How We Can Change Some Habits To Eat Correctly

Sometimes we find solutions where we least expect them. It is time to review the eating habits in your life, surely this reflection will help you eat correctly.

If you want to lose weight and improve your lifestyle, we assure you that the solution can often be found where you least expect it. Diet is the first thing that usually comes to mind, but perhaps this is not the answer. Eating right is the first step you should take.

The diet is a temporary solution, but after eliminating the extra kilos you should continue to eat in a balanced and healthy way. If you don’t, you will regain the previous weight. At this time it is important to evaluate your eating habits.

To eat correctly you do not have to depend on a restrictive eating plan that indicates what and how to plan your meals. It is actually a healthy lifestyle, not a punishment. Of course, there will be room to indulge yourself, even if they are unhealthy.

Next, we will tell you how you can change some habits to start this new stage.

Process to start eating correctly

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention produced a guide to improving eating habits. They established three approaches to effecting change successfully: Reflect, Substitute, and Reinforce.

• Reflect on your eating habits, whether they are good or bad. It is about understanding how you acquired those habits that led you to eat in an unhealthy way.
• Replace those bad habits with new practices that motivate you to eat healthy.
• Reinforce what you have learned so as not to repeat the mistakes of the past.

It is a slow process, but safe. In the reflection stage there are some steps that you will have to take so that you are aware of how you have acted and what led you to want to generate an evolution in your eating practices.

1. Make a list of all your eating habits

The idea is that you take a notebook and start a food diary with what you eat, at what time, how you combine your food, what is the dessert, etc. This will help you spot what missteps you have taken.

2. Underline the habits that you consider bad

They are those that lead you to not eat correctly and much more than you need. For example: do not chew, eat quickly, skip meals, eat standing up or watching a technological device, eat when you are not hungry, among others.

3. Attention to unhealthy habits

The objective is to detect what are the factors that lead you to incur these bad practices. In this process you will also take the good steps you have taken, for example: drink low-fat milk or eat fruit for dessert.

4. Make a list of triggers

This way you can know when and where you can eat inappropriately. For example, not doing physical activity, always buying your favorite snacks, not planning your daily dishes, thinking that food will raise your spirits, etc.

5. Underline the most frequent factors

It could be visiting your parents, hanging out with friends, or not knowing what to eat during main meals. The important thing is that you identify them, so that you regulate them properly.

6. Answer the following questions

• What can I do to avoid this situation? At this point you will know how to start the change. You will identify what to do to avoid making the same mistakes.
• Can I do something different that allows me to choose healthier options? Different paths cannot always be chosen.

The important thing is to be aware of these processes, and to take as many forecasts as possible. For example, you can surely attend these activities with your snacks or meals, or sit away from desserts. All of this is part of changing habits.

Substituting is a matter of conscience

If you have reached the substitution stage, it is because you have already gone through an arduous path of reflection, where you have detected what bad things have led you to eat in an unhealthy way. It is now when you must begin to acquire new practices.

• Eat more slowly.
• Eat when you are really hungry.
• Identify what foods you can add to your menus.
• Plan your weekly menus.
• Take snacks into account.

Reinforce so as not to decline

When you identify with your new habits, eating right becomes spontaneous and enjoyable. Remember that customs are reinforced with daily practice. At first it will cost you because you have overturned the customs that you may have learned in your childhood.

Be patient. When you feel like you’re reverting to an unhealthy practice, stop, breathe, and rectify.

Ask yourself again what has led you to do this again and what you must do to get things right again. There is no doubt about it: this is a challenge that will change your life forever.