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Even though the phrase “It’s not a diet; it’s a lifestyle” has become increasingly popular, the data around modern eating habits suggest that we as a culture are far from living this principle out in real life.
The Engage Mutual Assurance “Cost of Dieting” study in 2010 revealed that the average woman in the UK goes on 3 diets a year, each diet lasting only about 19 days.
Nutrition accounts for up to 80% of our body composition (i.e., how much body fat we do or don’t carry on our frame), so in terms of weight loss it’s a step worth mastering.
We simply need a different method to overhaul it for good.
#1. COMMIT TO SPECIFIC CHANGES
Vowing to “eat healthier” is useless (at least after a couple of days).
There’s a whole range of healthier and unhealthier options when it comes to what we eat, and because we eat a few times a day, we constantly have to make decisions around what constitutes as “healthy” vs. “unhealthy”.
Often, our intentions to eat healthier arise as a knee-jerk reaction to the negative effects of an unhealthy diet suddenly compounding (realizing those jeans from last year don’t fit, noticing that the mid-afternoon energy slump has gotten worse, etc.).
But the resolve to simply eat more salads typically won’t get you where you want to be.
Dedicate yourself to changing specific behaviors, so the brain knows exactly what is on point and what isn’t.
Are you ruling out all carbs? (Which I wouldn’t recommend, FYI.) Or all white, refined carbs? Or simply limiting them to a certain number of servings per week? Or to a certain window of the day?
You see, the answers to these questions have to be determined ahead of time. Otherwise, you’ll start dancing around gray areas and, in frustration, just get frustrated and find yourself slipping back into old habits.
(For more on identifying specific changes to your nutrition, take a look at Episode #7: “If You Can Be Organized, You Can Be Healthy“)
#2. DON’T CHANGE EVERYTHING AT ONCE
Equally important to choosing specific behaviors is deciding when to implement these behavioral changes.
And here’s the key: Don’t change everything at once!
Too many changes in your routine at once will only overwhelm your brain.
And guess what happens to a stressed, overwhelmed brain? It starts craving more of the things you’re trying to avoid–not only out of FOMO, but also due to concrete, biological chemical impulses to get quick energy from high-sugar and high-carbohydrate foods when conquering a stressful situation.
My Boss Body System members actually set staggered dates on their calendars indicating when they are going to add in additional nutrition changes.
Don’t try to change more than 2-3 nutrition habits in any one given time.
Also recognize that a nutritional change might well include limiting a certain food as opposed to ruling it out categorically.
(The moment we rule out a food altogether from our diets, unless we are allergic to them, they instantly become that much more desirable!)
So if you’re trying to cut back on soda, for example, perhaps you cut back from 4 sodas a day to 3 sodas a day for the first couple of weeks, then set a date to cut down to 2, and so on.
This allows your brain to adapt to the behavioral change in a more manageable way, allowing you to create permanent change.
#3: MAKE INTELLIGENT CHANGES
So how do you decide which changes to start with? (Since you’re not starting with all the things.)
There are two different approaches worth considering, depending on which feels more right for you.
First, you can start with the things that are currently your biggest diet traps. Those things that if you know you started making a dent in, you’d really start to see significant change.
Though each person may have his or her own nutritional Achilles heel, most people could see the most direct changes to both their waistline and their energy levels by making changes around intake of sugars and refined carbs.
So if your sugar addiction is played out through umpteen sugary Starbucks blended beverages a week, then starting with limiting those sugar bombs may give you the most bang for your buck.
The other school of thought is to start with the changes that are easiest for you–such as nixing those foods you eat only out of convenience and not necessarily taste. (Maybe you don’t love that fast-food burger and fries, but you’ve worn a rut in that drive-through simply because it’s on the way home from your kid’s soccer practice.)
Or maybe the easy switch for you is actually adding more of something–like more water or more fruits and vegetables.
#4. PLAN INDULGENCES
As we spoke about already, taking something away entirely only cues our brains to rebel and want it more.
Planning indulgences throughout our week can be beneficial for two reasons:
First, it helps you stay on track with your other intentions throughout the week because you don’t feel deprived.
I find it’s much easier to tell myself, “I can have that later” as opposed to “I can’t have that.”
Secondly, revisiting those favorite yummy but low-quality foods eventually removes their power.
When you transition into a healthy eating lifestyle, you start to crave less and less of the “indulgent” stuff.
Not to say that you’ll ever reach the point where pizza doesn’t sound good (nor am I saying that’s the goal.)
But now when I have that “forbidden fruit,” which is actually more enjoyable because I can enjoy it sans guilt, I also discover that it wasn’t really quite as tasty as I remember.
And waking up the next day feeling slightly weighed down only reiterates why I love eating healthfully the rest of the time.
You may choose to include a small, daily indulgence (around the 200 calorie mark). Or for many people, the concept of a weekly cheat meal is a lifesaver.
(This is what Jeff and I do–every Saturday night is an “anything goes” meal!)
#5. REMOVE TEMPTATION
Once you’ve identified the most appropriate, specific changes you’d like to make to your eating habits, set up a timeline for when you’re going to implement these changes, and decided which indulgences you’re going to enjoy on an occasional basis, it’s time to set yourself up for success by removing temptation around those things that could detract you from your goals.
Rid your pantry of anything that is likely to veer you off track.
It’s not fair to expect yourself to say no to something that’s staring back at you from your fridge or pantry.
Set up your environment to support your goals, so that you don’t have to rely on willower.
Make it HARD to be unhealthy!
Not only do you want to take away the negative options, but you also can take it a step further by making positive choices readily available.
Stocking your fridge with healthy foods, portioning out healthy grab-and-go snacks, and creating a meal plan that allows you to batch and freeze individual portions of healthy fare will skyrocket your odds of sticking with your nutrition goals.
Because I cook ahead and stock my freezer with healthy, home cooked meals, I’ve actually chosen to forego an unhealthier option I may have been craving simply because it was easier to grab what I’d already made.
Make the healthy choice the easy choice, and you’ll be sure to stick with your nutritional goals…well beyond the average 19 days!
Want some more hand-holding in this area of stocking your kitchen with healthy meals?
Find out how to organize your recipes, automate your shopping list, and streamline your prep time with my free master class “The Busy Entrepreneur’s Meal Planning Shortcuts.”
FREE MEAL-PLANNING MASTER CLASS
