5 Foolproof Ways to Clean up your Diet
A new year is the perfect time to rethink old eating habits, make healthy food swaps and get a fresh start.
We show you how with simple tips and ideas.
Don’t Settle for Snack Food
Why settle for snack food when it’s snack time?
That’s where a lot of people get themselves in trouble.
They’ll eat healthy when it’s mealtime, but snacks somehow become a free-for-all.
Even hearing the word snack may sometimes be the reason you’re reaching for things that are less nutritious in the first place.
Maybe it’s because we’ve been led to believe that anything we eat in between meals needs to be some sort of grab-and-go option or something with less flair like an apple with a little peanut butter on it, when that’s not the case at all.
You don’t have to back yourself into a snack corner; instead, you can continue to eat the same types of meals you’re having for breakfast, lunch or dinner – only make them smaller.
If you find yourself reaching for the wrong foods in between meals, try making a little extra of the good foods you’re having during mealtime so you have a few convenient smaller-sized portions around to eat instead.
Water First – Cravings Second
One study examined the nutritional habits of more than eighteen thousand adults, and they found that the majority of subjects who increased their consumption of water by just 1 percent – 1 percent! – reduced their total daily calorie intake along with their daily intake of sugar, sodium, saturated fat and cholesterol.
In addition, those who drank an extra one to three cups of water daily ate between 68 to 205 fewer calories a day. Impressive stats!
The Three T’s
It’s that uncontrollable evening eating that most people have a hard time with.
That’s when it’s so easy to take an entirely good day and throw it all away -when twelve hours of willpower gets destroyed by three hours of weakness.
How do you keep yourself in check for those last three hours of the night when most people tend to fail? Try these three tactics to make it through unscathed:
- Teeth: Instead of brushing your teeth at bedtime, brush them once you’re done eating for the night. Using this trick can keep you from wanting to eat again because, if you do, it makes you feel grumpy knowing you’ll have to brush them all over again!
- Tea: A lot of times the reason we snack at night is that we’re winding down from the rest of our day and just looking for something to do. So all your late-night eating may be just the act of needing to do something. The whole ritual of making and drinking tea (something caffeine-free) is a great way to satiate that need without eating anything your body shouldn’t be having unnecessarily as a result.
- Talk: Try saying out loud that “the kitchen is closed!” Yep, make an official proclamation that the room containing all your food is now off-limits. When you make yourself accountable – even if it’s just to yourself – it can leave you feeling like you’re going back on your word, which is less likely that you’ll do it.
Prep!
If you were once a meal prepper and stopped for whatever reason, time to start up again!
Map out your breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, and spend one or two evenings a week cooking and packaging your food.
This will keep you true to your healthy eating. If you know certain days you’ll go out to dinner, then make a protein-rich lunch for that day, which will also be loaded with veggies.
Portion-controlled containers can help you manage whatever amount of food you wish to eat for any of your meals.
Clean Out Your Kitchen
Out of sight, out of mind.
Get rid of any junk food that you catch yourself munching out. Instead, put fresh produce in easy-to-reach places so you can grab that when you’re in a snacking mood.