Its February now, 30+ days into 2016. How are you doing on your New Year's resolutions or your health and fitness goals?
Are you enjoying the changes youve made? Are you enjoying the benefits youre getting from exercising and/or eating better? Or have you quit because your diet isnt working for you? Or even worse, do you find yourself in the midst of a plan that makes you hate life?
Resolutions aside, diets dont work. The diet and nutritional supplement industry is a multibillion-dollar industry in the United States, yet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that about two-thirds of the adult population is overweight and one-third is obese.
These stats tell me all these diets and nutritional supplements dont help a majority of people lose weight and keep it off. And, Im happy to report that its not you, its the diet. A majority of the popular diets now are diets focusing on restriction and deprivation, neither of which set us up for long-term success or adherence. Weve been conditioned to believe that there aint no gain without a lot of pain.
Again, thats just not true. Realistically, how likely are you to follow a plan long term that you hate? I wouldnt last long.
This is where my favorite Tim Gunn quote comes in. As a longtime Project Runway viewer, Ive seen Gunn tell many a contestant to make it work. They are asked to use their creative juices and voices to create something spectacular. This is what you should do. Use your lifestyle and food preferences to find ways to eat healthier. No gimmicks; no major deprivation; just making more beneficial food choices. Current dieting trends would tell us that this is just too simplistic a view, but again, are those trends helping Americans get healthier? Theyre helping some people, but not too many, so maybe simple is better.
Try these simple tips to start out:
1. Follow the plate method. Fill half of your plate with nonstarchy vegetables. Thats right, tater tots and sweet potatoes arent considered nonstarchy vegetables. Follow this method at least for lunch and dinner. Kudos to you if you add veggies to your breakfast.
2. Eat those vegetables first. Think about it, vegetables give you that volume without a lot of calories. Stock up on these fiber filled gems before you move on to the more calorie dense foods.
3. Choose whole grains over refined grains. Whole grains are better sources of fiber, protein and healthier fats. All of these components help fill us up. If you eat mindfully, you can cut down on your portion, yet still feel satisfied because of all that fiber, protein and fat.
4. Eat mindfully. Pay attention to your food. The psychology of eating tells us that were way more prone to overeat when we arent paying attention to what or how much were eating. Try to make eating the focus of your mealtimes. Put down the remote, phone or work for mealtimes. Eating mindfully looks like youre enjoying your food; youre paying attention to your food; youre savoring each bite; and eating slower. Eating mindfully helps you eat less, yet still feel satisfied afterward. Isnt that what everyone wants? Besides, eating mindfully takes out the deprivation piece. If you eat what you want, and just enough to be satisfied, youll likely be consuming fewer calories.
5. Try new foods and new preparation methods. Just like kids, we need to be exposed to foods a number of times before we develop preferences for them. Having a palate for a variety of foods makes eating healthy easier because there are more options. Say you tried steamed Brussels sprouts years ago and they were gross. Try roasting them. You may be pleasantly surprised.
Long story short, dont make eating healthy so complicated or so restrictive. Just start out by eating those nonstarchy vegetables, try new foods and work toward eating more mindfully. I promise that you will enjoy your food more, and actually feel satisfied after a meal, a meal that will probably be smaller than normal.
Are you enjoying the changes youve made? Are you enjoying the benefits youre getting from exercising and/or eating better? Or have you quit because your diet isnt working for you? Or even worse, do you find yourself in the midst of a plan that makes you hate life?
Resolutions aside, diets dont work. The diet and nutritional supplement industry is a multibillion-dollar industry in the United States, yet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that about two-thirds of the adult population is overweight and one-third is obese.
These stats tell me all these diets and nutritional supplements dont help a majority of people lose weight and keep it off. And, Im happy to report that its not you, its the diet. A majority of the popular diets now are diets focusing on restriction and deprivation, neither of which set us up for long-term success or adherence. Weve been conditioned to believe that there aint no gain without a lot of pain.
Again, thats just not true. Realistically, how likely are you to follow a plan long term that you hate? I wouldnt last long.
This is where my favorite Tim Gunn quote comes in. As a longtime Project Runway viewer, Ive seen Gunn tell many a contestant to make it work. They are asked to use their creative juices and voices to create something spectacular. This is what you should do. Use your lifestyle and food preferences to find ways to eat healthier. No gimmicks; no major deprivation; just making more beneficial food choices. Current dieting trends would tell us that this is just too simplistic a view, but again, are those trends helping Americans get healthier? Theyre helping some people, but not too many, so maybe simple is better.
Try these simple tips to start out:
1. Follow the plate method. Fill half of your plate with nonstarchy vegetables. Thats right, tater tots and sweet potatoes arent considered nonstarchy vegetables. Follow this method at least for lunch and dinner. Kudos to you if you add veggies to your breakfast.
2. Eat those vegetables first. Think about it, vegetables give you that volume without a lot of calories. Stock up on these fiber filled gems before you move on to the more calorie dense foods.
3. Choose whole grains over refined grains. Whole grains are better sources of fiber, protein and healthier fats. All of these components help fill us up. If you eat mindfully, you can cut down on your portion, yet still feel satisfied because of all that fiber, protein and fat.
4. Eat mindfully. Pay attention to your food. The psychology of eating tells us that were way more prone to overeat when we arent paying attention to what or how much were eating. Try to make eating the focus of your mealtimes. Put down the remote, phone or work for mealtimes. Eating mindfully looks like youre enjoying your food; youre paying attention to your food; youre savoring each bite; and eating slower. Eating mindfully helps you eat less, yet still feel satisfied afterward. Isnt that what everyone wants? Besides, eating mindfully takes out the deprivation piece. If you eat what you want, and just enough to be satisfied, youll likely be consuming fewer calories.
5. Try new foods and new preparation methods. Just like kids, we need to be exposed to foods a number of times before we develop preferences for them. Having a palate for a variety of foods makes eating healthy easier because there are more options. Say you tried steamed Brussels sprouts years ago and they were gross. Try roasting them. You may be pleasantly surprised.
Long story short, dont make eating healthy so complicated or so restrictive. Just start out by eating those nonstarchy vegetables, try new foods and work toward eating more mindfully. I promise that you will enjoy your food more, and actually feel satisfied after a meal, a meal that will probably be smaller than normal.
