If you’re trying to adopt a healthier approach to your diet, consider kicking these habits to the curb. Eating well doesn’t mean having to sacrifice taste or enjoyment. You can lead a gourmet life while keeping your waist line in check.
1. Drinking Often
Drinking alcohol can have a domino effect, leading to more bad decisions, like drinking to excess, smoking cigarettes and overeating. If you want to enjoy alcohol without overdoing it, stick to one or two glasses of red wine a few nights a week. Or, if you prefer liquor, mix vodka with seltzer to keep the calorie count down.
2. Eating “Diet” Foods
Far too often, foods that are supposed to be diet-friendly are packed with too much salt or sugar to make up for their bland taste. Quality chefs like Tim Love know how to make healthy food taste great without being too diet-y.
3. Overeating Nutritious Food
All types of food should be eaten in moderation, including healthy food. Some healthy foods still include a lot of calories. If you don’t make sure to have a calorie deficit, you won’t lose weight, no matter how healthy your choices are.
4. Skipping Meals
By going for a long time between meals, you cause your metabolism to slow down. Plus, you can become so hungry that you overeat at your next meal. Eat several small meals throughout the day to keep your metabolism revving.
5. Counting Calories
Counting the calories of every single thing you eat can be time consuming and stressful. Stress is one of the major causes of overeating and choosing bad-for-you foods.
6. Staying Away From Good Fat
Don’t let the name fool you: some fat is actually good for you! Avocado, olive oil and salmon all have fat, but it’s the healthy kind.
7. Eating in Response to an Emotion
Whether you’re happy or sad, stressed or celebrating, it’s never good to eat for purely an emotional reason. Train yourself to apply other tactics when you need to respond to your emotions. That doesn’t mean you can’t indulge, it just means that you should be aware of the reason why you’re eating certain foods at certain times.
If you want to see weight-loss results that will last, it’s important to make big changes to your diet, starting with these tips.
