Five healthy eating habits to develop this week

Five healthy eating habits to develop this week

Let's face it, it's not easy to consistently improve your daily eating habits. This is especially true if you've been eating an unhealthy diet for quite some time and are desperately trying to reverse it. Of course, it will be difficult to change your habits and give up the fast food habit if you are used to eating that every day. However, if your goal is to lose weight, the first thing you need to do is get a handle on your daily diet. 70% of your weight loss success depends on your diet, so it's important to get this under control first.

So here are five ways you can develop healthy eating habits this week and jump straight to the forefront of a healthy lifestyle.

Healthy Eating Habits #1:Make a list of two healthy meals you want to make this week.

If you want to eat healthier, you have to be willing to give up fast food and pizza delivery (at least for a while) and use your own kitchen to prepare meals. It may sound a little foreign to you, especially if you're not used to cooking in your kitchen, but this could be the most important healthy habit that gets you to your weight loss goal. To start, let's keep it simple and just write a list of one or two dishes (ingredients) that you want to make in the coming week.

Take a moment to search the internet for healthy meals that you like. When you make your shopping list, double-check that you've written down everything you'll need to prepare the meal(s) and soon you'll have wonderfully healthier meals right at home and not have to rely on that fattening fast food.

Healthy Eating Habits #2:Portion food into containers immediately.

One of the best reasons for preparing food at home, besides enjoying a well-portioned meal, is that you can prepare 3-5 meals from this one cooking episode. If you double or even triple the amount of ingredients, you're guaranteed to have plenty left over to pack/freeze for future meals, or to immediately portion the extra into plastic travel containers for awesome grab-and-go lunches. If you don't have an adequate supply of travel containers, add them to your shopping list as these will become invaluable tools in your healthy eating efforts.

Healthy Eating Habits #3:Be careful about the drinks you consume.

Drinks can be treacherous daggers when it comes to weight loss because most people don't view liquids as potential dangers. However, if you look closely at the nutritional value of soda, juice, energy drinks and specialty coffee, you might be surprised at how high the calorie count is, not to mention the sugar content you'll find in each serving. As you focus on healthy eating habits, avoid these types of drinks and try drinking only water, black coffee, or other almost 0 calorie options like tea. You'll be pleasantly pleased with how many calories you'll save, especially if you were a heavy soda or juice drinker.

Healthy Eating Habits #4:Use smaller plates and drink water with every meal.

This may sound like an unusual tip, but using smaller plates really helps control the portion size consumed at meals. Eating too much at mealtimes is usually the reason for being overweight. Our bodies simply don't need as much food to function efficiently. The problem is that you have to get used to eating less at mealtimes, but this is where the water really comes in and helps. The portion on a small plate looks like a lot of food and when you combine that with a large glass of water, you'll find yourself full with a lot less than you might have been used to in the past.

Healthy Eating Habits #5:Travel snacks and lunches for work.

This last tip for a healthy diet follows directly on from the first. If you're cooking at home, budget a little extra to make sure you have leftovers. Those leftovers can now become travel meals for work, and supplementing your lunch with a few healthy snacks will keep all your time away from home nutritious and beneficial for weight loss. Don't miss out on your drink selection when you're not at home. If possible, keep a pack of bottled water somewhere at work so you always have it on hand and avoid having to go to the vending machine.

If you think about it, you can get a 36 pack of bottled water for around $4, while how much would 36 sodas from the vending machine cost over time? Not only will you save a lot of money, but you will also save your body from consuming 5,400 calories.