Are you trying to avoid eating unhealthy foods but can't fight the cravings? It's just that some foods are just addictions, so breaking them are difficult. Here is a good starting place to put you on the yellow brick road to healthy eating.
- Identify your cravings.
A particular food craving might point to something lacking in your diet. Find your favorite cravings below, and then note the possible item(s) missing from your present diet.
Just get rid of it, and remove all temptation from your home. To keep yourself from buying more, never go to the grocery store while hungry. When you have only healthy foods to eat, you'll make healthy choices. When you do get a craving, it'll be too much bother to hunt down a candy bar, when you have a healthy substitute at home.
Avoid ice-cream, frozen dinners, white bread, sweets and snacks. If you do this, you will find it harder and harder to eat the wrong type of foods at home.
You don't need dessert after dinner. You don't need candy at the movies. You don't need a donut with your coffee. To break such habits, provide a healthy alternative beforehand, such as a piece of fruit. You can take fruit into a theater with a little white lie, by explaining your diabetic and it's doctor recommended, should anyone ask. Keep an assortment of healthy choices around, such as a crisp vegetable salad you can garnish with lemon or vinegar or peppers, various fruit (remember citrus fruits can be very high in calories), apples, water melon, rice cakes, raisins, dates, and other healthy snacks.
Keep yourself active and busy, so you're not always thinking about just food. There is a lot more to do than eat.
The water intake recommended does NOT include the water you receive from food or coffee. If you feel thirsty, this means you are already dehydrated - and dehydration can often be confused with hunger. Keep a large jug of lemon favored water, chilled herbal tea, or Crystal Lite on hand if you don't like plain water. Another trick is to keep a drinking glass and jug of water always in sight. If it's in front of you, you'll drink it.
Permit yourself a treat from time to time, as you establish new habits. Just be sure a treat is exactly that, just a small taste! One or two cookies, not an entire bag. If you lack the will power in the beginning, purchase a small prepackaged goodie, so that is all there is. A "cheat-day" is a day in which you are permitted to have such a treat. It does not mean you can cheat all day long!
Eating healthy is a lifestyle, not a quick fix to a problem
There are many other things you can do instead of snacking. A short list includes: read the paper, watch a ball game, draw a picture, cut the lawn, plant some flowers, drink a cup of tea, call a friend, take a walk, groom your dog, watch a sitcom, learn a foreign language, do a dance routine, read a book, or research something. So get up off your lazy rear!
Start slowly. It is easier to stick to a new routine if you gradually work up to it.
Eat your meals slowly, with other people, and at a table made to hold a plate and have chairs around it.
Try these healthy alternatives to unhealthy snacks: a handful of toasted/salted almonds, granola bar , Go-Raw gluten free snacks, rice cakes/soy chips, clementines,cereal.
"Nothing tastes as good as being healthy feels"
This article was originally published at WikiHow.
Craving: Chocolate, Missing Nutrient: Magnesium
Women should be cautious during menstruation, as magnesium levels do drop. Instead, try snacking on natural fruits, nuts, or take a vitamin/mineral supplement.
Craving: Sugar or Simple Carbs, Missing Nutrients: Protein & Complex Carbs
A quick science lesson: Carbohydrates break down into sugars. Since sugar metabolizes very quickly, it is not a good source of long term energy. The best source of energy includes protein and complex carbohydrates, which break down much slower. Good examples include brown or wild long-grain rice; and pasta or bread made from wholewheat flour. It is called "wholewheat" because it includes the "whole" kernel, of which the outer shell contains the germ, bran and nutrients of the grain. White rice (Minute Rice) and white flour have been stripped of this goodness, leaving only the inner starch (simple carbohydrates).
Craving: Fried foods, Missing Nutrients: Calcium & OMEGA 3 Fatty Acids
OMEGA 3's are good fat! Try eating more fish, or check your grocery store for milk, cheese, or eggs containing theses essential oils plus calcium (it will state such on the label).
Craving: Salt, Missing Nutrients: Hydration, Vitamin B, Chloride
When you desire something salty, try to drink water instead. Also, stress can lead to a Vitamin B deficiency, so if your experiencing hardship, take a second Vitamin B supplement half way through your day.
- Remove temptation.
Just get rid of it, and remove all temptation from your home. To keep yourself from buying more, never go to the grocery store while hungry. When you have only healthy foods to eat, you'll make healthy choices. When you do get a craving, it'll be too much bother to hunt down a candy bar, when you have a healthy substitute at home.
- When you go to the store, force yourself to buy good foods.
Avoid ice-cream, frozen dinners, white bread, sweets and snacks. If you do this, you will find it harder and harder to eat the wrong type of foods at home.
- Replace the rituals.
You don't need dessert after dinner. You don't need candy at the movies. You don't need a donut with your coffee. To break such habits, provide a healthy alternative beforehand, such as a piece of fruit. You can take fruit into a theater with a little white lie, by explaining your diabetic and it's doctor recommended, should anyone ask. Keep an assortment of healthy choices around, such as a crisp vegetable salad you can garnish with lemon or vinegar or peppers, various fruit (remember citrus fruits can be very high in calories), apples, water melon, rice cakes, raisins, dates, and other healthy snacks.
- Avoid Boredom.
Keep yourself active and busy, so you're not always thinking about just food. There is a lot more to do than eat.
- Drink plenty of water!
The water intake recommended does NOT include the water you receive from food or coffee. If you feel thirsty, this means you are already dehydrated - and dehydration can often be confused with hunger. Keep a large jug of lemon favored water, chilled herbal tea, or Crystal Lite on hand if you don't like plain water. Another trick is to keep a drinking glass and jug of water always in sight. If it's in front of you, you'll drink it.
- Reward Yourself!
Permit yourself a treat from time to time, as you establish new habits. Just be sure a treat is exactly that, just a small taste! One or two cookies, not an entire bag. If you lack the will power in the beginning, purchase a small prepackaged goodie, so that is all there is. A "cheat-day" is a day in which you are permitted to have such a treat. It does not mean you can cheat all day long!
Eating healthy is a lifestyle, not a quick fix to a problem
There are many other things you can do instead of snacking. A short list includes: read the paper, watch a ball game, draw a picture, cut the lawn, plant some flowers, drink a cup of tea, call a friend, take a walk, groom your dog, watch a sitcom, learn a foreign language, do a dance routine, read a book, or research something. So get up off your lazy rear!
Start slowly. It is easier to stick to a new routine if you gradually work up to it.
Eat your meals slowly, with other people, and at a table made to hold a plate and have chairs around it.
Try these healthy alternatives to unhealthy snacks: a handful of toasted/salted almonds, granola bar , Go-Raw gluten free snacks, rice cakes/soy chips, clementines,cereal.
"Nothing tastes as good as being healthy feels"
This article was originally published at WikiHow.
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