Lets face it, most of us make out our resolution lists for the year and by January 2nd we are already behind. At the top of most our lists and the first one to fail seems to be dieting. When I think about dieting, I imagine a plate full of what looks like rabbit food and gnarly craving for junk food immediately. However, dieting doesn’t have to be miserable, bland, or make you feel like a pet. Realistically, simple changes to your eating habits can do a lot for your health without the stress that usually comes with extreme diets.
Here are 10 dieting tips we found to help you fulfill your New Year’s resolution in 2015!
#1- Simplify the way you see your diet: Don’t expect to change your diet overnight. You can gradually work healthier choices into your diet like ordering a salad instead of fries or using olive oil instead of butter when cooking. You can always take your favorite recipes and choose healthier alternative ingredients such as replacing ground beef with ground turkey.
#2- Don’t make your diet too stressful: Avoid things like counting calories and completely eliminating all of your favorite foods. You want to be focused on being healthy, happy and energized from the foods you choose to eat, not adding strict rules that can lead to cheating and ultimately your dieting downfall.
#3- Eat Breakfast: Eating a meal in the morning is the best way to get your day started and give you energy to keep you going! Plus, there are so many tasty and healthy breakfast options to choose from it will be your new favorite meal!
#4- Portion your meals: A great way to moderate your intake at meals is to portion your food at meal time. Check out this link for a chart with helpful portion tips!
#5- Stick to the basics: We all know that water and exercise are the most basic elements of every diet. Make sure you are always staying hydrated; thirst can often be mistaken for hunger. Keep active by even taking a walk around the block at lunch or a little yoga before bed.
#6- Avoid excessive snacking: Avoid snacking between meals and late at night; especially junk foods. Opening a bag of chips with the intention of “only eating a few” usually leads to destroying most of the bag without you even realizing it. If you feel that you must snack, have fruits and veggies on hand to enjoy instead of salty snacks and sweet treats.
#7- Getting your vitamins from food: It’s not a bad habit to take your vitamins in pill form everyday, but why not save the money and work on getting your vitamins from the foods you eat. You will find yourself making healthier choices by eating foods that are rich in vitamins by themselves!
#8- Address your cravings: It’s easy to give into that doughnut calling your name, but take a moment to decide if it’s the right choice or if you have a healthier option available.
#9- Always have variety: You don’t have to eat the same old boring meal to be healthy. Add variety of every meal, ask for the healthly alternative menu at restaurants for more options, and ALWAYS TRY NEW THINGS!
#10- Stay positive: The best way to approach any task is to remain positive! A great attitude towards your diet will reduce the risk of cheating and keep you in a great mindset! Don’t get discouraged if your struggling at first, keep it up and you will notice the results!
Good luck my fellow dieters! Welcome to a wonderful and healthy 2015!
Feature Image Courtesy of: Dylan Sanders
