Nutritional Tips
Get started on the road to better portion control!
Pay attention when you eat. It’s easy to overdo it when you’re unconscious of how much you’re taking in. Don’t mindlessly eat in front of the television, computer, or in the car. Before you know it, you may have eaten a whole bag of chips or cookies.
Focus on eating your protein first, produce second, and save your starchy foods for last.
There is room for all kinds of foods in a healthy diet, it is just important to remain mindful and intuitive during the eating process.
Eat less and savor more. There’s no reason to make some foods completely off limits. For example, if you crave chocolate, your new eating plan may not last long if you forbid yourself from eating it. A forbidden food may turn into one you binge on. Try just a small taste every day if it keeps you on track.
Don’t worry about wasting food. Contrary to what you may have heard from your mother while growing up, it’s okay to leave some food on your plate. Some experts even say that leaving a small amount of food on your plate is symbolic of having control over your food.
Eat three meals a day. This will keep your blood sugar and mood more stable. That will prevent “lows” that might lead you to turn to food and bingeing due to excessive hunger from skipping meals.
Develop a taste for lower-calorie, lower-fat foods. Eat as much as you want of most vegetables, as long as they aren’t fried, creamed or smothered in butter. It may take a few weeks for your taste buds to become accustomed to less fat in your diet, but after a few weeks higher fat foods will taste too greasy.
Don’t be afraid of eating meat. Lean meat contains lots of healthy nutrients. Just take small helpings, trim the fat, and don’t have it at every meal.
Set Yourself Up For Success! Goal Setting
Consider this conversation from the fairytale Alice in Wonderland:
Alice: “Which way should I go?”
Cat: “That depends on where you are going.”
Alice: “I don’t know where I am going.”
Cat: “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.”
– Lewis Carroll, 1872, Through the Looking Glass
The first step in any journey – including your journey to better health – starts with a clear vision of the end in mind. How or where do you want to be and when? Without a specific goal, one tends to coast along without any real intent. Only with a well-defined goal in mind can you begin to plan out the steps it will take to get there.
So what’s the best way to set a goal? Use the ‘SMART’ format!
Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely
Specific:
A specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal because it provides enough detail that there is no indecision as to exactly what you need to do. A general goal might be, “Increase consumption of vegetables.” Whereas a specific goal would be, “Increase vegetable consumption by adding one serving to one meal per day at least 3 days over the next week.”
Measurable:
A goal should have measurable progress, so you can see the change as it occurs. A measurable goal has an outcome that can be assessed on a sliding scale (1-10), as a hit or miss, or as a success or failure. “Increase vegetable consumption by adding one serving to one meal per day at least 3 days over the next week” is measurable because you can measure if one serving of vegetables was consumed at one meal on at least 3 days during the week.
Attainable:
An attainable goal has an outcome that is realistic given your current social, economic, or cultural resources and time available. If your goal is not possible based on your current situation, it is not an attainable goal. Is the example “Increase vegetable consumption by adding one serving to one meal per day at least 3 days over the next week” possible based on your food budget or time available for preparation? If not, you might want to redefine the goal.
Realistic:
Dream big, but start small! Start with a small goal so you can experience the excitement of achieving it and keep going. While you may want to initially say you’ll add one serving of vegetables to one meal every single day of the week, it is more realistic to gradually increase the intensity of the goal as time goes on.
Timely:
Set a timeframe for the goal: whether it’s next week, one month, or three months from now. Setting an end point for the goal gives you a clear target to aim for. In the example, “Increase vegetable consumption by adding one serving to one meal per day at least 3 days over the next week,” the time frame is clearly defined.
