For many people who try to change their eating habits and can never make it stick (and for all of you who maybe have fallen off the wagon for your New Year’s resolution), this is often due to a lack of a routine. Humans are creatures of habit. Every morning we do the same thing; get up, eat breakfast (probably the same), take a shower, go to work, etc. The trick is to utilize this, and make it work for you, not against you.
Often times when people want to begin eating better they buy all this healthy food, but have no game plan for what their meals will look like. They try lots of different combinations, and all kinds of cool “healthy” recipes, but somehow they still can’t seem to stick to it. As weird as it may sound, including too much variety in the beginning can make things much more challenging, and less likely to work. In fact that was one of the only complaints with the original Warp Speed Fat Loss, so when when Warp Speed Fat Loss 2.0 came out, Mike offered a diet plan with a lot more continuity and a lot less variety, to great success.
Sometimes, actually most of the time, removing the thinking from the equation makes life, and eating, a hell of a lot easier. One of the best things that I have found with my clients is to keep things are routine as possible, especially for the first few months. This means less variety, but more consistency.
Find meals that you like and stick with them. I usually suggest finding 3 options for each meal or snack, and either rotating them as needed, or just alternate days. These options do not even have to be very different to make it feel like you are having some variety, but still being consistent. For example having an omelet with 2 slices of sprouted grain toast could be changed to some scrambled eggs with some oatmeal and blueberries the next day. Usually the less drastic the difference, the better.
This may sound boring, as variety is the spice of life, but until you have your eating habits locked in place and you are able to kind of put it on cruise control, then this can make that transition from poor eater to good eater go much more smoothly. Make a routine and stick with it for a while. Slowly add in substitutions, or maybe just have a different dinner every night to keep things more exciting. Find what works best for you, and stick to it, as that is the fastest way to success.
Another good thing about making a routine is that you can see how you respond to different foods and/or meals. If you are consistently eating the same things, or basically the same things day in and day out, it allows you to monitor your response for a few hours after each meal and see how you feel. Are you sluggish? Are you sleepy? Are you full or hungry? Are you energized? Things of that nature.
To wrap it up, in the beginning take the guesswork out and keep it as basic and consistent as possible. Monitor your responses to foods, slowly add in more variety as you feel comfortable and can stay consistent to your eating habits (see my suggestions here andhere), and learn to enjoy the taste of real food!
Once you have mastered that, then you can really take advantage of some awesome cookbooks like Gourmet Nutrition, Body By Eats, and The Healthiest Meals on Earthand enjoy everything they have to offer.
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