When you’re trying to break a bad lifestyle habit, routine can be your friend and your enemy. Eating healthy foods and exercising regularly is challenging in the beginning but if you stick with it long enough, it becomes a habit and you go into autopilot mode.

The Challenge

Having big health and fitness goals is great, but can be overwhelming. Think about it, a goal to “give up sugar for 30 days” sounds more achievable than a goal to “be healthier.”

The easiest way to break bad lifestyle habits is through small incremental changes. When you make a small change every day, you hardly notice that something is different.

The Science

Science says that it takes a little over two weeks to break a habit, so if you want to unlearn the old habit and learn a new one, you must be willing to commit for at least 30 days. This is not to say that 30 days is some sort of magic line that makes you immune to your old ways, but it’s a good place to start.

There are three distinct stages that make up a habit: cue, routine and reward. The cue triggers the routine. For instance, stress can be a cue for cravings. When triggered, you automatically go into routine mode and start doing things to satisfy the craving. The satisfaction you get from doing this is the reward.

The first step to breaking bad habits is identifying the cues, routines, and rewards associated with them.

New Routine

While it’s possible to avoid the things that trigger bad habits, it’s much easier to replace the current routine with a new one. This way, it’s a lot harder to go back to your old ways when you inevitably hit a rough patch.

The first step to changing a routine is to come up with a specific plan. For instance, if your goal is to go to the gym more often, sign up for a class.

Secondly, plan to tackle one small goal every week. Science shows that it is impossible to change multiple habits at once. So don’t try to give up sugar and bread and eat more fruit and vegetables all in one week. Do one thing at a time.

The changes should also be incremental. If you give up sugar for one week, don’t reintroduce it during “fruit and vegetable” week. You would continue limiting your sugar intake while adding fruit and vegetables, because this way you don’t lose any ground.

You can have the health you desire by using incremental micro changes to break bad habits and transform your life one day (or one hour) at a time.

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There’s a huge difference between healthy eating and dieting.

Dieting is limiting.

It focuses too much on restricting what you can eat instead of enjoying good food. Plus, most fad diets have a specific set of rules that categorize foods as either good or bad.

Dieting tends to focus way too much on weight loss; you need to keep losing pounds in order to feel motivated. As soon as you reach your goal weight or your weight plateaus, your motivation fades.

It’s no surprise that two-thirds of people who diet end up splurging on “bad foods” when they stop dieting, regaining most, if not all, of the weight they had lost.

Healthy eating, on the other hand, is very liberating.

Almost ALL foods can fit into a healthy diet, so you don’t have to stick to a limited selection of “good foods” or completely avoid “bad foods.”

Healthy eating encourages you to make small incremental changes over time instead of one big change like most fad diets recommend. Your diet changes constantly depending on what your needs are at any given time.

Transitioning from Dieting to Healthy Eating

Lifelong healthy behaviors are not motivated solely by weight loss.

You have to genuinely want to live a healthier life.

Weight loss can still be a factor but it isn’t the only reason why you’re changing your lifestyle.

Focus on the Means not the End

Why do you want to eat healthy?

If your answer is that you want to lose weight or you don’t like being overweight, perhaps you’re already focusing way too much on the end goal.

What happens if you don’t lose as much weight as you want to lose? Will you go back to your old, unhealthy lifestyle?

Perhaps you should stop seeking validation from the scale.

Once you start focusing on the healthy changes you’re making to your lifestyle, you won’t need the temporary affirmation that comes from losing a few pounds.

Eat Good Foods Don’t Avoid Bad Foods

Healthy eating, unlike dieting, gives you a wide range of good foods to choose from. Life’s a lot more fun when you don’t spend all your time trying to avoid bread and pasta.

So don’t spend all your time trying to find healthy replacements for bad foods. Learn how to make fun meals from nutrient-rich vegetables, whole grains, and fruits; indulge (don’t binge) every so often by eating your favorite guilty foods that you love so much.

Your goal should be to eat more good foods than bad the majority of the time.

This way, you don’t have to feel guilty when you eat something unhealthy. Just get back on the wagon and keep going!

Pretty simple, right?

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It’s no surprise that most people fall off the wagon at least once when they begin changing unhealthy habits.

Sadly, many people wrongly assume that slipping up means that they lack willpower and should give up on healthy living.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Don’t beat yourself up…
Stop beating yourself up for giving in to your cravings. One slip-up doesn’t mean that you’re weak or weren’t in line the day God gave out willpower. And it certainly doesn’t mean that you’re a failure or have blown it; those guilty little voices are just your confirmation bias speaking.

If you fall off the wagon because you’re stressed or dealing with some other negative emotion, beating yourself up only makes things worse and could lead to a full-blown relapse if you’re not careful.

So treat yourself the way you’d treat someone in a similar situation. Would you criticize a close friend for giving in to his or her cravings? I didn’t think so.

You’d be supportive and would encourage them to get back on track! Right? So embrace your humanity and shower yourself with kindness and compassion!

Learn from the experience…
Your slip-up could be a sign that your new lifestyle is too restrictive or that you don’t have enough support. To succeed, find the perfect balance between challenge and comfort.

An extreme lifestyle change may be appealing but it is less sustainable.

If you suddenly give up ALL your “comfort” foods and go on a very restrictive diet, your body will hate it (you) and revolt!

It’s better to make a few changes and stick with them than to completely modify your lifestyle and keep falling off the wagon. Just start with the basics like less processed foods and sugar, more vegetables, and exercise, and work your way up from there.

Climb back onto the wagon…
If you fall, get up, dust yourself off, and keep going!

Try not to think of it as starting over because that only makes things harder. What if it were treated as a learning experience instead?

For instance, just because you had fast food for lunch doesn’t mean you can’t have a healthy dinner. Also, just because you haven’t been to the gym in a week doesn’t mean you can’t slip on your sneakers and go for a run today.

A weekend binge or one week without exercise doesn’t negate all of the work you’ve done so far. It doesn’t define you either.

Falling off the wagon is only a BIG deal if you make it one. You’ve got this. So don’t let a tiny bump in the road become a roadblock to your personal success.

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It’s so easy to overindulge this time of year. A single scoop of ice cream easily becomes three or four. And then there are the pies…oh the pies…“I’ll just have a tiny slice of each, please.”

Wouldn’t it be nice to savor every bite without feeling guilty or worrying about overindulging on your favorite holiday foods? Is it possible? Well…maybe not completely…but here’s a plan your waistline will appreciate.

Plan Ahead

The key to healthy eating is planning ahead.

If you know you’re having a big holiday meal later in the day, eat a light breakfast so you may enjoy your holiday meal without worrying too much about overeating.

However, please don’t starve yourself before feasting because it’s so hard to make smart food choices when your stomach is screaming FEED ME!

Savor the Food

The holiday season is a special time, and there’s nothing wrong with enjoying foods that you wouldn’t normally eat. It’s perfectly fine to indulge without making it look like you’re training for one of those food eating competitions.

And even if you end up eating more than you planned, don’t beat yourself up. Remember, it’s not what you eat on Christmas Eve and Day that makes you unhealthy, it’s what you eat the rest of the year.

When you sit down to eat, enjoy how good the food looks and smells, in addition to how delicious it tastes. The thing about comfort and pleasure foods is that it’s more about satisfying your cravings than filling your stomach. Savoring them slowly helps you feel mentally, emotionally and physically satisfied.

Keep in mind that it takes about 20 minutes for your stomach to let your brain know that it’s full. If you’re still hungry after twenty minutes, go ahead and have a little bit more.

Save the Treats for the End of the Meal

Don’t try to satisfy your cravings on an empty stomach. An empty stomach = eating too fast and too much. So eat your healthier food first and then enjoy a slice of pie or scoop of ice cream.

Even if sweets aren’t your Kryptonite, save your “trigger” foods for the end of the meal. For instance, don’t start your meal with piping hot, fresh bread if that’s your weakness. Save it for the end of the meal so you’re not eating refined carbohydrates on an empty stomach.

Take Some Food Home if Possible

You’re less likely to overeat if you know you can take a piece of grandma’s apple pie with you. It also helps you spread these special treats over the entire holiday period as opposed to trying to satisfy all of your cravings in a single day. However, this is only a good idea if you can restrain yourself from devouring the food the second you get home.

Also, as a final reminder, research shows that if you exercise before you feast, or take a twenty minute walk afterwards, it’ll help minimize the damage.

With these simple tips, you can enjoy the holiday season and your favorite foods without constantly worrying or feeling guilty about overindulging.

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Some people swear by carbs them. Others curse them, believing they’re downright diabolical.

The American Diabetes Association says there are three types of carbs: Fiber, starches, and sugar, which typically fall into one of two categories: simple or complex. 

What Carbs Do

According to the Cleveland Clinic, the digestive system turns carbs into sugar for energy to fuel the body. Eating a lot of carbs raises blood sugar levels.

Simple carbs spike energy and blood sugar levels because the digestive system breaks them down into sugar pretty fast, allowing them to enter the bloodstream quickly.

It takes the digestive system a little while to break down complex carbohydrates, causing glucose to enter the bloodstream slowly. Complex carbs are considered the good guys, at least in the world of carbohydrates.

You’ll often hear simple carbs called “bad” and complex called “good.”

To recap: The body turns carbs into glucose for energy. It digests simple carbs quickly, spiking blood sugar levels (which is bad). Unused energy is stored (which is really be bad when you have a lot of it to store).

Too many simple carbs can contribute to weight gain and raise the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and high cholesterol, according to Cleveland Clinic.

Glycemic Index

Maybe you’ve heard of the Glycemic Index, a scale that assigns a value to foods based on “how quickly and how high those foods cause increases in blood glucose levels.”

Foods low on the glycemic index, “…tend to release glucose slowly and steadily. Foods high on the glycemic index release glucose rapidly. Low GI foods tend to foster weight loss, while foods high on the GI scale help with energy recovery after exercise, or to offset hypo- (or insufficient) glycemia.”

Everyone knows sugary drinks, candy, cakes, cookies, and desserts shouldn’t be a primary source of nutrition or a significant source of calories because they hardly have any nutritional value and pave the way for obesity and diabetes. 

But sugar doesn’t tell the whole story. We have to look at fiber too. Favorite foods like white bread, rice, and pasta have their fiber removed during the refining process. The digestive system breaks them down quickly, spiking sugar levels. 

Just remember that slow is better for your health, energy, and waistline when it comes to carbs.

Guilty Pleasure

However, it’s okay to enjoy simple carbs occasionally. The Rock, Dwayne Johnson, is famous for enjoying his epic cheat days weekly.

It’s okay to indulge but not all the time. 

Better Bad Choices

But even within the “bad choice” column of carbs, there are better “bad” choices than others. A cup of white rice has a glycemic index of 91, but a serving of white spaghetti has a rating of 64, which makes it a better “bad” choice. 

When eating carbs, most of the time, reach for less processed, complex carbohydrates low in sugar and high in fiber. 

Fiber: Your Secret Weapon

Fiber is your friend. Fiber is a kind of secret weapon in maintaining healthier blood sugar levels because it slows how fast sugar is absorbed into the blood stream.

Also, fiber helps you feel fuller longer and helps with avoiding energy spikes. Fiber is so potent that some studies suggest that you should start your meal with fiber and protein and save carbs for last.

Glycemic Load

Whereas the Glycemic Index measures how fast and high a particular food raises blood sugar, there’s another measurement called the Glycemic Load, which refers to the amount of carbohydrates in a specific food. 

The best carbs for successfully maintaining ideal weight and healthy blood sugar levels are those with a lower glycemic index and glycemic load because they have the least impact on blood sugar.

The role carbohydrates have in your diet is a personal choice, and whether they will be friend or foe.

Just remember that in the world of carbs, high fiber whole grains, fruits, and vegetables are the healthiest. 

Try to minimize simple carbohydrates because they spike blood sugar, contributing to obesity and chronic disease. Plus they’ll make you feel hungry sooner. You’ll consume more food because you’re eating more often, taking a toll on your energy levels and the scales.

It’s okay to indulge in your mouth-watering pancakes or kryptonite of choice sometimes, just make sure you earn it by exercising, and reaching for healthier swaps most of the time.

The post Why “Bad” Carbohydrates Are So Bad (But So Deliciously Good At The Same Time) appeared first on Lifestyle.

The great thing about a WFPB diet, is that it’s about giving you MORE food choices, not fewer, unlike so many other diets.

There isn’t anything mysterious about WFPB diets. The name says it all. These are plant based and whole foods. Although science supports the disease-fighting benefits of plant-based foods, whole foods are the other part of the equation.

Although this might make our vegan and vegetarian friends uncomfortable, wild caught fish is a nutrient-rich, whole food.

So, instead of judging a WFPB diet because you assume it’s restrictive, try to have an open mind and discover what you’re “allowed” to eat, which is a lot, by the way.

Various Diets Explained

When done correctly, even diets like veganism, vegetarianism, pescatarianism, Mediterranean, and the Ketogenic diet, can all be WFPB diets.

What some people might not realize is that the eating patterns of vegans and vegetarians don’t always fall under the category of “whole foods.”  Although sugary drinks, fries,  and chocolates are technically “vegetarian”, they’re also highly processed.

A Misunderstanding

Remember, the WFPB isn’t about excluding foods or avoiding meat.

All you have to do is add more whole, nutrient-dense, plant-based foods to your existing diet.

Blackberries are a plant based, nutrient dense whole food. However, chicken, although not plant based, is a nutrient dense, whole food. Technically, although perhaps preferred, you’re not required to eat just foods that are both strictly whole foods AND plant based.

The goal of a WFPB is to eat more of healthy, nutritious foods. It’s great if a certain food item meets both criteria. But the goal is to eat healthier overall.

Some people shy away from a WFPB diet because it’s carb heavy. But that’s not really a problem because they’re complex carbs, which are healthy.

What you want to avoid is foods that are loaded with sugar and simple carbs, like soda, crackers, and candy, which spike blood sugar.

The body and brain require carbs to function optimally. Complex carbs are the preferred fuel.

The ketogenic diet has been popular for a while. It’s designed to burn ketones instead of glucose. But even it can include plenty of plant-based options for consuming dietary fat in the form of nuts, Avocados and olives.

Conclusion

A WFPB diet isn’t about excluding meat, technically. It’s about getting much more nutritious, whole, and plant based foods rather than eating mostly highly processed food. Besides being delicious if prepared right, WFPB give you loads of power and energy, and lays a solid foundation for a healthy lifestyle.

Photo by NordWood Themes on Unsplash

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It’s no surprise that many people only eat healthy food when they’re on a diet. They eat unhealthy foods most of the time and only have a salad or chug a green smoothie every once in a while to atone for their bad eating habits.

The truth is that there are just as many tasty health foods as bland ones. Eating healthy doesn’t mean your taste buds need to suffer. Put the green smoothie down, and try these three foods instead.

Stir-fried Veggies

Do you struggle to eat the recommended three to five servings of vegetables daily? Try stir-fried veggies.

With a frying pan, a little oil, and a lot of patience, you can make any fresh vegetable taste good. The dry heat removes excess moisture and brings out the delicious caramelized flavors.

Due to the differences in sugar content, some vegetables, like onions, carrots, and beets, caramelize much faster than others. It helps to have such vegetables as a base for your stir fry, and then you can top off with other vegetables such as broccoli, mushrooms, cauliflower, spinach, and zucchini.

Veggie / Whole-Grain Soups

Soups are some of the healthiest comfort foods; and healthy too, which is why they’re often given to you when you’re not feeling well.

Care to know a simple way to make your soup even healthier? Use a blender during preparation to “sneak in” vegetables and whole grains that you probably wouldn’t eat otherwise (you’ll barely even taste them).

If you don’t like the texture of whole grain rice, you probably wouldn’t look forward to having it on your plate. However, blending it into a soup with other ingredients gets you past that mental block.

Whole Fruits

Before you reach for a glass of your favorite fruit juice because you think it’s a healthy choice, you should know that the health benefits only apply to whole fruits. Drinking fruit juice every day actually increases your risk of becoming diabetic by 21%, whereas eating whole fruit reduces it by 23%!

To put this into perspective, you need three medium-sized apples to make 1 cup of juice. Most people wouldn’t eat three apples with breakfast, but they don’t think twice about downing a glass of apple juice.

The easiest way to enjoy fruit without exceeding the recommended two servings a day is to eat it whole. This also ensures that you don’t miss out on the health benefits of the fiber in the fruit pulp.

Healthy eating can be really enjoyable, but most people don’t give it a fair shake. They probably don’t realize that stir-fried veggies, soups, and whole fruits can be just as healthy as raw salads. Plus, they add variety and are delicious!

Photo by Ella Olsson on Unsplash

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The average person gains about one pound during the six weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. It may seem like a small price to pay for enjoying your favorite holiday treats, but it’s quite difficult to shed that weight after the festivities. And you know what? That holiday weight gain tends to stick around year after year, and before you know it, you’re more than a few pounds overweight.

One of the most effective ways to avoid holiday weight gain is portion control. However, it can be hard to stick to the recommended portions without feeling like you’re depriving yourself. Sometimes, you need to trick your brain into thinking your portions are bigger than they really are.

Learn the Basics

When serving food, divide your plate into two and fill one half with non-starchy vegetables. Then divide the remaining half into two and fill one quarter with protein and the other with complex carbs.

However, since plates come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, ensure that your portion of protein is no bigger than the palm of your hand and your portion of carbs is no bigger than your fist.

Always serve the vegetables first, the protein second, and the carbs last. This way, by the time you get to the carbs, your plate is almost full and you won’t have to think too hard about your portions.

Always Use a Plate

When you order takeout, it’s very tempting to eat from the container. However, this makes it very hard to determine what a reasonable portion looks like.

It’s best to portion out one serving of food onto a plate and eat that first. Chances are you will feel full after the first serving and will save the rest for later.

Use Smaller, Darker Plates

Studies show that bigger plates can cause you to consume up to 50% more food. This is because your brain bases your portions on how the food looks relative to the plate. A typical serving looks smaller on a bigger plate and, as a result, leaves you feeling less satisfied.

Similarly, studies show that you are likelier to eat less when there’s a high contrast in colors between the plate and the food. Food stands out more on darker plates making the portions look bigger than they really are.

Just Enough to Satisfy Your Cravings

If you’re at a dinner party and find yourself surrounded by treats, pick about four items you’d really like to have and leave the rest. As for the portions, choose the smallest amount necessary to satisfy your cravings. If that portion is smaller than a serving, even better.

The Two-Third Rule

If you struggle with overeating, try only eating two-thirds of your meal. Put away the remaining one-third and eat it later if you’re still hungry. Chances are you won’t even think about your leftovers until it’s time for your next meal.

Don’t Binge on Healthier Foods

Binging on healthy foods still counts as overeating. Besides, most foods are only healthier if you stick to the right portion size.

A ‘reduced fat’ version of your favorite cheesecake may only be 25% lower in fat than the original version. This means that eating two portions of reduced-fat cheesecake is much worse than eating one portion of full-fat cheesecake.

Portion control is one of the cornerstones of healthy eating and weight management. However, we’ve become used to big portions, making it hard to reduce them without feeling deprived.

Sometimes, we need to use tricks like smaller, darker plates, putting away a third of our food, and filling half of our plates with vegetables to avoid overindulging, making sure we can still fit into our pants next Christmas.

The post Science-based Portion Control Tips for the Holiday Season appeared first on Lifestyle.

Life today is rife with diet culture. So many people seem to be at war or have an unhealthy relationship with food. The rules are continually changing, and foods that were good a couple of years ago are now on the bad list.

This obsession with diet is exhausting, and it doesn’t seem to be working. One in three Americans go on a diet every year, but two in three women and three in four men are overweight. Moreover, dieting and clean eating are the most important predictors of eating disorders in teens.

Even so, this doesn’t mean we should throw in the towel and
stop trying to eat healthier. We do, however, need to rethink our strategy.

Break the Cycle of Dieting

Make small,
sustainable improvements

Many people believe they need to make drastic changes to their way of eating to be healthier, but this isn’t true. Even minor improvements like adding an extra serving of vegetables to your meals or going meat-free one day a week can have long-term health benefits. Small, sustainable improvements produce better results in the long-term rather than drastic, temporary changes.

Separate nutritional
facts from fiction

Nutrition facts are an essential part of a healthy diet and shouldn’t be ignored. However, you don’t need to react to every new “discovery’” on nutrition.

Many times, the people purporting to have discovered nutritional breakthroughs have no credible qualifications. These claims should be taken with a grain of salt, especially if they promise a quick fix.

If you’re having trouble separating nutritional facts from
fiction, speak to a registered dietitian. They are trained to critically
analyze conflicting claims and point you in the right direction.

Make healthier food
choices without depriving yourself

The reason so many people are stuck in a diet-eat-repent-repeat cycle is that they believe they need to deny themselves to be healthy. However, a much better way to look at healthy eating is to make the healthiest choice that won’t leave you feeling deprived. 

Maybe you should reconsider having that salad if you know it’s going to leave you feeling hungry and zap your energy. You’re better off substituting a serving of meat for a plant-based protein source and keeping everything else the same.

Don’t expect
perfection

It’s not possible or necessary to make healthy food choices all the time. Getting rid of the need for perfection goes a long way in eliminating the guilt you feel after making unhealthy choices. And if you don’t feel guilty, you won’t feel a need to pay penance by going on a harmful diet, an effective approach to break the cycle of yo-yo dieting.

Constantly being bombarded with conflicting studies on nutrition and new fad diets can make food choices a lot more complicated than they need to be. By focusing on making small improvements that don’t leave you feeling deprived and eliminating the need for perfection, you can avoid most of the pitfalls of our crazy diet culture.

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