For many of us, making it to FitClub regularly for a consistent exercise routine is the easy part. Breaking up with bad food choices, though, can be far more difficult. Instead of needing to make one decision each day to get your workout done, healthy eating is something that we have to decide to do over and over again throughout the day. Instead of drowning in fad diets and science text books, FitClub has five easy ways to cut junk calories and improve your nutrition at the same time.
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Eat the protein first. Each meal you eat should contain between twenty and thirty grams of protein. Protein fuels your body by providing energy to your muscles and takes more calories to digest than other foods. Not only is it an absolutely necessary macro nutrient, but it also fills you up making you less inclined to feel hungry soon after you eat.
Drink water before you eat. Water helps to curb the feeling of hunger that often leads us to over eat. By drinking a glass of water before your meal, you’ll feel signals from your stomach that you’re full before you otherwise might. Not only does a glass of water before your meal make it easier to digest what you do eat, you might find that you need less food from your plate to feel fuller longer.
Eat the healthy foods you enjoy. Instead of going on an all kale diet when you hate kale, make your healthy meals with the foods that you love. It’s possible that you are occasionally mistaking lack of satisfaction from your meal as hunger. If that’s the case, experiment with different types of fruits and vegetables and then build healthy meals from the ones you like best. Just because a food has been deemed a “super food” it will still only help you if you eat it. If you keep buying it just to watch it exceed its expiration date because you can’t bring yourself to eat one more bite, it won’t help you!
Understand the way your cravings work.Deprivation diets generally don’t work, so while you can still indulge in a donut or piece of cake from time to time, be prepared with a plan that will keep you from eating the processed junk everyday. The more often you indulge in a craving, the more you will have that same craving. Processed sugar has been proven to be addicting and it will be harder to say no to the second serving than the first.
Learn the difference between hunger and boredom. If you find yourself thinking of a snack in the middle of the afternoon, first determine if you’re hungry or just bored. If you sometimes can’t tell the difference between the two feelings, the key is generally whether you want to eat an apple. If you’re truly hungry, an apple will fill you up while delivering fiber and nutrients to your body. If you’re bored, the vending machine at the end of the hallway will sound better. If it’s boredom, skip the snack and take a quick walk or a mental break.
