?
I know that you wouldn’t want to continue eating junk food while you are exercising and loosing the weight. Exercising is a great place to start when you are trying to change your eating habits.
Drink plenty of water
One of my favourite steps to eating better, is drinking water. Drinking a lot of water will not only flush out your system, however it can change your eating habits fast. I want you to try this if you are the type of person that have problems with overeating.
Drink one full glass of cold water before you eat your meal, by doing this you will feel full and you will eat 20 to 35 percent less than what you would normally eat. This is something that I still do today after 8 years. Most people think that they have to make drastic changes to their diets to see results, this is far from the truth. The great thing about water is that it’s cheap and it will help you loose weight.
Lose the fast food
I know that there are some fast food restaurants that have plenty of healthy choices, however you know how things are because most people pick the most unhealthy places to eat when the are out. If you are on your way to work, make your own lunch before you leave.
It only takes about 5 minutes or so. Not only can you monitor what you eat, you will also be able to save a lot more money by ditching the fast food places. Not saying that you have to give up the fast food restaurants completely, just choose ones that offer more healthier choices.
Clean out your kitchen
Is your kitchen just loaded with mostly unhealthy food choices? One thing that I had to learn about in the beginning is that I didn’t really have a choice however to get rid of all the bad foods like pizza, ice cream, and cookies. If you don’t do this early, you will find it hard to stick with a healthier eating plan.
Fill you kitchen up with healthy foods!
Lean Meats
Fruits
Vegetables
100 whole wheat breads
Oatmeal
Tuna fish
Granola bars
You will notice after about a good 2 to 3 weeks that you will not even miss all those unhealthy foods that you kept around for so long. Not to say you can’t have some of your favourite treats, however you will notice that they are just not a top priority like they were before.
Buy some clothes that are too small
Now you are probably thinking, why in the hell do I need to buy some clothes that are too small when talking about steps to eating better? This will force you to change your eating habits so you will be able to get into them. This tip really worked good for me because I was always trying to find that edge.
My waist was a size 42, so I bought pants that were a size 36. I trashed the receipt so I wouldn’t be able to take them back. I was either going to change my eating habits fast or look like a fool for buying clothes that I couldn’t wear. You should try this because it’s a very good motivator.
Watch your calories
I had no clue in the beginning about watching the calories that I ate, however as you get into changing your eating habits you will see how important it can be to loosing weight. Now I’m not one of these people that watches every piece of food that you put into your mouth.
When you get used to the changes that you have made, it will be like second nature to know exactly how many calories you are putting in your body. So it will take some time to figure out your calorie intake, however when you get this mastered you will be ahead of the game.
Learn portion control
This was something that was very hard for me at first, because I had no sense of portion control at all. My idea of portion control was to eat until I was almost ready to pop! A great way to learn portion control is to put your food into small containers. This way there is no chance to overeat.
If you want to embrace steps to eating better, you should be eating 5 to 6 small meals a day. This will help your metabolism speed up and help you burn fat and lose weight. As you can see again, the little baby steps that you will take will go along way in helping you change your eating habits.
Join a weight loss group
If you are the type of person that is not going to go through the trouble of measuring your food to put into containers, there are many of companies that are out there that will do it for you. You can get your food prepackage and delivered conveniently to your front door.
Most companies will give you a choice of the kinds of foods that you like. The good thing about steps to eating better this is that it gets you conditioned to eat smaller portions, so you can go back to preparing your own meals.
Pick up a hobby
You may say what does picking up a hobby have to do with steps to eating better? If you have a hobby that you love to do, you won’t have your mind on food as much. This was a major downfall for me because I didn’t have a hobby unless you call looking at many hours of mindless TV shows and eating junk food a hobby.
Hiking
Playing pool
Swimming
Fishing
Running
Mountain Climbing
These are just a few popular hobbies.What are your favourite hobbies? Don’t have one? Well, you need to get some! It’s good to have hobbies to keep you busy.
Train for your local marathon
Training for your local marathon is a great way to change your eating habits because it forces you to stay focused not only on your eating habits however your physical fitness. Have you ever heard of a person training for a marathon not being in control of their diet?
I sure haven’t, this would be such an accomplishment that you can be proud of. So if you really want to go for the gusto, find out when your city is having its next marathon. If this doesn’t change your eating habits nothing will.
Never skip breakfast
When we look at steps to eating better, you should never skip breakfast! This is in my opinion the most important meal of the day. Have you ever noticed that most people that don’t eat breakfast are usually overweight? This was a bad habit that I had when I was heavy.
You see, when you skip breakfast it causes you to eat more later on when you go to eat lunch. This is a very bad eating cycle that will do nothing however cause you to gain weight.
Breakfast is the key if you would like to change your eating habits for the long run.
Gastric bypass surgery
11. I know that their are some of you, that no matter what I say you may not be able to loose the weight on your own. If you are severely overweight or obese, gastric bypass may be your only option that you have to start eating healthier and drop all the weight that you have gained over the years.
Make sure that you see your family doctor so he can go over all of the pros and cons for proceeding with the surgery. This should be your very last resort if you have tried almost everything and have failed at it!
Appetite suppressant
These fall into the category of the last resort with these steps to eating better. You should do your research to know exactly what you are taking. They will keep you from overeating by suppressing your hunger.
I would suggest that you check with a physician before you start taking any kind of appetite suppressant pills. They should only be taken for a short period of time, until you have changed your eating habits for the better.
Photo by Jill Wellington from Pexels
