It’s the tale as old as Taco Bell. After one too many weekends of greasy, deep fried foods and sugary desserts, you decide something has to change. So you announce to yourself (and a few close friends), “I’m going to start eating better.”
But usually, after a few uninspired lunches of pre-packaged salad, a few painful walks past the vending machine, and a few awkward conversations with grandma as you reject her famous snickerdoodle cookies, you begin to see the writing on the wall.
Shortly after, you find yourself back in line at your favorite drive-through, and the cycle begins again.
If this sounds like a page from your life’s story, I’ve written this article to help. Here, you’ll find smart suggestions and helpful resources to make healthy eating a bit easier — so you can stick with it for the long term.
Be realistic.
In a our fast-paced world, we can have almost anything we want in less that a week (two days if you have Amazon Prime). But habit change still doesn’t work that way.
Making better decisions take systems and support, but it also takes practice. And when we attempt an overnight overhaul of our entire lifestyles, we set ourselves up for disappointment, which can lead to giving up.
So, when you’re resolving to eat better, start by taking small steps. Pick some specific changes you plan to make. And write them down, because research says you’ll be more likely to reach your goal if you do.
Get your friends/family in on it.
When it comes to eating better, the people you eat with (friends and family) can be your strongest allies or your costliest saboteurs.
It’s hard to overcome peer pressure, much less complaining kids. That’s why Life of Dad recommends talking with your family and telling them about the changes you're planning to make.
Let them know why eating better is important to you and why it might be good for them too. Ask for their buy-in and support, and consider agreeing on a group reward if everyone sticks with the changes.
Start by eating the healthy foods you like.
When many people try to eat healthier, they make a trip to the grocery store and buy a cart full of foods they’ve either never tried or don’t even like.
Author Todd Brison recommends a different approach:
Step 1: “Find the 10% of healthy food you like most.”
Step 2. “Eat that more.”
Simple right? And another way to make healthy eating more fun.
Starting with foods you enjoy (the “low hanging fruit,” if you will) makes healthy eating easier to stick with. Then, after you have some momentum, you can gradually incorporate new foods to add some variety.
Keep trying healthy foods you don’t yet like.
Building on the previous tip, it’s hard to stick with healthy eating if you’re stuck with only three or four foods. So if you want to eat a diverse, delicious diet, you’ll probably need to learn to love some new healthy foods.
When it comes to eating our vegetables, we’re all still kids at heart. And a helpful article on Parents.com has two tips for helping kids like us learn to like to new foods.
- Practice. Many people can learn to like a new food after ten to 15 tries, even with small portions.
- Cheat. You can start by adding sauces or cheese to healthy foods while you’re learning to enjoy the new flavor.
Tailor your environment to your goal.
In his book, The Power of Habit, author Charles Duhigg explains that habits consist of three steps: a Trigger, a Routine, and a Reward.
When it comes to unhealthy eating, the trigger is often as simple as seeing food — walking past the bowl of candy on the desk, or driving past the ice cream shop on the way home.
One way to curb unhealthy eating habits is to reduce the trigger, which starts the whole thing.
This might mean keeping certain foods out of your house, only grocery shopping after a meal, avoiding certain restaurants, etc.
It will be different for different people. The point is you can make your own life easier by avoiding triggers. This allows you to spend less time relying on white knuckle willpower, which won’t hold up for long.
Learn how to eat better in restaurants.
If eating better means giving up your social life, you’re facing an uphill climb.
This handy guide by non-profit Full Plate Living shows you how to get creative with the menu and order slimming meals at 10 popular chain restaurants.
Bring Your Own Lunch.
While there are ways to order healthy options at restaurants, it’s hard to do when dozens of not-so-healthy options are tempting you. And for this reason (and financial reasons), eating out probably isn’t something you should do every day.
So whether you’re heading to class or to work, before you leave, pack a lunch.
It can be done in less time than you probably think. And chances are, it will be better for you than what you’ll find at the drive through.
Learn to enjoy cooking.
Not knowing how to cook, or not enjoying cooking, makes healthy eating very difficult by constantly nudging you toward the drive-through or packaged meals.
The blog "Cooking in College" has a great resource page to help you find easy recipes, how-to’s, and budget friendly meal ideas, so you can make cooking easier and learn to enjoy it.
Try Hara Hachi Bu.
When we think about eating healthier, we tend to focus on what we’re eating — and that’s certainly important. But a second area that deserves our attention is how much food we’re consuming.
In Okinawa, Japan, a region famous for the longevity of its residents, overeating is curbed with a strategy called Hara Hachi Bu.
The goal of this approach is to stop eating when you feel 80% full.
Why? It can take your brain and stomach up to 20 minutes to register how full you really are. So, if you stop eating when you feel 80% full, there’s a good chance you’ll feel 100% full 20 minutes later — which is better than overeating and feeling stuffed.
Be kind to yourself.
When kids are learning to walk, we expect them to fall at first. It’s part of the process. And learning to eat better is similar. You’re going to make mistakes — and that’s okay.
The death of many healthy eating resolutions is guilt and shame. We make a mistake, scold ourselves, and decide giving up is better than feeling like a failure.
So go easy on yourself, even when you aren’t seeing the results you want. Take your time. You can do this.
Small changes add up — and can lead to big results.
