S
H
A
R
E
How To Include Foods You Enjoy and Still Stay on Track to Better Health
You have a meal plan you found online, received from your doctor, personal trainer or dietitian. Yet often time you find yourself, letting the food go to waste in refrigerator and going to a fast food restaurant instead, or daydreaming about the foods you can’t have or wishing you were eating something else. You yoyo between eating what you “should” and indulging in your guilty “foods”.
In this article, I’ll cover some key strategies, habits and tactics for including foods you enjoy and still staying on track on your health goals.
The First Step: The Habit of Paying Attention to Your Needs.
Whether you are just starting your day and you are already being flooded with cravings of your “Don’t eat” food list or you are in the middle of the chaos, you have already “cheated”... The first step is to get into need awareness mode.
Need awareness is paying attention to “what am I needing right now, that is triggering all of these cravings?” When we focus on the craving we have only 2 choices, to submit or rebel. However when you focus on needs there’s more than 10,000 ways to meet the needs behind the cravings.
Here’s what you may be needing:
- You are needing variety. Have you been eating the same food over and over again with very little variety. No wonder you don’t want to taste a single bite of this again. To meet this need for variety there’s more than 10,000 thousand ways to do this and still live your value of healthy eating. Vary your seasonings, vary the container in which you serve your meals, vary who you eat it with, vary where you eat it, vary how you eat it, vary the recipes. Vary Your vegetables, Vary your protein, etc. Meeting your need for variety can make your meals more enjoyable.
- You are needing autonomy. Do you find yourself “yo-yoing” between eating what you “should” be eating followed by days of self-sabotaging. Do you notice a lot of “should” thoughts in your mind like “I should be eating this”. “ I should not be eating be eating this” The periods of self-sabotage may be your body’s attempt to meet its need for autonomy. Try converting your “should” statements into “choose/want” statements to achieve a reduction in self-sabotaging days. For example you can say “ I choose to eat this because I want to be in better health so that I can enjoy my family longer”. Eating from choice and purpose can make healthy eating more enjoyable.
- You have an emotional need that you are confusing for a need for food: You are bored, lonely, stressed. Feelings are signals to met and unmet needs. Feeling lonely, you may be needing companionship. Feeling bored, you may be needing stimulation. Feeling lost, disconnected, you may be needing understanding from yourself, friends, family, or coworkers. Needing comfort. Food may be the easiest way to numb or quiet those feelings and needs, because it feels good to eat.
Food may be the easiest strategy. Food doesn’t reject us, is never too busy, doesn’t think we’re needy, or weird. Continuing to take the easy route may feel good in the moment but once the feel good hormones from food are depleted, the need remains or sometimes it even worsens because now there’s a need for comfort for the guilt of having “cheated” on our meal plan. Sometimes people snack some more to numb this new pain and the cycle continues.
Food is not the best strategy. Again focusing on the need and finding a non-food strategy to meet that need is often the best route. There’s more than 10,000 different strategies to meet those needs. If you are wanting more companionship, phone a friend, if the friend is unavailable don’t be discouraged, he/she is one out 10,000 strategies for meeting your need for companionship. A pet, meeting someone new, joining a facebook group, family members, etc. all can meet your need for companionship.
Next: You Discover You Just Want This Food and don’t Feel Like Doing Any Self Analysis.
Here’s what may help:
- Do healthy ingredient swaps. Boost the amount of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber in your regular recipes by trying simple substitutions. Use whole-wheat flour for half of the all-purpose flour. Swap iceberg lettuce for arugula or spinach. And trade white rice for brown rice, wild rice, or cauliflower rice. Choose reduce fat, salt, sugar and calories versions of the ingredients without sacrificing flavor.
- Make room for healthy side dishes. If you have a craving for sweets or a particular candy bar. Try to have a piece of fruit first before indulging in your favorite sweet. Have a smaller portion of your craved-food item at the end of a meal.
- Don’t indulge on an empty stomach. It’s harder to have a reasonable portion of a food you crave if you are extremely hungry, Even those with the best self-discipline may find it hard to stop at one small piece. Therefore preventing extreme states of hunger can reduce cravings.