Stick with the Outer Circle
This is one of the first tips any dietician will give you. Whenever you go to the groceries, don’t walk into the inner aisles. Just stick with the outer perimeter of the grocery store. That’s where all the healthy goods are – mostly because they’re fresh vegetables that need to be kept cool.
When you walk inside the aisles you find yourself surrounded by packaged processed food and that’s when temptation can be daunting. You’ll find it near impossible to resist picking off that small pack of junk food when it’s staring right back at you.
So stick with the outer circle and only buy the fruits and vegetables, milk and pure fruit juices, and the yogurts and fish. You’ll be surprised how different your diet will change by simply altering how you shop.
Eating Once a Day is Not a Diet – It’s Suicide
There was once an idea that you’d lose fat if you ate less and while that is true it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t eat at all. You still need vitamins and nutrients to keep you healthy. You still need sources of energy to keep your body functioning. It’s not about how often you eat but the quality of what you eat.
The trick is to eat three main (but small) meals a day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and add a quick snack in between. If you count a midnight snack in you’ll end up with six small meals. This distribution of meals will ensure you don’t feel hungry and that’s the secret to prevent overfeeding.
Just make sure those six meals are filled with healthy choices, not six packs of burgers from the nearest fast food chain.
Use Smaller Plates
If you took the small portion of food but placed it on two different sizes of plates you’d be surprised at how the appearance affected your eating habits. On a large plate your brain thinks you’re not eating enough and thus you’ll feel hungry and you’ll eat extra portions. On a smaller plate, even if the serving is the same, your brain thinks it’s just enough.
If you have large plates at home you don’t need to go out and buy smaller plates. Simply alter the available space by filling the plate first with sticks of carrots, apples, and other healthy finger-food before you add the main course. Since the finger-food takes up space, you’ll have a much smaller area to work with.
Fill Up With Water and Colorful Food
Water before and after meals will keep you full and it’s a healthy way to lose some pounds. Pair this habit with a system of colorful food; fruits, green vegetables, and sweet vegetables. Unhealthy meals are easy to spot: they’re brown and grey because they are most likely going to be servings of fried meat.
So make sure your plate looks colorful. Have some apples in there, some sweet potatoes, some lettuce leaves and others.
Stay Away from Junk Food
Scientists discovered that junk food has a strange way of playing tricks with your brain: it shuts off the part of your brain responsible for proper food choices. The normal eating habit is to stop eating a particular dish when the body has had too much of it. It’s like a natural system that prevents overeating.
However, junk food shuts this process off. What happens is that you’ll soon be more inclined to eat more junk food and more unhealthy choices even when there is healthy food right within your grasp. So stay away from junk food as much as possible!