Changing your eating habits can be a challenging endeavor, but with the right approach and mindset, it's entirely achievable. Many people struggle with common barriers when trying to eat better. This article provides a comprehensive guide to making sustainable diet changes that can lead to long-term health benefits.
Planning for Healthy Eating
Just like any goal you want to achieve, planning is crucial for healthy eating. Without a plan, it's easy to fall back on unhealthy habits due to convenience or lack of preparation.
- Time-Saving Tricks: Utilize time-saving strategies such as buying pre-cut produce, using a slow-cooker, or doubling recipes to ensure you have leftovers to freeze.
- Quick Meal List: Keep a list of quick, healthy meals and snacks readily available to avoid getting stumped when shopping or cooking.
Small Changes, Big Impact
Avoid the pitfall of trying to overhaul your entire diet at once. Small, gradual changes over time can have a significant impact and are much more sustainable.
- Mastering Small Steps: By mastering small changes, you'll gain confidence, and these improvements will slowly become part of your lifestyle.
- One Habit at a Time: Once you've successfully incorporated a new habit, move on to another one.
Progress, Not Perfection
Setbacks are a normal part of the process. Don't get discouraged by occasional slip-ups. Remember that you're aiming for progress, not perfection.
- View Setbacks as Bumps: Treat setbacks as minor obstacles and keep moving forward.
- Focus on the Long Term: It’s a journey, not a race.
Navigating Nutrition Information
With the abundance of fad diets and conflicting nutrition information, making healthy eating decisions can be confusing. Consulting a registered dietitian can provide clarity.
Read also: The Hoxsey Diet
- Professional Guidance: A registered dietitian can provide well-researched nutrition guidance customized for your lifestyle.
- Cutting Through Misinformation: A dietitian can help you sift through the misinformation and focus on evidence-based strategies.
All Foods Can Fit
Embarking on a healthier lifestyle doesn't mean completely giving up your favorite foods. The key is moderation and balance.
- No Need to Say Goodbye: Eating healthier doesn’t mean you have to say goodbye to all your favorites.
- Balance and Moderation: All foods can fit into a healthy eating plan when consumed in moderation.
Calorie Intake and Meal Frequency
While the number of meals can vary, total calorie intake is the most important factor for maintaining a healthy weight.
- Total Calorie Intake: "Overall, it is still the total calorie intake that determines someone’s body size," said Dr. Van Horn, who is also an American Heart Association volunteer.
- Spread Calorie Intake: Focus on spreading your calorie intake across the course of the day for better results.
- Avoid Deprivation: Depriving your body of food isn't good for you, and you typically wind up getting all those calories back - and then some - because you end up making yourself so hungry.
Setting Calorie Targets
To lose weight, you need to expend more calories than you consume.
- Calorie Deficit: Most people need to subtract about 500 calories per day from their diet to lose 1 pound per week.
- Consult Professionals: Consult a healthcare professional or registered dietitian to determine the right calorie target for you.
Food Diary
Keeping a food diary can provide valuable insights into your eating habits.
- Track Your Meals: Write down what you eat, the times of day, and portions in a food diary or tracker (PDF).
- Identify Bad Habits: This will not only help you keep track of your meals and calorie intake but also may point out some bad habits you weren’t aware of.
- Awareness: Are your portion sizes pushing you over your calorie goal? Are you skipping meals?
The Power of Movement
Regular exercise is crucial for overall health and weight management.
Read also: Walnut Keto Guide
- Regular Exercise: It’s important for your overall health to get regular exercise.
- Combine with Diet: Combine a healthier diet with an exercise plan, you'll have even more success.
- Additional Benefits: Exercise can lift your mood, lower blood pressure and help you sleep better.
Foods for Longevity
Certain foods have a significant impact on lifespan. According to a 2022 study in PLOS Medicine, an optimal diet includes more legumes, whole grains, fish, and produce, and a handful of nuts each day. It also includes less sodium, added sugar, and saturated fat.
- Optimal Diet: The study’s optimal diet is a lot like the Mediterranean diet or the DASH diet.
- Impact on Lifespan: If people changed to this optimal diet starting in young adulthood, it would add an estimated 10.7 years to women’s lives and 13 years to men’s lives. Even making these dietary changes at age 60 added about 8 years to a person’s lifespan.
- Chronic Disease Prevention: These chronic conditions include cardiovascular disease, some cancers and Type 2 diabetes.
Incorporating Legumes
Legumes are packed with fiber and antioxidants, aiding digestion.
- Nutrient-Rich: Legumes are the fruits or seeds of certain plants in the legume family. They also contain antioxidants, says Kristin Kirkpatrick.
- Digestive Health: Because legumes are packed with fiber, they can also help with digestion.
- Versatile: Legumes may be great additions to soups, stews, and casseroles.
Adding Nuts and Seeds
Nuts and seeds are nutritional powerhouses, containing protein, healthy fats, vitamins, minerals, and fiber.
- Nutrient Density: Nuts and seeds (and their butters) are packed with so many nutrients.
- Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Some nuts, such as walnuts, are also high in omega-3 fatty acid - a healthy fat that protects the heart by lowering inflammation.
- Healthy Swaps: Try replacing a not-so-healthy snack (we’re looking at you, candy bars) with a nut you like, says Kirkpatrick. It will help you feel fuller and more satisfied.
Choosing Whole Grains
Whole grains are more nutritious than refined grains because they contain more vitamins and fiber.
- Nutritional Superiority: Grains that are whole are more nutritious than refined ones because they contain more vitamins and fiber.
- Fullness: As with nuts, eating whole grains may help you stay fuller longer.
- Smart Swaps: Other healthy swaps include choosing brown rice instead of white, bran flakes instead of sweetened corn flakes, and whole grain pasta over regular pasta.
Reducing Unhealthy Foods
The PLOS Medicine study found 3 food groups that you should consume less of to live longer.
Read also: Weight Loss with Low-FODMAP
- Elimination is Not Necessary: To be clear: This isn’t an elimination diet.
- Healthier Swaps: Instead of sugar-laden sodas, you can try seltzers or no-sugar-added teas.
- Reduce Red and Processed Meats: These changes may help you eat less saturated fat - a type that has been found to raise cholesterol and heart disease risk. And it will help reduce your risk of cancer.
The Power of Small Changes: A Real-Life Example
One of my patients took her first step to healthier living simply by removing potato chips from her diet. A month later, she was 5 pounds lighter. That loss motivated her to eat better, and she gradually eliminated unhealthy food from her diet. After a year, she had lost 50 pounds.
- Gradual Changes: Lasting success will come when you resolve to make gradual changes.
- Motivation: Small changes matter.
MyPlate: An Easy Guide for Portion Control
I recommend using the Plate Method for Healthy Portions as an easy way to start and maintain a healthy diet. Here’s how it works:
- Regular-Size Plate: Make sure you’re using a regular-size plate.
- Fruits and Vegetables: Half of your plate will have two sections: a smaller section filled with fruit and a larger section filled with vegetables.
- Grains (Carbohydrates): A third section - about a quarter of the plate - should contain grains (carbohydrates), such as pasta, breads, or rice.
- Protein: The final section of the plate should contain protein, including beans, fish, chicken, or beef.
- Dairy: You can pair your healthy plate with two to three servings of dairy a day.
Incorporating Exercise Into Your Day
Incorporating exercise into your daily life is also key to achieving and maintaining good health.
- Moderate Exercise: The goal is to fit 30 minutes of moderate exercise like walking into your schedule five times a week.
- Start Small: To begin, walk just 10 minutes a day.
- Weight-Bearing Exercise: You then need to alternate your walks with 30 minutes of weight-bearing exercise twice a week, for a total of one hour each week.
Long-Term Lifestyle Changes
The best way to lose weight and keep it off is to make lasting lifestyle changes.
- Time and Effort: Long-term weight loss takes time and effort.
- Be Ready: So be sure that you're ready to eat healthy foods and become more active.
Personal Motivation
No one else can make you lose weight. You need to make diet and physical activity changes to help yourself.
- Make a List: Make a list of reasons why weight loss is important to you.
- Stay Inspired: The list can help you stay inspired and focused.
Realistic Goals
Aim to lose 1 to 2 pounds (0.5 to 1 kilogram) a week over the long term.
- Start Small: Losing 5% of your current weight may be a good goal to start with.
- Action and Outcome Goals: It can help to set two types of goals. The first type is called an action goal. The second type is called an outcome goal.
Mindful Eating
It's a good idea to be mindful while you eat. Focus on each bite of food.
- Enjoy the Taste: This helps you enjoy the taste.
- Awareness of Fullness: It also makes you more aware of when you feel full.
- Minimize Distractions: Try to not to watch TV or stare at your phone during meals.
Dealing With Setbacks
You'll likely have some setbacks on your weight-loss journey. But don't give up after a setback.
- Start Fresh: Simply start fresh the next day.
- Long-Term Perspective: Remember that you're planning to change your life. It won't happen all at once.
Gradual Mastery
Once you've mastered one lifestyle change to lose weight, then try another, and another.
- Don't Rush: Just don't rush yourself, whether it's a new diet or a new exercise program.
- Combine Diet and Exercise: If you combine a healthier diet with an exercise plan, you'll have even more success.
Rethinking Your Drink
Eliminating soda and replacing it with water has been shown to help people shed 2.5% of their body weight in just six months.
- Healthy Alternatives: Other options include coffee without sugar, unsweetened iced tea, or sparkling water.
- Add Flavor: For a pop of flavor in your water, add cucumber slices, whole fresh berries, or a wedge of grapefruit, orange, lemon, or lime.
Avoiding Ultra-High-Calorie Foods
Some foods supply so many calories that they make weight loss nearly impossible.
- Awareness: For instance, when dining out, you may want to avoid foods such as onion rings, taco salad, lo mein, and mozzarella sticks.