Changing Eating Habits!

There are three primary ways to change ones eating habits.

1. Cut Things Out. Cutting things out cold turkey is the hardest method of changing your eating habits. Some things are easier to cut than others. For me I found that cutting out soda was pretty easy. I drink water 99% of the time, do not drink coffee, alcohol, and barely drink tea. I occasionally drink diet soda, or specialty fruity drinks, but for the most part it is easy for me to choose water. The hardest thing for me to cut are sweets, I actually crave them. When I spend efforts trying to cut sweets from my diet I end up binge eating them.

2. Substitute Things. Another way to change ones eating habits is to simply replace items. Replacing items to me is the most effective way to make changes to my diet. I went from eating regular Yoplait yogurt to light Yoplait yogurt to Dannon Light and Fit Greek yogurt and the transition was not to bad. I also managed to actually switch from Haagan Dazs ice cream to Oikos Greek Frozen Yogurt. There are somethings that I have not managed to substitute. I tried to switch from fruity candy like Skittles to dried fruit and I felt that I liked the candy much better.

3. Moderate Things. When cutting things out or swapping them does not work you can always opt to eat less of something. With my skittles I started using a 1/4 cup measuring cup to portion out my candy.

When trying to change dietary habits I have found it helpful to play around with the three different methods of cutting things out, substituting things or having them in moderation. I am hoping that I will continue to build new healthy habits that will help me to better manage my eating for the long haul.

CLM