Eating style is just a set of eating habits. If you want to change them and change yourself, act gradually. There is absolutely no need for haste in this matter. Our motto: not fast, but reliable!
Scientific research supports this principle. To achieve a slim figure, you don’t need to run at full speed, but move slowly. The American medical journal Annals of Behavioral Medicine provides data from the experiment. Participants who made one change in their eating behavior or physical activity schedule every week for four months lost twice as much excess weight as those who followed standard recommendations.
Scientists say that if we focus on one change over a period of time, it quickly becomes a habit. But most diets work on a different principle, so sooner or later we will definitely fail. Let's also try to change and improve our eating behavior. For two months.First week
Instead of meat, we prepare any dish from beans (hello, fiber). Canned beans should be rinsed thoroughly with water. We don't need marinade.
Second week
Try a fruit or vegetable that is not part of your diet. For example, mango (a source of beta-carotene) or fennel (rich in antioxidants). Also, start your day with a cup of cocoa. Instead of sugar, add cinnamon or orange zest. A fresh, fragrant, cheerful morning will be guaranteed.
Third week
Less salt! I add salt to my food at the table, not during cooking. This way, the risk of over-salting is reduced to almost zero.
Fourth week
Have a fish day. It is better not to fry, but to steam or bake in foil. And also don’t forget about seasonings and herbs: for example, dill and garlic will make it easier to cope with the almost complete absence of salt in your diet.
Fifth week
Try soy products . For example, if you freeze tofu cheese and then grate it into a salad or pasta, you won’t notice any difference from regular cheese. You should also always have frozen vegetables at home. Add them to soups, cook them as a side dish for fish and meat.
Sixth week
Make muesli and eat it for breakfast. The recipe is simple: a mixture of 2 tbsp. oatmeal, 1 tbsp. dried fruits, 2 tsp. Pour brown sugar into a baking dish and place in the oven for 35 minutes. And also, if you can’t give up coffee completely, replace at least one cup with green tea and gradually increase the “dose.”
Seventh week
Time for cabbage: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, savoy, cauliflower, etc. Choose according to your taste. Broccoli, by the way, goes great with paprika and sesame seeds. And Brussels sprouts are very good when fried in olive oil with rosemary and garlic. And also keep a healthy snack on hand: nuts, fruits, vegetables, low-fat yogurt and a glass of water.
Eighth week
Fruit dessert instead of sweets and cakes. This simple replacement will reduce your caloric intake by at least 100 kcal. Salads dressed with low-fat yogurt and apples baked with honey and cinnamon are also suitable. Just don’t eat canned fruits: we don’t need the syrup with which they are soaked at all.
Minus 15 kg per year? Easy!
- Once a week, replace toast with butter and cheese with a sandwich with a slice of tomato, onion rings and lettuce. Minus 2 kg per year.
- Instead of a large portion of coffee at a cafe, choose a standard one. Minus 4.5 kg per year.
- Drink two glasses of wine per week. Minus 2 kg per year.
- Once a week, eat half the usual portion of cutlets (100 g versus 200). Minus 2.5 kg per year.
- Twice a week instead of a bun — whole grain toast. Minus 3.5 kg per year.
- Once a week, baked potatoes instead of fried ones. Minus 1.5 kg per year.
Step by step
Put down the fork – pick up the pen
Keeping track of what you eat for at least a couple of weeks will highlight all your bad eating habits. Surprisingly, many unhealthy foods disappear from the diet as soon as a person realizes that he eats them much more often and more than he thinks.
Subscribe to the email newsletter about a healthy lifestyle
People who regularly read about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle gradually move over to the side of the world.
Limit yourself to one unhealthy dish per week
French fries, ice cream, cakes, buns… choose any, but one! It is important for us not to exclude them from the diet, but to reduce consumption.
Walk 5 minutes a day longer
The final goal is at least half an hour. You can walk an extra block on the way from work, walk around the house while talking on the phone, in short, take advantage of every opportunity.
Get enough sleep
Regular lack of sleep often provokes sudden weight changes. Participants in an experiment conducted by Australian scientists lived with a sleep deficit for two weeks and, as a result, gained an average of one and a half kilograms.
It takes about three months to completely change your eating habits. Metabolism changes in 120 days.
Walk up the stairs
Climbing 3-5 floors every day will protect you from the annual age-related weight gain.