Eating healthy is easier than it may seem. It’s just a matter of making small changes in food portions and quality.
Avoid foods that are high in sodium, saturated fat and added sugar. This includes fast food, frozen entrees and fried foods.
Consider keeping a food diary for a few days to uncover your habits.
1. Assess Your Current Diet
How to fix my diet: To assess your current diet, start by writing down everything you eat in a day – including snacks and beverages. If you find this difficult, try using a food tracking app or logging your meals in a journal. For your record, make sure to use standard portions (e.g., a cup or two of fruit or vegetables).
Keeping track of your eating habits and making simple changes will help you feel better. For example, cut back on highly processed foods and sugary drinks, such as soda, ice cream, candy, or packaged snack foods. Aim to save these treats for special occasions.
Another easy change is to increase your intake of whole, nutrient-rich foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, fish and lean proteins. You can also replace starchy carbohydrates at meals with more nutrient-dense options, such as brown rice or quinoa. And finally, add in more physical activity. You can start small by parking farther away at the mall or taking a 10-minute walk before work. This is a great way to boost your energy and mood.
2. Identify Your Strengths and Weaknesses
You need to understand your strengths and weaknesses before you can take steps to improve them. This can be done through self-reflection, but it’s often helpful to enlist the help of others. Having an outside perspective can be beneficial because it helps you avoid being too critical of yourself and allows you to be more objective.
One great way to identify your strengths and weaknesses is to use a personality test. These tests can provide you with a broad overview of your personal attributes as well as give you specific information on how to best apply them in certain situations.
For example, if you are a highly creative person who is good at thinking outside the box, you could apply this skill to your diet by developing a plan that will enable you to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into your meal. This will help make the transition from a diet of processed junk food to a healthy eating plan much easier. Similarly, if you are an energetic person with strong willpower, this can be leveraged to overcome your bad habits and prevent you from giving into temptation.
3. Make Small Changes
The first step in fixing your diet is to become more mindful. This may mean keeping a food diary, reading labels or even experimenting with new cooking techniques.
Try not to think of certain foods as “off-limits” as this can lead to feelings of deprivation and a sense of failure when you do eat these foods. Instead, focus on the positive reasons why you want to make changes and remember those reasons when you face roadblocks, such as a busy schedule or bad weather.
For example, if you struggle with snacking on high-calorie cookies or cakes, replace them with something healthier, such as fresh fruit. Or, if you regularly drink a large coffee with milk and sugar, switch to black coffee or a cafe au lait.
Aim to cut out unhealthy fats and sugars in the majority of your meals and snacks. This will improve your health and reduce your risk of obesity and heart disease. Replace these unhealthy fats with healthy ones, such as omega-3 fatty acids found in fish and vegetable oils.
4. Replace Unhealthy Habits with Healthy Ones
Many bad habits can be replaced with healthier ones. For example, if you tend to eat out of boredom or anxiety, try taking a walk or talking to a friend instead. Or if you always eat a soda with every meal, start by only drinking it at dinner, then gradually moving it to lunch.
If you have trouble letting go of a bad habit, try using “avoidance motivation” to motivate yourself. For instance, if you’re trying to cut out Diet Coke, finding out its negative effects on your health can be enough to keep you from reaching for the cans.
Make sure your home and workspace are free of foods that you’re trying to avoid, such as potato chips, cookies, candy bars, colas and fried foods. Instead, stock your pantry with healthy snacks, such as yogurt, air-popped popcorn and fruits. The more difficult it is to repeat a bad habit, the less likely you are to do it again. So, if you’re having trouble stopping your bad eating behavior, consider placing stickers on your door or refrigerator that remind you of the negative consequences of repeating that behavior.
5. Enjoy Your Food
Eating can be a great pleasure, but many people lose this sense over time. This is often because of a disordered relationship with food or following a diet that restricts certain foods. However, it is possible to regain this pleasure by changing your mindset and experimenting with new foods.
Start by making meals a special event. Set a table, remove distractions and take the time to enjoy your food. Focus on the color, texture and aromas of the food and any company you’re sharing it with. Pay attention to the process it took to get the food to your plate and eat slowly, chewing each bite thoroughly.
Conclusion
Try experimenting with different types and combinations of food for two or three weeks and see how they affect your mood. Then choose the ones that make you feel best physically and emotionally. It might be helpful to work with a registered dietitian as you work on these changes, particularly if you have any history of eating disorders or other emotional issues related to food.
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