Eating Healthy. Trick Yourself.
- 28
- Sep
Tricks You Can Use to Control Your Eating Habits
Your diet is as important to your overall as fitness as your exercise is. And for losing weight weight it is essential to watch your diet, not overeat, or indulge in junk food. Sometimes you need a little something extra besides your own will power to help you maintain that healthy diet and not grab that double cheeseburger, or the garbage in the snack machine. So whether you are on a particular diet plan, or just watching your diet, there are a multitude of ways to curb your eating habits
There a number of tricks you can follow regardless of what eating regime you are following.
Chew Gum– Gum can keep you track with your healthy or sensible eating habits or on that new diet you start. Keep some great tasting gum with you so when you either get hungry or bored you can chomp on that instead of an unhealthy calorie laden alternative. Stay away from bubblegum and sugar loaded gums. Chewing gum can keep you away from boredom and mindless eating which can sabotage any diet.
Drink 8oz. of water a half hour before every meal– This is a very simple trick, especially if you tend to have a hard time feeling full after meals. By drinking water before each meal you give your stomach the chance to register fulfillment without stuffing it with calories. Plus, odds are any hunger pains you might experience before meals is just your body’s way of telling you it’s thirsty.
Eat six times a day– Eat about every two hours … 8am, 10am, Noon, 2pm, 4pm and 6pm. Eat most of your proteins, fats and carbs (ie-egg white omelet, tuna and cottage cheese, soups, etc.) during your 8am, Noon and 6pm meals and then snack on veggies, fruits and healthy fats (ie-apples, berries, celery, nuts, etc.) during your 10am, 2pm and 4pm meals. These don’t need to be large meals but just enough to feel content and keep a constant level of energy.
Eat a large breakfast– As mentioned above, eat a large breakfast. Some have become accustomed to skipping or skimping on breakfast and lunch. This usually leads to mindless snacking and large dinner meals. The large meal should be breakfast or lunch. It better on the metabolism, and helps curb mindless eating.
And this doesn’t mean go ‘anything you want’ for breakfast. You should try to keep it healthy and have something with a substantial amount of protein, good fats and some good healthy carbs.
Keep a water bottle on your person at all times– Keep a bottle of water with you all the time. Keep at work and one at home. Not only does water help curb your appetite, but it really does help you flush things through your body and help lose weight.
Sleep eight hours per night– Getting a good nights rest is probably one of the best things you can do on any diet. Not only does it recharge you, but it promotes fat loss. The goal for any weight-loss diet. Additionally, less sleeps triggers the hormone ghrelin which triggers hunger and decreases your energy levels. Which will only promote overeating and mindless snacking. A good nights sleep really will help you lose weight and stabilize your energy levels throughout the day better than any food or diet.
Eat an apple a day– Eat and apple. It’s a great source of fiber, vitamin c and potassium, plus it doesn’t contain any sodium, fat or cholesterol and is only 80 calories. It’s a great snack on any eating plan. Apples can also give you a boost of energy, which is better than coffee any day.
Healthy Eating Ideas
Reduce Fat and Cholesterol
• Use skim or low-fat milk and cheese made from skim or low-fat milk
• Cut back on the amount of fat you use in cooking
• Use water-packed tuna instead of oil-packed
• Choose lean cuts of meat
• Trim visible fat from meat
• Roast, bake, broil, or simmer meats and drain fat after cooking. Don’t fry
• Remove the skin of cooked poultry
• Use smaller amounts of meat and stretch it by serving in casseroles with grains and vegetables
• In a dip or sandwich filling, replace all or part of the mayonnaise with yogurt
• Serve Canadian bacon instead of regular bacon
• Use vegetable or peanut oils instead of solid shortening and use margarine instead of butter or lard
• Try substituting egg whites in recipes calling for whole eggs
• See a comparison of different types of fat and cooking oils
Control Calories
• Avoid overeating. Eat only when hungry and just until you’re full.
• Moderation! Eat a variety of foods that you enjoy, but watch serving sizes.
• Eat slowly and chew your food well. This allows you to realize you are full before you overeat.
• Don’t automatically have second helpings, unless it’s a low-calorie vegetable or fruit.
• Decrease your fat and sugar intake and your caloric intake will likely decrease.
• Eat in a relaxed environment. It takes about 20 minutes after you begin eating for your mind to realize that you are full.
Reduce Sugar
• Avoid high sugar foods — read labels for words like high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, sucrose
• Use unsweetened canned fruit or fruit canned in its own juice.
• Try using less sugar in your favorite recipes
Reduce Sodium
• Decrease the amount of salt used while cooking
• Taste foods before you add salt
• Avoid high sodium foods — read sodium content on the labels
• Drain and rinse canned vegetables
Increase Fiber
• Eat whole grain breads, cereals, and pastas
• Eat more raw fruits and vegetables
• Nuts and seeds add fiber, but be aware of the additional calories
• Add bran (1 to 3 tablespoons) into your daily diet. Mix it with cereals, casseroles, tuna salad, and muffins