Post written by Sherri Kruger. Follow me on Twitter.
Diets don’t work. At least that’s been my experience. I’ve never been the type of person to be overly concerned about my weight or physical appearance. What I am concerned about is having a healthy body through the foods I consume.
It’s difficult to eat well and be healthier overall if you are disorganized, misinformed or simply don’t know what you don’t know. Here are 7 things you can do to get you well on your way towards establishing healthy eating habits that are sustainable for the long run.
1. Educate yourself. This doesn’t mean you need to know the composition or origin of every fruit, vegetable or grain that you consume. Here are a few things to consider educating yourself on:
- Learn what foods are actually good for you and in what quantities.
- Learn about food substitutions if you have known allergies.
- Learn how to cook different dishes especially if you are stuck in the meat and potatoes or pasta rut for dinner every night.
- Learn how to prepare food to get the maximum nutritional benefits from it.
- Learn about healthy snack alternatives
2. Start small. You are less likely to see big life altering changes through to the end. This is why it is important to start small when establishing any new habit. When it comes to eating healthier, start with changing one meal, one day or one week. Try this change for a few weeks and see how it works for you and your family. You shouldn’t be afraid to admit when something doesn’t work. It’s unrealistic to expect a perfect change the first time around. You should be willing to look at what doesn’t work and try something else. Think of one of the obvious eating habits you currently have that you want to change. Do you drink too many soft drinks? Do you eat too much junk food or processed food? Do you rarely eat fruit or vegetables? Whatever it is choose one or two things and begin making a change. Add 2 vegetables to your dinner plate tonight. Drink water, herbal tea or green tea at lunch today instead of a soft drink.
3. Make a plan. Going in cold and flying by the seat of your pants is no way to establish a good eating habit. If your goal is to completely overhaul the foods you consume then it will be infinitely easier if you start with a plan. Creating a meal plan doesn’t have to be difficult. It can be done using something as simple as a recipe card, notebook or a spreadsheet on a computer. Start by making a list of all the meals your family enjoys. Include healthy mains, sides, desserts and snacks that you became aware of during the education part of this process. Next you can pick and choose what meals to have on which days as well as healthy snacks to ensure no binge eating.
4. Remove the friction. This is a big one for me. Friction here, is all those little things that make it just a little more difficult to eat healthy. To remove as much friction as possible consider:
- Pre-wash fruits and vegetables and leaving them on the counter for easy access.
- Package snacks into individual serving sizes to grab as you’re running out the door.
- Cut vegetables into manageable pieces.
- Keep water in the fridge.
- Do as much of the food preparation the night before so you can quickly whip up a tasty healthy meal for dinner when you really don’t feel like it.
Once you have removed a few of the mental hurdles it’s easier to stay on track. After a while these things will become second nature and you won’t have to think about it.
5. Be flexible. You should avoid making a plan too rigid so as not to allow for deviations throughout the week or month. Decide what flexibility means to your family. Is it pre-cooking a variety of ingredients at the start of the week and using them in diffierent combinations throughout the week? Or is it planning a different meal every night and skipping one if you’re invited out or substituting if you decide to have people over? Whatever it is you shouldn’t get too hung up on the details. Allowing flexibility in your meal planning will reduce stress and make it a lot easier to stick with in the long run.
6. Have a cheat day. This is one thing that can really help sticking to healthy eating over the long run. Choose one day a week when you can eat whatever you like, within reason of course. If you’re really wanting pizza, ice cream or donuts have them on this day. In the beginning, transitioning to a healthier eating habits can be trying. However, it’s easier to eat healthy during the week when you have that one day, your cheat day, to eat your guilty pleasures. If you choose a day try to stick with it. After a month or so you’ll likely notice the “need” for your cheat day will diminish and you’ll find eating healthy your new way of life everyday.
7. Many things in moderation. One of the reasons diets don’t often work, is you feel you need to eliminate “everything”. Everything that tastes good, everything that’s fun and all that you really enjoy eating. The problem is that as soon as you eliminate these foods from your diet you crave it even more. Saying I will never eat chocolate or no more ice cream really doesn’t work. When you do eventually have some, which is entirely expected, you aren’t likely to eat a small portion are you? No, you’re likely to binge and eat a whole chocolate bar or an entire tub of ice cream. Everything in moderation.
Establishing healthy eating habits can increase your energy levels, get you feeling better about how you look and feel and just make you healthier overall. Start small and implement changes gradually. The key is to start. Now.
Sherri,
Congrats on the blog! I love it.
These are all great tips! I find asking the question, “Is this something I can see myself doing in 2 years from now?” helps a lot. Because if you don’t, then it’s not going to be permanent and therefore it won’t become a lifestyle.
Diets don’t work! Because they lead to short term thinking.
Awesome post!
Hi Adam,
Thank you for the kind words I’m really glad you’re enjoying it so far.
“Is this something I can see myself doing in 2 years from now?” I love this question because healthy eating should be more of a lifestyle choice not a quick fix. If it’s not sustainable for the long haul it won’t work.
“Choose one day a week when you can eat whatever you like, within reason of course. If you’re really wanting pizza, ice cream or donuts have them on this day.”
Don’t forget that you can also try to make your cheat foods healthier. Hubby and I adore pizza so we usually have pizza once a week for dinner. However, instead of ordering it or going out to a pizza joint, we make the dough, and occasionally the sauce, from scratch with some healthier substitutions (evoo instead of butter, for example). We also make smallish pizzas, and serve a veggie with it, usually roasted broccoli. Sure, it isn’t exactly health food, but it is a lot better for us than the greaseboats from Hungry Howies. It is also something we can realistically keep up.
You could do the same with ice cream, have banana ice cream! One ingredient, easy to make, very tasty and just like ‘real’ ice cream. Or mmmm, melon bread instead of chocolate cookies by the dozen. Where there is a will, there is a way. :)
Could I suggest that it’s wrong to say “diets don’t work”. Because they do. You just have to choose the right one. Some people are forced into specific diets by health requirements (eg. diabetics). Their diets obviously ‘work’ for them. I personally know people who have set themselves particular diets – it might be something as simple as serving yourself smaller portions at mealtime, or only eating dessert once a week – and have watched the kilos drop off, and those are diets that are easily maintained.
If you go to some ridiculous extreme like “I’m not going to eat red meat anymore” (when you actually love it – it’s a bit different for vegetarians who are morally opposed to it) or “I’m not going to eat anything with added sugar”, you are doomed for failure.
Hi Leah,
You’re right and perhaps I should have said fad diets or extreme diets don’t work. Diets for medical reasons are completely different I agree.
I think when most people hear the word diet they think of the fad diets or the extreme diets that you refer to at the end of your message and those are what I think don’t work.
Thank you for this and for allowing me to clarify!
One of my goals has been to simplify the mealtime routine and encourage my family to eat more wholesome foods, so on Sunday afternoon, I spend and hour or so chopping fruit (right now, it’s strawberries, cantaloupe, and watermelon) and store it in large containers right at eye level in the fridge. When dinner needs to be on the table quick, all I have to do is make a main dish (e.g., fish, chicken, rice, potatoes, beans), steam some veggies/toss a salad, and spoon the fruit onto a plate. In twenty minutes or less, we’re all set with a healthy, appetizing dinner.