In my pursuit of discovering how to live a healthy lifestyle, I called upon the services of my aunt a trained nutritionist and dietician. Not only was I frustrated with the lack of healthy variety in the dining halls here at school but I consider myself generally uneducated about what’s truly healthy and what’s masquerading as health food while packing on tons of hidden calories. My aunt promised to look at the school menus online and send me a general guideline of healthier choices I can make.
She started by asking me general questions about my current eating habits. She told me that it’s important to analyze your current likes and dislikes before trying to create a diet. She pointed out that the most successful diets are not the ones with the best intentions, but the ones that you’ll actually follow through with. If you absolutely detest broccoli, don’t put it on your menu. Because no matter what you tell yourself, if you hate it, chances are you won’t eat it. Now, so concessions must be made. If you don’t like any vegetables at all (and I confess, I don’t like many) you may have to suck it up and eat some veggies. Try lots of different things, you may find that by expanding your tastes just a little you add a lot of new options to your diet plan. Also, eating six small meals a day will help speed up your metabolism and help you feel fuller longer. Finally, do not forbid any foods. I believe that the quickest way to put me on a chocolate rampage is to tell me I can’t ever have it again. My aunt suggested allowing yourself a small dessert three days a week will satisfy any sweet tooth just enough to overcome those cravings.
Quick tips:
- Stay open to new foods.
- Create a small list of things that are healthy to eat on a regular basis.
- Keep your diet plan realistic.
- Eat 5-6 small meals a day.
- Always eat breakfast.
- Eat lean meats and plenty of fiber.
- Stop thinking of it as a "diet". Your changes should be part of a new lifestyle.
- Allow yourself a “cheat day”
2 comments:
Let me tell you that the one thing it is best not to do when you go to the dinning hall is decide to try a little bit of everything. It starts off fine at the begining of the year but by the end all of the things you used to have a little bit of you now eat the whole thing. I put on 30 pounds that way freshman year and 2 years latter it is still not all gone.
I completely agree with you about how the dining halls are not healthy! They are far from it! And the problem is that you might go there with the mindset that you are going to eat healthy, but once you go in it pretty much goes downhill. You had some great tips though, so thanks for sharing! They will be a big help!
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