How to Slowly Switch to a Healthier Diet
By Genevieve Cunningham
Changing your diet can feel like an impossible feat. It seems as though as soon as you decide to eat better, you immediately crave sweets and sodas and everything else unhealthy. But perhaps the problem is not in the diet itself, but rather in our approach to making change. Like any other change in life, a slow and steady approach is much more likely to stick. To change your diet for the better, take a look at these slow moving tips to make it last.
Cut One Bad Food
While some advice tells you to go in your kitchen and throw out everything bad, this approach doesn’t work for most people. For starters, some people will be left with an empty cabinet! But even if you have some items left over, this is an approach that requires too much change too quickly. Instead, choose one of your favorite bad items, and throw it out. A package of cookies, the case of soda, those bags of potato chips. Get used to doing without this item for a while, and then move on to tackling another.
Go One Meal at a Time
If you try to change everything all at once, you’re likely going to run out of steam in the first week. Instead, try changing just one meal. Start with breakfast. Switch your presweetened cereal for egg whites and toast. Skip the sugary prepackaged oatmeal for the real kind. Once you’ve mastered one meal a day, you can try to add another. This allows you to begin the healthy eating process, but lets you do so at a slow and steady pace.
Make a Plan
Eating healthy, when you haven’t already been doing so, can take a bit of time and effort. It requires preparation. Before you ever begin, sit down and make a plan. Make a list of foods you shouldn’t touch and a list of foods on the go-to list. Make a list of meals that you can cook throughout the week and a list of ready to go snack foods. Being prepared is half the battle in eating healthy, as it keeps you from reaching for the fast or convenience foods that are riddled with fat and calories.
If you really want to eat healthy, you can make it happen. It might take some time and patience and dedication, but you can reach your goal. Just use these tips to make the transition slowly. With the right approach, healthy eating will be a part of your life before you know it.
To learn more about your health and wellness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Collierville, Tenn.