One Step Toward a Healthier Diet

July 1st, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Healthy Habits

Sometimes eating better is more about what you don’t buy as compared to what you do buy.  One trick to making healthier food choices more frequently is to simply stop buying unhealthy foods in first place.  That might sound painfully obvious or maybe it feels absolutely impossible – but if you can manage to leave these foods at the store, it works like a charm for a few reasons:

1. It’s much easier to resist temptation at the grocery store.

Especially if you eat before you shop.

Any and all good intentions to “eat just a few” or as “an occasional treat” can go flying out the window when you’re feeling stressed or bored and are not in the mood to resist a damn thing – especially when that thing is full of sugar or salt.

(Chocolate covered pretzels, I’m looking at you.)

2. Once you’ve bought it, you don’t want to waste it.

We’re trained from an early age to not waste food.  We feel this sense of obligation to eat the things that we buy, even when we know better.  It doesn’t help that processed foods are so easy to eat.  You can have a fridge full of produce, but those chips in the cupboard sound way more appealing.  Fresh fruits and vegetables can’t compete with the food scientists – most food that comes in a package is engineered to taste good!

(Are you motivated by frustration and outrage like I am?  Read The Omnivore’s Dilemma, the first few chapters will do amazing things for your pantry.)

With the money already spent, your options are to throw it out and “waste it”, or eat it and “waist it”.  Foods with little to no nutritional value are a waste either way.  Skip it all together next time and don’t waste a thing.

3. The lack of these food items creates a void.

And that void is extremely powerful.  It leaves you wondering “well now what am I supposed to eat?”  That’s the place where something better now has a chance to make its way in.  It’s the fertile soil where better habits and healthier choices can start to take root and grow.

You’re going to feel like a rock star the first time you make a conscious effort to walk away from an unhealthy food you typically buy or take that item out of your cart and put back on the shelf before you’ve paid for it and it’s too late.  Find the foods that are holding you back from reaching your goals and refuse to buy them.  You can’t eat what’s not there.

Linked to Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade

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6 Responses

  • Jennifer says:

    Hey, your email yesterday reminded me to check your blog. Yay!!! :)

    Yes, it’s very hard to eat healthy when you have unhealthy snacks staring at you. But, you know, I think once you start eating healthier those cravings or desire for the unhealthy snacks start to diminish. We made a change with our eating habits a couple of months ago by eating more veggies, more balanced meals and watching our portions and both of us have lost a good amount of weight just with that change alone. It really shows you how what you eat affects your body.

    Believe it or not, I haven’t had ice cream in months and don’t miss it. Shocking, I know. (haha) It’s even sitting in the freezer for the kids and I have no desire for it. I think your body starts to crave what you put in it so putting the unhealthy foods in will produce cravings for more an vice versa with healthy foods. This doesn’t mean I no longer like ice cream :), but I’m just not addicted to it like I was before. :)

    • Alison says:

      Awesome Jennifer! I’ve found the same thing to be true – if you stop stimulating your taste buds with these overstimulating foods, eventually they stop needing to be stimulated so much.

    • Dr. D. says:

      Congratulations Jennifer! Will power is just the first step. Making that very important step is essential in being successful in creating a healthier lifestyle.

  • B Gomicchio says:

    I find it helps when the options are limited at the places where you get your food. I’m getting a bit annoyed at how the farmers’ markets I frequent are getting infiltrated lately with treats and desserts . . .

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