March 19 Weekly Challenge: Big Impact of Small Food Changes
themedalist
Posts: 3,218 Member
Theme: Healthy Eating
Challenge: The Big Impact of Small Food Changes
Last week we took a deep dive into habits, expanding our understanding of the 3 components of every habit and tapping into the wealth of habits research that’s been done in the last 20 years to create new or better habits that will help us reach our goals.
Because our habits shape our lives so profoundly, I wanted to have a second week focused on creating better habits. This week, let’s focus on our eating habits. Let’s identify one or two tiny eating habits that we can work on this week. Something we can keep doing week after week, year after year.
I don’t know anyone who has successfully lost weight and maintained that weight loss who hasn’t made a bunch of small changes to their eating habits. And whether they realized it or not, they created these new eating habits by changing the cues, routines, and rewards surrounding the foods that they ate. They may have swapped the donut and caramel latte they used to pick up on their way to work each day for a quick veggie/fruit smoothie they now make at home (a new routine). Or they may have changed a food cue, as I did with the big red box of Cheezits that needed a new home in back of my kitchen cupboard. And sometimes, it’s the rewards that need adjusting, as we look to get emotional fulfillment and greater enjoyment from non-food sources such as spending more time with our family and friends or developing our own talents and interests.
What small change or two could you make this week that would be easy and sustainable for you? Could you add a piece of fruit or a vegetable to your daily diet? Maybe have a small salad before dinner? Could you drink a glass or two more of water each day? Could you dial down your sugar intake just a little or eliminate one processed food every day? The resources below have lots of ideas for easy food swaps. What small shift would be a good fit for you?
This Week’s Challenge: Make one or two small changes to your daily eating habits and practice these changes this week. What tweaks and changes have you made already to your food choices that have helped you the most? Please post and share with our group. We can all learn from each other.
Make it a great week!
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Suggested Resources:
38 Simple Food Swaps That Could Change Your Life
https://www.womenshealthmag.com/food/healthy-food-swaps
26 Food Swaps To Make You Healthier
https://www.buzzfeed.com/emofly/food-swaps-for-healthier-snacking
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Challenge: The Big Impact of Small Food Changes
Last week we took a deep dive into habits, expanding our understanding of the 3 components of every habit and tapping into the wealth of habits research that’s been done in the last 20 years to create new or better habits that will help us reach our goals.
Because our habits shape our lives so profoundly, I wanted to have a second week focused on creating better habits. This week, let’s focus on our eating habits. Let’s identify one or two tiny eating habits that we can work on this week. Something we can keep doing week after week, year after year.
I don’t know anyone who has successfully lost weight and maintained that weight loss who hasn’t made a bunch of small changes to their eating habits. And whether they realized it or not, they created these new eating habits by changing the cues, routines, and rewards surrounding the foods that they ate. They may have swapped the donut and caramel latte they used to pick up on their way to work each day for a quick veggie/fruit smoothie they now make at home (a new routine). Or they may have changed a food cue, as I did with the big red box of Cheezits that needed a new home in back of my kitchen cupboard. And sometimes, it’s the rewards that need adjusting, as we look to get emotional fulfillment and greater enjoyment from non-food sources such as spending more time with our family and friends or developing our own talents and interests.
What small change or two could you make this week that would be easy and sustainable for you? Could you add a piece of fruit or a vegetable to your daily diet? Maybe have a small salad before dinner? Could you drink a glass or two more of water each day? Could you dial down your sugar intake just a little or eliminate one processed food every day? The resources below have lots of ideas for easy food swaps. What small shift would be a good fit for you?
This Week’s Challenge: Make one or two small changes to your daily eating habits and practice these changes this week. What tweaks and changes have you made already to your food choices that have helped you the most? Please post and share with our group. We can all learn from each other.
Make it a great week!
............................................................................................................................................
Suggested Resources:
38 Simple Food Swaps That Could Change Your Life
https://www.womenshealthmag.com/food/healthy-food-swaps
26 Food Swaps To Make You Healthier
https://www.buzzfeed.com/emofly/food-swaps-for-healthier-snacking
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Replies
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And it’s Move It Monday!
Please post your workout today here:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10637806/move-it-monday-weekly-challenge3 -
Great post! I have been making lots of small changes to my diet and I am loving it. When I go back to my old eating habits my body reacts, and it is awful. I will read this post more thoroughly later today. Getting ready for my walk today.2
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Thanks, Denise!
I've actually been making some diet changes over the last few weeks. Two of them are putting my utensil down between bites to slow my eating and to use a salad plate when I eat dinner at home because it tricks my brain into thinking there is more food then there is and it makes it more appealing. Lol.
I think the two that I am going to work on this week are: 1. always eat sitting down, and 2. NO MORE ICE CREAM!
Ice cream has been my downfall the last few weeks. I would buy a carton and only eat a cup, but it was an every night thing and it seriously affected my sugar intake. The DH asked me not to buy anymore even though his favorite food is ice cream. Lol. He is starting his own weight loss journey and that just doesnt fit into his plan. Lol2 -
I, too, love this challenge! I have been making small simple changes to my Way of Eating and to How I eat. I do need to do more exercising! I still walk everyday, but find I need more.
My Hubby is on board, all so. Which helps me A LOT. If I want something sweet, I found animal crackers are a good way to go. (1) serving, which is 16 crackers is 120 calories. For me, that's better than ice cream or cake. And it definitely "hits the spot".
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HGSmith0920 wrote: »Thanks, Denise!
I've actually been making some diet changes over the last few weeks. Two of them are putting my utensil down between bites to slow my eating and to use a salad plate when I eat dinner at home because it tricks my brain into thinking there is more food then there is and it makes it more appealing. Lol.
I think the two that I am going to work on this week are: 1. always eat sitting down, and 2. NO MORE ICE CREAM!
Ice cream has been my downfall the last few weeks. I would buy a carton and only eat a cup, but it was an every night thing and it seriously affected my sugar intake. The DH asked me not to buy anymore even though his favorite food is ice cream. Lol. He is starting his own weight loss journey and that just doesnt fit into his plan. Lol
@HGSmith0920, I don’t know if this would be an acceptable substitution for ice cream, but I often have a small serving of vanilla Greek yogurt at night. Like ice cream, it’s cold, creamy, and yes, can have a lot of sugar, but unlike ice cream, it has a lot of protein and more calcium. It works for me.
Also, for any other Greek yogurt fans concerned about sugar, I really like the Icelandic brand of Greek yogurt. Like Siggis it has more protein (15 grams) than sugar (11 grams), but for whatever reason, the Icelandic yogurt is just a tad sweeter than Siggis. I much prefer it. I love Key lime pie and the Icelandic Key lime yogurt topped with a tablespoon of pulverized sugar cookie (40 calories) is my new favorite.
Slowing down and eating only when sitting down are great habits to cultivate!
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SilverSheWolf55 wrote: »I, too, love this challenge! I have been making small simple changes to my Way of Eating and to How I eat. I do need to do more exercising! I still walk everyday, but find I need more.
My Hubby is on board, all so. Which helps me A LOT. If I want something sweet, I found animal crackers are a good way to go. (1) serving, which is 16 crackers is 120 calories. For me, that's better than ice cream or cake. And it definitely "hits the spot".
That’s a great substitution, @SilverSheWolf55! Change, modify, and tweak, but don’t forgo unless that’s really the best option for you.1 -
Making food changes are a big way to helping me keep on track and not feel like I'm missing out. For example, I love lattes! But they are so full of fat and sugar if I am not careful. So I started making my own coffee at home and using low cal creamer and Splenda. It's not a latte, but it's the coffee flavor that I love most, so I'm happy. Plus, every once in a while (once a month, at least) I'll go to the local coffeehouse and ask for a tall latte with low fat milk and at most, three pumps of syrup. Each pump has 20 calories and 5g of sugar! But it's a nice treat.
Other steps I'm taking are avoiding snacking on chips and dip in favor of fresh fruit without dip. I haven't snacked on ice cream in a long time. I actually don't even miss it. But summer's coming, so we'll see how I do. I buy carbonated, flavored, unsweetened water to calm my coke cravings. The Dasani's are delicious. I also no longer use creamy salad dressing. I prefer vinaigrette's. The low fat Olive Garden dressing is my favorite!
If I am going to work on anything this week, I think it'll be cutting back on red meat in favor or fish or chicken. I haven't had those very much lately, but I know it's helped me in the past so I am going to work on getting more in this week.3 -
Thanks for this Denise. I have been thinking hard about my habits and realised that it's not the eating habits, but another habit that's derailing me. My partner and I have fallen into the habit of getting home from a hard day at work and, without even thinking about it, opening a bottle of wine. Once it's opened then there seems no point in putting the cork back in so the bottle gets finished. Added to this are the nibbles which can be resisted until we're on our second glass of wine, when they suddenly become necessary
I've signed up to a UK website where you can track your alcohol intake, units etc. and set goals for drink free days or drink one less days. It also sends daily reminders to track. I'm also continuing in my mission to cut sugar from my coffee, I'm now down to half a spoon in the first cup of the day only.
Wish me luck everyone.4 -
It's been a while since I've posted, but I think that a couple of changes to my eating habits that I can make this week are: 1. No cookies starting this week, 2. No Ritz crackers with peanut butter on them. I will only measure peanut butter as part of a meal (ex. breakfast, or in a recipe). Peanut butter is healthy, I know, but not when you just slap it on a cracker, and chow down 5 or 6 ... maybe 10 of them! I really need to get a grip on mindless eating, and this is a start! Hope everyone has a great week.4
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Great suggestions everyone.
I just came from the supermarket and stocked up on goodies. This week plan on drinking infused water and mandatory one salad per day. I have to eliminate alcohol for at least 2 weeks. Continue to use my healthy dressings, wrap my things in lettuce instead of tortillas or bread. Changed my coffee creamer to almond creamer that gives me only 25 cals instead of 10.2 -
These swaps are so important. I have incorporated many of them already, and they are such a great help. Last week was my hubby's birthday, so I ate a lot of chips and cake. The problem with that scenario is that eating sugar just makes me HUNGRY!!! So this week is back to basics.
Some of my favorite swaps:
black coffee instead of with cream and sugar
Sparkling water instead of soda
Bag lunches
Cooking at home
Green and red peppers added to chili (radishes sound pretty weird)
Greek yogurt (or better yet sheep milk lebne) in place of ice cream)
Fruit in place on candy
Veggies instead of crackers/chips
This week I'm going to try Greek yogurt instead of sour cream with my Enchiladas (wish me luck- I'm not so sure about messing with my yummy homemade Mexican food).
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I really like ice cream, so one habit is to have hubby dish it up (weighing it on the scale of course) and then put it away. Greek yogurt (Fage is favorite but found HyVee brand is cheaper and very good) with frozen blueberries, honey (need a little for sweetness) & chopped walnuts is a good substitute for ice cream. (probably not less calories, but definitely less fat & sugar, more protein, & a bigger serving). Another habit I am trying to change is to drink more water & less Diet Coke.5
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I am going to add more fish to my diet. At least once a week at first and then add a couple more days... maybe Tuna Tuesday, Salmon Sunday or Fish Friday. Not sure, but I think linking the food to a certain day would give me a trigger after a few weeks. That would fit in with the Tiny Habits plan. I’m still thinking about a daily goal yet.3
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I'm going to try switching sour cream to Greek yogurt. I'm also trying some of those water flavor mixes in an effort to drink more water, more easily. There are a couple available in my work kitchen so I thought I'd see if it was something worthwhile.1
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I am going to add more fish to my diet. At least once a week at first and then add a couple more days... maybe Tuna Tuesday, Salmon Sunday or Fish Friday. Not sure, but I think linking the food to a certain day would give me a trigger after a few weeks. That would fit in with the Tiny Habits plan. I’m still thinking about a daily goal yet.
This is a superb idea, @nebslp! Using a catchy, memorable word as a trigger is an excellent idea!
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I'm going to try switching sour cream to Greek yogurt. I'm also trying some of those water flavor mixes in an effort to drink more water, more easily. There are a couple available in my work kitchen so I thought I'd see if it was something worthwhile.
@bcTRAI and @77tes, using plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream or mayonnaise has been very beneficial for me. It does have a slightly different taste and texture, so you might mix it 50-50 with sour cream at the beginning and then ease off the sour cream.
Some of my favorite plain Greek yogurt uses:
1. Topping for Mexican and Indian dishes
2. Mix with sweetened yogurts to reduce the sugar
3. Mix with hummus for an easy, protein packed veggie dip
4. Mix 50-50 with mayonnaise or miracle whip for tuna, pasta, or potato salad.
5. Top a baked potato with Greek yogurt and chives
6. Dip for potato chips when I have a sandwich or veggie burger
Once you are accustomed to the taste and texture of plain Greek, there’s no looking back. Sour cream has little nutritional value. Plain Greek yogurt is packed with nutrients.
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Yummy @themedalist those are awesome! I love using my Yogurt like this.
I love bread and I have tried almost everything, store bought and homemade. The textures and flavors are not that great sometimes. I do not eat bread as often anymore. Came across this recipe on Weight Watchers and so far I love it. OF course, bread is bread so I eat it sporadically, but I do love the taste and texture and I can enjoy it without so much guilt.
http://slapdashmom.com/2-ingredient-weight-watchers-bagel-recipe/
I do not know if this counts as a swap, but wanted to share anyways.1 -
RetiredAndLovingIt wrote: »I really like ice cream, so one habit is to have hubby dish it up (weighing it on the scale of course) and then put it away. Greek yogurt (Fage is favorite but found HyVee brand is cheaper and very good) with frozen blueberries, honey (need a little for sweetness) & chopped walnuts is a good substitute for ice cream. (probably not less calories, but definitely less fat & sugar, more protein, & a bigger serving). Another habit I am trying to change is to drink more water & less Diet Coke.
You can do it!! The diet coke for me was so hard at first. I use to drink at least 4 a day. My go to Yogurt is the brand from Aldi. Tastes really good. And cheap too.
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Getting in my fruits is a hard one for me you would think it would be veggies but those I do good with just cant seem to get into a habit of eating fruit daily. One of my three choices for last weeks challenge was to add a fruit in to my evening snack, suffice to say I am still working to make that one a habit. 3
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@prgirl39mfp my son uses the 2 ingredient recipe for making pizza dough. I haven't tried it yet but he likes it.1
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@themedalist Stay safe tonight/tomorrow. I know that you are in the North East like me! We're batting down the hatches. I hope you are too!0
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@prgirl39mfp my son uses the 2 ingredient recipe for making pizza dough. I haven't tried it yet but he likes it.
Good. I am going to try and make other things with the 2 ingredient dough and see what I can come up with.0 -
HGSmith0920 wrote: »@themedalist Stay safe tonight/tomorrow. I know that you are in the North East like me! We're batting down the hatches. I hope you are too!
Thanks, @HGSmith0920. Please stay safe as well. They’ve downgraded the snow totals in my area, but still expecting moderate snow and lots of wind.0 -
sandra8841 wrote: »Getting in my fruits is a hard one for me you would think it would be veggies but those I do good with just cant seem to get into a habit of eating fruit daily. One of my three choices for last weeks challenge was to add a fruit in to my evening snack, suffice to say I am still working to make that one a habit.
@sandra8841, I’m no expert, but I don’t think eating fruit is essential if you eat plenty of veggies. Both fruits and veggies have a lot of nutrients and fiber. Many people seem to prefer the sweetness of fruits over veggies, but if you don’t, I don’t see any reason to try to eat more of something you don’t enjoy. I think giving fruit a chance is a great idea, though, just to see if you do start to enjoy it.
It’s very hard, if not impossible, to make a habit out of something we don’t enjoy doing.1 -
I'm supposed to be starting a new job this morning. My new boss said that he would text me between 7-730 if we were not working. Well, I never got a message so I am assuming that it's still on for the day.
@themedalist I'm on the Jersey Shore and they downgraded ours as well. It went from 12"-18" to 3"-6". I'm actually REALLY happy about this. I live on a quarter mile long dirt road so large snow totals make it impossible to get out of my driveway. Lol3 -
I’m not crazy about apples because they’re too sweet so I’ve combined them with peanu butter and more recently PB2 which tastes good with a lot less fat. But I discovered if I cut the apple in slices and drizzle a little lemon juice over that it cuts the sweetness and makes them taste really good according to my taste buds. No fat or calories added, just vitamin C!2
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MmamabearR wrote: »Making food changes are a big way to helping me keep on track and not feel like I'm missing out. For example, I love lattes! But they are so full of fat and sugar if I am not careful. So I started making my own coffee at home and using low cal creamer and Splenda. It's not a latte, but it's the coffee flavor that I love most, so I'm happy. Plus, every once in a while (once a month, at least) I'll go to the local coffeehouse and ask for a tall latte with low fat milk and at most, three pumps of syrup. Each pump has 20 calories and 5g of sugar! But it's a nice treat.
Other steps I'm taking are avoiding snacking on chips and dip in favor of fresh fruit without dip. I haven't snacked on ice cream in a long time. I actually don't even miss it. But summer's coming, so we'll see how I do. I buy carbonated, flavored, unsweetened water to calm my coke cravings. The Dasani's are delicious. I also no longer use creamy salad dressing. I prefer vinaigrette's. The low fat Olive Garden dressing is my favorite!
If I am going to work on anything this week, I think it'll be cutting back on red meat in favor or fish or chicken. I haven't had those very much lately, but I know it's helped me in the past so I am going to work on getting more in this week.
Such a great post, @MmamabearR. You’ve done a wonderful job at changing a lot of things over time and allowing your taste buds and preferences to catch up to the changes you’ve made.
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It's been a while since I've posted, but I think that a couple of changes to my eating habits that I can make this week are: 1. No cookies starting this week, 2. No Ritz crackers with peanut butter on them. I will only measure peanut butter as part of a meal (ex. breakfast, or in a recipe). Peanut butter is healthy, I know, but not when you just slap it on a cracker, and chow down 5 or 6 ... maybe 10 of them! I really need to get a grip on mindless eating, and this is a start! Hope everyone has a great week.
These are really good changes to work on, @betsym3. Working on mindless eating is something lots of people struggle with, but it’s so important!0 -
Jinantonix wrote: »Thanks for this Denise. I have been thinking hard about my habits and realised that it's not the eating habits, but another habit that's derailing me. My partner and I have fallen into the habit of getting home from a hard day at work and, without even thinking about it, opening a bottle of wine. Once it's opened then there seems no point in putting the cork back in so the bottle gets finished. Added to this are the nibbles which can be resisted until we're on our second glass of wine, when they suddenly become necessary
I've signed up to a UK website where you can track your alcohol intake, units etc. and set goals for drink free days or drink one less days. It also sends daily reminders to track. I'm also continuing in my mission to cut sugar from my coffee, I'm now down to half a spoon in the first cup of the day only.
Wish me luck everyone.
“Wine time” derails a lot of healthy eating habits, @Jinantonix. And it usually includes snacks. Would it work for you to just make this a weekend thing? And congrats on reducing your coffee sugar!
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I struggled with this week’s challenge. Guess I never figured out a good plan of action or what I wanted to change. I did eat fish but it was on a Wednesday...random. However, my tiny habits from the week before of taking my vitamin and spending time in my favorite room every day is pretty solid. Making coffee and pouring that first cup are the perfect triggers. Thank you, Denise!0
