5 Easy and Healthy Eating Habits For Weight Loss
This article will be a number of things:
Practical
Easy to implement
Realistic
Balanced
Nutrition is a very complex topic - and within that complexity, someone who is simply searching just to try and make a small change for their health by looking to improve their diet can easily be led off track and left feeling very very confused about all of the conflicting information out there and what it means to “eat healthily” especially when it comes to weight loss.
I will cut through that.
Today, I will tell you easy-to-implement things, to make your diet as simple as possible, and as healthy as possible to help you achieve your goals, leaving you with the knowledge and ability to improve your healthy eating habits.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR: 5 Easy and Healthy Eating Habits For Weight Loss
The Importance Of Healthy Eating Habits?
Healthy and Unhealthy Eating Habits
What Are 5 Healthy Eating Habits?
- Structured Eating
- No Black or White Thinking
- Increase Protein & Vegetables
- Healthy Snacks
- Plenty of Water
The Importance Of Healthy Eating Habits?
Habits are the building blocks of change and if losing weight is your goal, then change is what is required.
Changing something so integral to your existence like your diet is also a really hard thing to do - and to make sure that change is long-lasting and effective enough to help you reach your goals comes down to your ability to implement habitual change.
The reason “healthy” eating habits are so important isn’t that you should eat “healthy” all the time - in fact, you really shouldn’t do that - its because if you have habitually created the “healthy” eating if it is an automated process in your life, then when you feel like you have “fallen off the wagon” or “skipped on your diet” then getting back on track is the easiest thing possible.
As you know exactly what to do and how to do it.
Another importance of creating and having “healthy” eating habits is that helps you to stop focussing on only the negative aspects of what you are doing. It is so easy to beat yourself up for eating in an “unhealthy” way when you feel like that is all you do.
This creates a negative spin within you that can constantly feel like you will never be able to turn around, and therefore the cycle goes on and on now not only is your physical health decreasing, but so is your mental health.
By having automation in your day, covering your bases if you will, it makes the more enjoyable foods feel less significant, in the bigger picture of your life, and therefore it reduces any guilt you may have from eating the more “unhealthy” foods.
I want to help make sure that you are doing the best you can, with what you have available to you.
I also want to make sure that you have the ability to keep your diet in a place that dones’t swing from one extreme to the other all of the time, because when that happens you actually make no progress at all - my goal is to help you iron out the creases so that progress is achievable for you - and the habits I lay out in this article are important to make sure that is exactly what happens to you.
And then you will make the progress you desire.
Healthy and Unhealthy Eating Habits
You may have noticed that in this article so far I have put parenthesis around the words healthy and unhealthy.
This is because I never like being dogmatic when it comes to your nutrition - and to simply say that this is healthy and that is unhealthy, with no further context, could be misleading for someone.
I think we can all agree that vegetables are healthy.
Personally, I happen to know that Fruit is also healthy.
But believe me, there are people out there who would happily tell you otherwise.
I would also put forth an argument that a Pizza, a Donut or a Birthday Cake can be healthy when you view it in the correct context.
For example, if you are at a Birthday Party, and they serve your favourite Red Velvet Cake, everyone around you is enjoying it, and you happen to have said “No” because you view cake as unhealthy food, that is going to have an impact on your enjoyment of the occasion.
Food is community.
Food is family.
Food is nourishment.
Food is emotional.
Food is simply not as simple as healthy or unhealthy.
Food is not one thing or the other.
What might be healthy for the soul, might not be healthy for the body and vice versa. I have known many people in my life who have created extremely unhealthy bodies by only eating healthy food.
There will always be debates and arguments around what is healthy to eat and what is unhealthy to eat - and to be quite frank - I just think these waste peoples time.
Arguing over the effect of Gluten, Fructose or how to control your Insulin is actually nutritionists and personal trainers just trying to show off how big their brain is.
Whenever someone I follow or am engaged in conversation with about nutrition starts talking about having an extreme stance on one aspect of their diet, cutting out sugar or carbohydrates, for example, my respect for them dies away immediately.
And yours should too.
Because these people aren’t trying to help you, they are trying to convert you.
They have never walked a day in your shoes, and to simply say that “sugar is killing you” is not going to actually help you resolve what you need to resolve in your diet, as it will just cause more guilt and frustration within you.
I will now share with you 5 things you can do to really improve your eating habits in a healthy way - they may not be what you was expecting to see, but believe me, if your goal is to improve your health and to lose weight, or if your goal is just one of those options…
Continue reading…
What Are 5 Healthy Eating Habits? - Structured Eating
This is front and centre for a reason.
You probably weren’t expecting the first habit that you need to work on is in fact eating more regularly.
I know I too would be surprised if I Googled “What Are 5 Healthy Eating Habits?” then I would not expect to see this as number one. I would expect it to be something simple like “eat less processed foods”.
However, without structure, everything else falls apart. You cannot build a house on sand, and you equally cannot build healthier eating habits on a poor structure.
Not only will a better structure improve your diet overall, but it will also improve your relationship with food as well.
There is a very common denominator with people I work with online and in person, who have a very keen desire to lose weight, and they very often have no structure in place with what and how they are eating.
They are simply winging it.
This has a couple of knock-on effects:
They have absolutely no idea how many calories they are eating - despite saying “I eat really healthy”
They react more emotionally to food.
They aren’t able to see that their overconsumption of food in isolated moments is related to the constant missing of meals.
They end up frustrated and walking down the path of looking for fat burners and other quick fix solutions.
Lets draw a line under it all.
And get you focussed on having a proper structure with your meals.
READ MORE ON IMPROVING YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH FOOD RIGHT HERE:
The format for structured eating, it could also be described as intuitive eating, is as follows.
Three Meals a day that all fit onto one plate.
Two snacks a day - one of which should be fruit.
If you have an alcoholic beverage the night before - try and take away a snack the next day - but this isn’t essential.
If you can iron out your food intake to more regular moments with food, in a structured manner your body will respond well. It will enjoy the rhythm and pattern of knowing when it is being fed, and your hunger hormones, grehlin and leptin, will respond in a much better way because they will have a structure.
The other thing that is really important in having a better structure with your food, is spending time with it.
Try not to eat on the move, or watch television. Try not to work and eat.
Respect your food, and respect what it is designed to do for your body - without this food so much of your life would be turned upside down - don’t take it for granted.
There are so many people in the world who don’t get the privilege to eat the food that you and I are able to eat - and we should be grateful for that every time we get to sit down to eat.
I’m not saying go all ga-ga, but at least give the moments you have to eat the respect it deserves.
This structure with your diet and respect for your food will improve your relationship with food, and there aren’t many more healthy habits you can deliver to yourself than improving your relationship with food.
What Are 5 Healthy Eating Habits? - No Black or White Thinking
Call it what you want.
Diachotamus thinking.
Good food.
Bad food.
Black and white thinking.
Basically stop looking at your food in these terms.
Food doesn’t have a moral value. Calling your apple good, and a banana bad is the same as calling your sofa good, or your bed bad. It makes no logical sense.
When you label foods in this way you punch a hole in your ability to find balance and happiness in your diet, and therefore compromise your own happiness.
It also ceases your ability to actually lose weight.
As a study from the Journal of Health Psychology [1] points out:
“Results showed that eating-specific dichotomous thinking (dichotomous beliefs about food and eating) mediates the association between restraint eating and weight regain. We conclude that holding dichotomous beliefs about food and eating may be linked to a rigid dietary restraint, which in turn impedes people’s ability to maintain a healthy weight.”
When you assign morality to food, you are doing a number of things. Firslty you are putting those who eat in a way you view as “good” onto a Moral High Ground that you know you naturally can’t attian. Then when you eat foods you view as “bad” you are not only beneath others in society, you are also putting yourself down and dmagaing your self esteem.
You are also likely to be viewing foods as good and bad through the framing of “Diet Culture”, as in:
“If I eat good foods, I will lose weight”
But as the study above shows, that is actually counter itnuative, as it leads to an over restriction, then an over indulgence - perpetuating binge eating episodes and disorders.
Making the elusive weight loss even more elusive for you.
To help overcome this, there a few things you can do:
View your diet as a whole, don’t just focus on one or two aspects - keep a wide angle lens on and give equal respect and objectivity to everything you eat.
Listen to your hunger and fullness cues, try to tune into your body more, and question the feelings you have.
Ask yourself where your hunger or lack of satisfaction from eating has come from…are you really wanting more food or are you in need of human connection?
Look at all foods as nourishing. Nourishing your health and your body, nourishing your emotions, nourishing your mind. Every food can nourish you, and ask yourself what needs nourishing right now…and seek foods to that end.
Prioritise non weight loss based goals - like getting stronger and more confident (wink wink nudge nudge: The Strong & Confident Program).
What Are 5 Healthy Eating Habits? - Increase Protein and Vegetables
This is one of my Five Awesome Rules for Fat Loss Life.
Well the actual rule is “Protein and Veggies at every meal”
But increasing them from where they are right now will more than likely do you no harm at all, and it will indeed increase your likelihood to lose weight.
This occurs for a number of reasons, the first being, that the extra fibre in your system from the Vegetables will indeed keep you fuller for longer. Secondly, you can eat a lot of Vegetables in terms of volume, and take on relatively few calories compared to other foods.
For example, 100g of Carrots has 41 calories in it, compared to 100g of Chicken Breast which contains 165kcal.
My point here is that you will feel more full, and take on fewer calories, allowing you to adhere to your calorie deficit in a much more sustainable way.
Protein is one of the most satiating macronutrients there is.
As a study published in the BioMed Central Journal [2] states:
“The hierarchy for macronutrient-induced satiating efficiency is similar to that observed for diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT): protein is the most satiating macronutrient followed by CHOs and fat, which is least satiating”
Again this will lead you to feel fuller for longer, and more satisfied after eating as well as helping you recover from your exercise sessions in a much more efficient way.
For my clients on the Strong & Confident Program, I work on them increasing Protein to 100g a day if they are a meat-eater, and 80g a day if they are vegetarian - like me!
One of the best ways to implement this piece of advice is by having a DAS.
A “Daily Awesome Salad”
Just get your protein source, add it to some salad bag of food - and the job is done!
If you do this every day you will soon start reaping the benefits in terms of losing weight and building a more healthy eating habit.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT STAYING FULLER FOR LONGER BY READING MY BLOG POST THAT HAS
HELPED TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WITH THIS EXACT ISSUE
What Are 5 Healthy Eating Habits? - Healthy Snacks
If I had a pound or dollar for every time I get asked the following question:
“What healthy snacks can I have?”
And I look at the person who has asked me that question and simply say:
“You know the answer”
They look at me bewildered, and confused - because surely it’s not that simple is it?
And sadly, it is. It really is.
What is wrong with fruit being a snack?
In terms of a “snack” fruit literally ticks all of the boxes. It is convenient, it is cost-effective, it is filling and it is relatively low calorie compared to other kinds of snacks.
I also don’t know anyone who has food guilt over eating a banana. But eating a bag of crisps or a doughnut might trigger you. It doesn’t have to…but it might.
You can snack on vegetables too, however, they take more preparation and have a much higher barrier to entry to execute on.
I know it’s not exciting, I know it’s not sexy and I know when someone asks for a healthy snack they are wanting something like a Bounce Protein Ball or some kind of superior Kale Chip.
But again, they are very expensive and they won’t fill you up as much as an apple or banana.
There are plenty of exciting things you can do with fruit as well - if you have the time.
Other healthy snack ideas could be:
Trail Mix: grab a mix of any nuts, seeds, dried fruits savoury mix-ins like chickpeas, and just put it all together. The combinations here are endless.
Nuts: Be careful with nuts, as they are quite high in calories and may hinder your weight loss if over-consumed - and they are very easy to over-consume, but they do have many other benefits as well.
Seaweed Snacks - my fiancee eats seaweed all the time - and some of them are really tasty, but they don’t fill you up much.
The bottom line with “healthy snacks” is that if you want to avoid the obvious in terms of fruit, the preparation of these snacks can be quite a time-consuming exercise, and that negates the efficacy of the “snack”. Also, just because something is healthy doesn’t always make it the best option for weight loss, so always view these snacks in the realm of your calorie allowances.
Here are some of my favourite snacks from recipe books I send out to my clients:
What Are 5 Healthy Eating Habits? - Plenty of Water
This again features in my Five Awesome Rules for Fat Loss Life.
It never ceases to amaze me how many people are under-hydrated when they are trying to lose weight.
And it never ceases to amaze me how many people don’t recognise the amazing benefits of water in their ability to eat in a more healthy way for their diet.
I always ask my clients on the Strong & Confident Program to drink around three litres of water a day, which is quite a lot, but there are very few drawbacks to drinking enough water.
And that compared to the drawbacks of being dehydrated makes it well worth focussing on.
Water helps with cognitive function, muscle function, digestive function, complexion, joint function and energy levels throughout the day.
Water also has zero calories in it, therefore in terms of weight loss, it is really useful.
When you are dehydrated you will feel low on energy, might have a headache and generally won’t feel your best, which will lead you to consume more calories.
Don’t go from zero water to three litres immediately, build up slowly, and you may begin to notice the benefits on less water than three litres a day.
5 Easy and Healthy Eating Habits For Weight Loss
And that’s it…
Remember, to lose weight, you must be in a Calorie Deficit and to improve your eating habits you need to move away from the thoughts of certain foods being good and others being bad.
Having a “healthy” diet is different to everyone, but balance is the key to all things, and that means something different to all people.
One of the best things you can do to make your eating habits more healthy will be to stop trying to live up to the expectation of healthy eating you see on Social Media, and making sure you work hard on allowing your diet to work in the best way for your life.
And as always if you have any questions you only have to ask me.
To be able to do that don’t forget to send me a Friend Request by filling out the form below, and then you can email me your questions.
It would be my pleasure to answer them.
You will also get my book “27 Ways To Faster Fat Loss” sent to you for free.
I hope you found this article useful and that my tips help you improve your eating habits.
I cannot wait to see you again soon…
Coach Adam
References:
Palascha A, van Kleef E, van Trijp HC. How does thinking in Black and White terms relate to eating behavior and weight regain? J Health Psychol. 2015 May;20(5):638-48. doi: 10.1177/1359105315573440. PMID: 25903250.
Pesta DH, Samuel VT. A high-protein diet for reducing body fat: mechanisms and possible caveats. Nutr Metab (Lond). 2014 Nov 19;11(1):53. doi: 10.1186/1743-7075-11-53. PMID: 25489333; PMCID: PMC4258944.