The first thing people do when they decide they need to go on a diet is start to think of all the foods they can’t eat anymore. We usually form it in our minds like that, too. “This food has to go forever. I better get as much as I can right now.”
We believe that the food is the sole cause of all this weight. “If only I could stop eating xyz, I could lose weight.”
It is not long before a deprivation mindset begins. We start to think of all the things we can’t have, aren’t good for us, “oh, yeah. I ate a bag of those yesterday.” In reality, any expert in food or nutrition is going to tell you that you can eat what you want, you just have to use moderation.
We, as American’s, aren’t so good with this concept of moderation. We want it all, we want it now and we don’t think there is enough to go around. So we better get it while we can. This adds to our growing obesity concerns in this country.
Another, more moderate, approach is crowding out “unhealthy” foods. Crowding out foods is a technique that starts with putting healthy foods into your meals to make less room for the foods that don’t promote health.
Fill up on whole grains, fruits and vegetables before you reach for the something you might regret. There is no mandate that you don’t eat potato chips. Have potato chips if you life. Just have an apple, carrot sticks or oatmeal first. When planning your meal make sure to have lots of vegetable options to put on the plate along with the macaroni and cheese you love.
Each choice to eat a whole food before a processed food takes you one step closer to eating better. The deprivation is gone because you don’t need to stop yourself from eating what you love. You are only adding to your food and making less room for a day of eating poorly. As you crowd-out the unhealthy choices and eat them less, you might even find they aren’t as satisfying as they once were.
Change one meal at a time. Put a pile of salad on your plate next to your protein. You will get your greens along with the richness of the meat. You feel satisfied and get your needs met. Changing how you eat happens one choice at a time. What are you choosing to eat today?
Hi! This seems to be to be a half-solution, if anything. If you want to be honest with yourself about your diet, it’s a horribly wrong approach if you try to justify eating junk food. Junk food is junk food — doesn’t matter how many celery sticks you had with your Doritos. Moderation is keen, I deeply agree, and it’s fine to have something “junky” every now and then to satisfy the craving, but you shouldn’t go about and try to justify them. Let’s not lie to ourselves, people!
Rosemary, I try not to take such a staunch view of food. In my experience with coaching people, the moment you make food bad it becomes the most desired treat. My clients have successfully eliminated junk food cravings with this technique. I try not to be dogmatic and make people wrong for their food choices. We are all trying to make changes.
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This is something with i’d like share with my friends .. cool blog by the way ..
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Sara recently posted..Sell PSP to Get Cash
yes I have seen that too.… people tend to be really unhappy thinking that they can’t have their favorite food and other stuffs and I guess this is a wrong perspective they build up.…
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I am very motivated to go on a diet now because of this post. Thank you very much for uplifting my spirit. What’s the healthiest group of food to eat for breakfast?
–Belinda
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This is a great tip. I love the focus on what I want rather than what I can’t have.
Theresa recently posted..Spring Buzz ~ Financial Peace Junior Super Pack
Great advice! It’s what I’ve been trying to do for awhile. Diets only last for so long, but something you can maintain will make a lifelong difference.
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Thanks for the great tips! This is one of my main problems when I try to “diet” so I’m up for all the advice I can get. Thanks for sharing.
–Molly
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Totally agree! This is exactly what we did and between my hubby and I we’ve lost about 100lbs together! Eating healthy and exercise really is good. Cutting everything out at once is definitely not good!
I couldn’t agree with you any more! Great post!!! I eat healthy and my treat is a handful of chocolate chips a day.
Love this post! I have been working on eating better and I replaced not eating much of a breakfast to eating yogurt or fruit in the morning. Its yummy and helps! Thanks for the awesome post!
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Wow these are some great tips! I like this idea of thinking about what you CAN have!
Great post! I have been trying to cut the sugar way back from my diet & today I felt myself wanting something sweet, so I cut up an heirloom orange ~ yummy!!
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Great post! I agree. Several years ago when I switched to eating healthy, I allowed myself one cheat snack at the end of every day. Then the snack became once a week. Now I find its once every several MONTHS now. Why? Because I LOVE healthy food & don’t need the junk now.