After a lifetime of bad eating habits how do start eating healthy!
JenPc1978
Posts: 34
Especially when n you have a sugar addiction lol Getting started on healthy eating is so overwhelming l could use any help :-)
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Id start with:
1) logging on all your food whether its deemed healthy or not. (and don't judge yourself, just log it, every morsel)
2) start the day with a healthy breakfast, research some options of things you like to eat. if you like sweet. eat oatmeal (not packets, unflavored oatmeal) with mixed berries (one of my favorites). i sweetened with truvia packets. (i know this isn't the greatest either but its a start!)
then as you get more into, start looking at healthy lunch options and dinners. what I've done is make at home what i would normally like to eat out. like tacos or burgers. i just make healthier versions at home. don't overwhelm yourself do one thing at a time.
allow yourself a treat, maybe thats something sweet. so if you know you get to have that piece of chocolate everyday it may help.
just keep building the steps. you could even write out a plan. like week 1 healthy breakfasts and log all my food. (and forget the rest)
week 2, healthy breakfast and lunch (still logging everything)
etc
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First of all you have to be ready to make the commitment. I mean really ready to put the work in, not just kind of sad and unhappy with your weight.
Then you start slow. Pick things that you know you can do and do them consistently until they become habits. Start with just a few things and, when you have built them into habits, add a few more things and go from there. When I started, my first habits were logging everything I ate (even if it was way over goal), and trying to buy more fruits and veggies at the grocery store. After that, I slowly built in trying to hit my calorie goal, weighing and measuring my food, trying to eat certain numbers of servings of fruits/ veggies per day, trying to drink more water, trying to go for a walk every day, weighing myself once a week, trying to eat more protein, switching to healthy oils, reducing my carbs a bit, etc. But you have to understand that I've spent the better of four years working on building all of these new habits and it's not a perfect process. I've lost a lot of weight, but I've also hit a lot of stalls, regained a few pounds and lost them again, etc. And that's the most important thing to remember -- no matter what you do to be healthier, you have to be mentally prepared for setbacks and then be ready to get right back on the horse.0 -
It can be very overwhelming! Heck, I think that's what held me back from making changes for so long. The trick is to make small changes over time. Set one goal per week. You didn't specify what kind of chagnes you need to make so this is just going on an assumption... How about trading out chips for baby carrots or the like with your sandwich this week? Or cutting down the amount of soda or wine you drink?
Planning meals can be a huge help. I've been off the wagon due to a family crisis but normally what I do is plan out 5-6 dinners, something to eat for breakfast all week and fill in lunches from there (leftovers or sandwich fixings or a combination). I make my grocery list based on all of that and try my best not to buy anything that's not on the list. I also sometimes take time to prep food. Like making a big batch of oatmeal in the crockpot or cooking a breakfast casserole. Or cutting up fruit for a salad.
This also helps with tracking as you can pre log some things knowing what you'll be having. Good luck!0 -
Here's my advice - don't worry about WHAT you're eating right now. Just make a commitment to log it. ALL of it - the good, the bad, the ugly. Log as completely and honestly as possible. Just seeing how much and what you're eating will cause you to make better choices.
I don't know if you're here to lose weight at all or if you're just trying to get fitter, but I have lost 70 pounds. I started without a diet in mind, I just logged what I was eating - and was completely shocked at my calorie intake... which led to me making better choices. I am now thinner than I've ever been as an adult, and am exercising regularly and enjoying it. And it all started with me being honest with myself.
Good luck! :flowerforyou:0 -
Thank you so much I'll do it! :-)
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One of my biggest pieces of advice is to not make a dramatic change overnight or you most likely won't stick to it. If you're eating nothing but junk today, and you only start doing chicken and broccoli tomorrow, you won't stick with it. As stated above, just log everything, and then make small, gradual changes to your diet that will keep you full while still meeting any goals you have (whether that be achieving a calorie deficit, meeting your micronutritient goals, etc.)
Best of luck!0 -
Thank you all for the awesome advice!!!! I'll take it to heart :-)0
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Start with logging. Spend a week seeing what you "normally" eat. Then start making some manageable changes.
Here's a visual:
http://anti-aginghealthsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Balanced-plate.gif0 -
Thank you so much :-) everyone!
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I agree with the above posters. What worked for me is to start logging everything I ate, regardless of what it was - being completely honest with myself. It allowed me to see what I was truly eating. The thought is knowing what you are actually eating will give you the knowledge necessary to make small and gradual changes. It helped me to see what could be reduced, swapped out for a healthier or lower calorie alternative, etc. As I lose and my calorie allotment goes down, I change what I eat a little bit more so I stay in a calorie deficit.0
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Oh, and once you log and see what you're eating, look at the numbers, and then read ingredient labels to see what you're actually eating. good luck!0
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Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »Start with logging. Spend a week seeing what you "normally" eat. Then start making some manageable changes.
Yes, this. Also think about what a healthy diet is to you. IMO, it involves getting sufficient protein and a good range of foods that provide fiber and macronutrients, largely vegetables and fruits, but also beans, and whole grains if you like those foods.
Then think about how you might modify your meals to incorporate those ideas. For example, I decided I wasn't getting enough protein (protein has the added benefit of making me less hungry), especially at breakfast and lunch, so I adjusted to add more protein to those meals. I also decided it would be helpful for me to eat vegetables at every meal as possible, and figured out that I was tending to get my empty calories in snacks while eating pretty well at meals, so I eliminated snacking (which for me was never about hunger). Others might do better planning snacks based on foods they want to be eating.
One important thing for me, too, is that I didn't see dieting as about eliminating foods I liked, and I make sure that the healthy meals I cook are also delicious.
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What worked for me (also a sugar addict) was to find out how many calories I needed then I made gradual changes - swapped sugary drinks for low calorie/sugar-free ones, ate more fruit and veg, did a bit more home cooking/baking ... my home-made cakes have less sugar and additives than shop-bought ones I used to eat.
I got into reading the nutritional info on the packaging and that helped a lot - loads of salt, sugar and fat in many foodstuffs as they're some of the cheapest ingredients manufacturers like to use. I still eat too much sugar, don't bother to track in macros as its always way over, but a bit more comes from natural sources like fresh, tinned or dried fruit than it used to.
Can't give up treats like biscuits and chocolate completely though, would miss them so much and probably end up bingeing on them
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you start.
you make a promise to yourself.
Dont break it, cause you love yourself and we dont break promises to people we love.
then you start.0 -
Making everything delicious is key.lemurcat12 wrote: »Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »Start with logging. Spend a week seeing what you "normally" eat. Then start making some manageable changes.
Yes, this. Also think about what a healthy diet is to you. IMO, it involves getting sufficient protein and a good range of foods that provide fiber and macronutrients, largely vegetables and fruits, but also beans, and whole grains if you like those foods.
Then think about how you might modify your meals to incorporate those ideas. For example, I decided I wasn't getting enough protein (protein has the added benefit of making me less hungry), especially at breakfast and lunch, so I adjusted to add more protein to those meals. I also decided it would be helpful for me to eat vegetables at every meal as possible, and figured out that I was tending to get my empty calories in snacks while eating pretty well at meals, so I eliminated snacking (which for me was never about hunger). Others might do better planning snacks based on foods they want to be eating.
One important thing for me, too, is that I didn't see dieting as about eliminating foods I liked, and I make sure that the healthy meals I cook are also delicious.
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What is healthy eating habits? Personally I think anything is healthy to eat. I have found its not about what you are eating as it is about moderation. I look at others diaries and see theirs full of yogurts and salads and mine might say hotdogs or pizza or mac n cheese etc etc, For myself I wouldn't have made it as far as I have if I had took the mindset that I could never again have cupcakes, hotdogs or pizza. I would have failed within two days. I kept it real. The reality for me is that I don't like veggies and I do love all those foods that I am told I cant or shouldn't have. There are a lot of opinions on these forums. Some will offer advice and help a lot while others think their way or the highway. It is because of those people that I closed my food diary to the public. Dieting is to important for me to let others derail me by what they perceive I should do. I know I am kinda drifting from your original post so I will get to my point. I never threw out those foods I love. Here is what I did to achieve a new way of living. I cut portion sizes of those foods down and added some foods that are considered healthier in their place. It has worked for me. I am down over 60 lbs. and have stuck to this for nearly a year now. There are a lot of good people here and have good intentions when offering advice but ultimately you know your own mindset and body requirements. You have to figure out what is achievable and set the standard. Starting small is a good idea in my opinion and I am a full throttle kinda person, but I am forced to take it turtle slow in this. I want changes that last a lifetime, not just for the moment. Take this one day at a time and don't worry about tom. I wish you the best of luck.0
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Thank you for all the great advice I love it :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)
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I just started by logging everything I ate for a week. Then I swapped things out so I stayed in the limits.
Log everything even if you feel guilt or shame about it. Being honest to yourself is hard, but so helpful. I have had the "yay! Let's party" days and the "I hate my life" days. Log them and start your next day fresh. I quit logging before because I was mad at myself. Really counterproductive :-)
Read a lot on here- tons of good info on the stickies (they are at the top of each discussion forum).0 -
I'm with the people who are saying make one small change at a time. Over time that's how I've incorporated more leafy greens, more whole grains, new whole grains, more legumes and less meat/cheese, and new and exciting kinds of legumes too.
There's also a weird but true fact that just recording all of a behavior makes the behavior change, probably because we're bringing more awareness to the behavior and make different choices because we're committed to writing it down.
If you're looking for healthy recipes, I really like Eating Well. My parents got me a subscription to the magazine last year for Christmas, but I find a lot of good recipes on their website. There and Cooking Light.0 -
PS- One of the other things that helped was that I took a community college 100-level nutrition course. It helped me wrap my head around nutrition in a useful way.0
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First of all you have to be ready to make the commitment. I mean really ready to put the work in, not just kind of sad and unhappy with your weight.
Then you start slow. Pick things that you know you can do and do them consistently until they become habits. Start with just a few things and, when you have built them into habits, add a few more things and go from there. When I started, my first habits were logging everything I ate (even if it was way over goal), and trying to buy more fruits and veggies at the grocery store. After that, I slowly built in trying to hit my calorie goal, weighing and measuring my food, trying to eat certain numbers of servings of fruits/ veggies per day, trying to drink more water, trying to go for a walk every day, weighing myself once a week, trying to eat more protein, switching to healthy oils, reducing my carbs a bit, etc. But you have to understand that I've spent the better of four years working on building all of these new habits and it's not a perfect process. I've lost a lot of weight, but I've also hit a lot of stalls, regained a few pounds and lost them again, etc. And that's the most important thing to remember -- no matter what you do to be healthier, you have to be mentally prepared for setbacks and then be ready to get right back on the horse.
^^ This...100% agree
Also - try to refocus your thoughts on food - food is fuel...sugar has basically zero nutritional value and therefore you are not fueling your body for success. I love breads and chips, but when I look at the macros of the nutrition they offer, it makes me rethink that choice.
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NuggetLovesEdie wrote: »There's also a weird but true fact that just recording all of a behavior makes the behavior change, probably because we're bringing more awareness to the behavior and make different choices because we're committed to writing it down.
This is so true.0 -
Thank you everyone this is a lot of help! :-)
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Start slow. Don't give up everything all at once because it isn't sustainable. Over time I find I am giving up on more and more bad foods. Just recently I have found that I really can't handle sugar as much as I use to. Too much makes my stomach really upset and I feel sick for a day or too. Taken me over a year to get most of the bad stuff out of my diet but I feel it is more sustainable now rather than in the past when I tried to go cold turkey.0
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Yeah I tried cold turkey many times and it last for a few days and then I binge big time lol. Thank you for the help :-)0
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Just like a band-aid, there are two schools of thought on this. Some want to go the "Yank it off and get it over with" route, switching from junk to all healthy, all the time. I went that route for my own reasons and about six weeks into it, I caved and had a cheeseburger. It tasted SO GOOD, but left feeling poorly, so that sealed the deal. About 18 months later, I added some less healthy stuff back in.
I thought I missed donuts and Crunch Berries and all that junk, but when I took a diet break, it was less than two days before I wanted my healthy foods back. On that "break", I found out that all the time I spent wishing I could have donuts and restaurant food...I didn't actually want it, lol. As soon as I could have it, I was like, "No, thanks."
My new habits have stuck and it would be as hard for me to change to a bunch of junk as it was for me to change from a bunch of junk. I'd rather have actual berries than Crunch Berries and that's the truth.
Some people prefer to eke that bandaid off millimeter by millimeter, stopping at pain. This takes a lot longer than just ripping it off, but is easier for them. The experts recommend this method. Start by drinking water instead of juice and pop. Switch to low or no-fat dairy. Then add in some fruits, then add in some veggies. Stop buying red meat...little by little, you adjust your diet so that in the end, it is a healthy one.
Pick the one that appeals to you and go with it.
Everyone says dieting begins in the kitchen. IMO, healthy eating begins in the grocery store. Read about nutrition in reliable places and read labels.
Healthy eating: http://cdn1.sph.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2013/04/HEPApr2013.jpg
More healthy eating: http://www.fitness.gov/eat-healthy/how-to-eat-healthy/
I love you, salt, but you're breaking my heart: http://sodiumbreakup.heart.org/sodium-411/
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Thank you for all the info :-) I'll check out out :-)0
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Great advice. I agree with just logging everything you eat, until you get a good idea of how many calories are in things... Then you can adjust as needed. You can start with a small goal if it's too overwhelming... lose one pound a week or something (a lot of people start with two, that was too much for me). Then log everything.
I love food, I love eating, and I've managed to lose 80 pounds. It's very possible if you want it badly enough. I agree that it's very important to choose carefully what you want to spend your calories on.0 -
I want to add - look into new foods. There are so many out there and if you haven't been big into fruits and veggies, keep trying all the different ones. You will almost certainly find some you like! Don't be scared off by names or similarities to things you don't like and don't freak out because you have no idea how to prepare them. The Internet holds all the recipes you could possibly want.
There are so many foods to be tried!0 -
Another thing about trying new foods is that it takes 8 or 9 tries to figure out whether or not you'll like something. So don't give up just because it might not be appealing the first time. You might be surprised how much you can grow to love lots of healthy foods.0
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