While changing your eating habits is an important step in losing weight, the only way you’ll be able to keep off all those pounds is by making those clean eating habits become a lifestyle change. To help stick with a plan that can lead to better eating in the long-term, consider these tips for taking control of your diet and your life.
Practice Portion Control
While it seems obvious that larger portions have more calories than smaller portions, many people don’t realize just how many calories they’re consuming with one large portion. When you eat less, you can end up shaving hundreds of calories from your daily consumption. Even better, when you practice portion control, you don’t have to completely cut out certain types of foods. If you have a craving for one of your favorite sweet treats, you can still indulge by keeping the portion small.
Track What You Eat
Along with reducing your portion size, another way to make sure your clean eating sticks is by tracking what you eat. There’s no better way to see just what you consume (and how much of it) than with a food journal. Sometimes, these records can help you see when you’re snacking without even realizing it, such as when you’re watching television, between meals, or when you go into the kitchen. Plus, you don’t have to track what you eat forever. Once you see your bad eating habits, you can work to correct them.
Have Healthy Foods Around
Since mindless snacking is a major roadblock in the path of losing weight, consider keeping healthy snacks around. If you have chips and cookies nearby, you’ll likely go for them when you’re feeling a little hungry and need something to tide you over until your next meal. However, if you don’t buy these items, and instead keep fresh fruits and vegetables at hand, you’re more likely to reach for them. This will help make sure your snacking doesn’t impede your weight loss.
Keep Off the Weight You’ve Lost
After you’ve lost the weight, you want to make sure you don’t fall into those bad eating habits and gain it back. That’s why LifeSum offers several helpful suggestions for maintaining your weight loss. For example, you can define what successful weight loss means to you, learn how to calculate the calories you need to consume each day, build a support network, and more.
Give Yourself Some Flexibility
Weight loss is a journey, and you should always give yourself some flexibility as you make these lifestyle changes. Don’t beat yourself up if you have a slice of cake to celebrate your birthday. It also helps to reframe your thinking. While your big goal might be to lose 50 pounds and you’ve already lost 10, look at your accomplishments rather than focusing on the idea that you have 40 more pounds to go.
If you want your weight loss to stick around, these tips will help you turn your healthy eating habits into a lifestyle change instead of a diet.
Photo by Hermes Rivera
Kristen McCalla
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- Five Tips for Making Your Diet a Lifestyle Change - January 18, 2018
