10 Tips To Eating Healthier This Year

It’s January and you made a new years resolution to eat healthy.  Well, bravo for you.  No, really, I mean that.  I wish you would have done this sooner than new years but hey, better late than never.  Now you want some ideas about how to accomplish this.  Ok, you can find a lot of these by searching through 60 in 3 but I figured I would summarize a few old posts in this easy to use list.

By the way, before I move on to the good stuff, I want to warn you.  Whatever you choose to do, you’re going to need to do for the rest of your life.  There are no quick fixes, no magical cures that will let you eat healthy for two months, get in shape and then you can go back to eating bon bons and cheese by the pool and the weight will never come back.  Sorry, it just doesn’t work that way.

That said, here are some easy things you can do to fix up your eating:

1. Stop drinking your calories - Yes, I’m talking to you people in the Starbucks line.  Did you know that most drinks at Starbucks have as much calories as a McDonald’s Cheeseburger?  Some of them have a lot more.  Same applies to you soda drinkers.  One large Coke at Burger King can have 500 calories or more.  That’s lunch right there!
2. Stop eating crap - Yah, it sounds easy, but how do you tell the crap from the non crap?  Well, use my 100 year rule.  If it’s something that 100 years ago no one would recognize as food, you probably shouldn’t be eating it.  This applies to twinkies, it applies to most modern cereals, it applies to chicken McNuggets and a whole lot of other foods.  You don’t need to be a raw food fanatic, just try to eat food that’s as close to nature’s intention as possible.
3. Stop snacking - I can’t tell you how many people think they have a good eating plan until they look at their snacks.  Those handfuls of peanuts, pretzels and the occasional candy bar do add up folks.  It’s not free calorie time just because it’s not meal time.
4. Snack Healthier - Ok, so you can’t stop snacking altogether.  How about healthier snacks?  An Apple is good, a sweet pepper with a bit of cheese works, even a handful of almonds is better than the Kit Kat bar you were about to consume.  If you can’t eliminate snacks, try to make them less harmful.
5. Eat more vegetables - Yes, your mother was right, you should eat more vegetables.  HALF your meal should be low calorie vegetables.  That means cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, spinach, lettuce, broccoli and so on.  It does NOT mean potatoes, and yes, I said HALF.  That’s 50% of every meal.
6. Stop impulse eating - It’s instinct, see food eat food.  It was good instinct 100’s of years ago when food was scarce but it’s not good instinct now.  How do we avoid this instinct?  Easy, don’t put yourself in a situation where you can fall prey to it.  At a Mexican restaurant?  Tell the waiter not to bring out the usual dish of chips and salsa.  At a party?  Stand far away from the snack tables.  Remember, it’s brainless eating you’re trying to avoid.  So use your brain and avoid it!
7. Eat at home - I don’t care how healthy your restaurant is.  I don’t care if all their food is made from raw organic nonantibiotic free trade non oppressive no MSG no trans fats no sugar spinach, it’s still not as healthy as eating at home.  At home you can control what you eat and how much of it you get.  At home you can avoid the appetizers and the snacks and the chip bowls.  At home you can even save money.  So yes, enjoy the occasional night out but don’t make a habit of it.
8. Doggie bags are your friend - If you do go out to a restaurant, and if it’s the usual American restaurant, ask for half your meal to go before you even get served.  Yah, you might get some funny looks but your ass will thank you.  American restaurants serve too much food and people end up eating it all in one sitting.  So stop before you even start and take that food to go.
9. Eat slow - No one is going to take that food away from you.  No one is going to snatch it out of your hand and cause you to starve to death.  Unless you’re in prison, there’s no need to rush through a meal and a lot of reason to slow down.  Slow eating allows your brain to notice that it’s full before you’ve consumed that second helping of mom’s creamy mashed potatos and gravy.  (side note - If you want to get your money’s worth at a buffet, eat fast.  You’ll eat a lot more than usual.  You’ll also feel sick afterwards but hey, at least you got your money’s worth!)
10. Avoid buffets - Again, our bodies and brains are wired in a way that encourages us to eat more.  That’s 1000’s of years of instinct telling us to eat a lot now because tomorrow we may not be able to hunt a mammoth and there won’t be any food.  Our instincts tell us to gorge ourselves now in preparation for the famine tomorrow.  So yes, when presented with the endless food of a buffet, even hardcore fitness fans like myself tend to overeat.  Save yourself the trouble and avoid these places.  Your stomach and your wallet will thank you.

There you go, 10 easy ways to start your new year right.  Hope these help and feel free add your own food tips in the comments or send me an email.

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Also, if you’re in Reno, avoid the buffet at the El Dorado.  Just trust me on this one.

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