How to adopt healthy eating habits and follow a balanced diet.
Blogger Tina Haupert, author of Carrots ‘N’ Cake: Healthy Living One Carrot and Cupcake At A Time, shares her experiences and advice on how to lose the pounds and keep them off. Instead of restrictive dieting, obsessive calorie counting, and constant hunger, Tina shows readers how they can shed pounds by adopting eating habits that are healthy, balanced, and above all, livable.
My tips to avoid overeating
I’m definitely in a different mind-set when a binge occurs. A planned splurge is usually exactly that – planned. I think about it ahead of time, and I am much more in control of the situation. I can sit down and enjoy a dessert and stop myself. It’s all mental for me this way. Usually, I am not prepared for it, so when it happens it’s really tough for me to get in control again. Something takes over, and I can’t seem to stop myself. These two instances are different too because I really enjoy the indulgence and I don’t enjoy the binge as much, especially in regard to how I feel after the experience.
My tips on overeating
I eat enough during the day. I’ve noticed that if I don’t eat substantial meals that include fiber-packed carbs, low-fat protein, and healthy fats, I usually encounter crazy cravings later. Now I make sure that all of my meals and snacks include a combination of all three.
I keep “trigger foods” out of the house (most of the time). Cookies, chocolate, and cereal are foods that give me trouble when it comes to portion size. Instead of keeping my favorite foods in the house, I purchase them only once in awhile. I love peanut butter chips, but I buy them only every other month or so because I know I will finish off the bag in less than a week. Every now and then, it’s okay, but I don’t let myself have these treats in the house on a regular basis. When it comes to cereal, I buy mostly “healthy” cereal that I tend not to overdo it with. Kashi is one thing; Frosted Mini-Wheats are another!
I try not to mistake thirst for hunger. In the afternoon, especially right after lunch, I always feel hungry. But much of the time, my hunger pangs are satisfied with a big swig of water or a hot mug of tea. A little hydration goes a long way when it comes to dealing with emotional eating.
I eat by the clock. If I just ate a meal or a snack, I will try to wait at least 20 minutes before I eat something else. When I wait, I put a buffer between myself and the food, which helps make the temptation go away — at least most of the time!
I try not to be too hard on myself. A single slip up isn’t going to cause me to gain pounds. If I do overdo it, I don’t let it become an excuse to continue to eat poorly, though. I don’t get down on myself, and I make sure to get back on track the very next time I eat.
I just don’t start. Especially, when it comes to baking, I don’t let myself taste my treats until it’s time to do so. If I bake muffins for breakfast the night before, I don’t allow myself to have one until the next morning. Same goes for cookies or blondies — I wait until dessert time. Otherwise, I’ll start eating them and not stop. If I pick a specific time to enjoy a muffin or cookie, I savor it during that set period and cut myself off after that.
The above is an excerpt from the book Carrots ‘N’ Cake: Healthy Living One Carrot and Cupcake At A Time by Tina Haupert. The above excerpt is a digitally scanned reproduction of text from print. Although this excerpt has been proofread, occasional errors may appear due to the scanning process. Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.
Copyright © 2011 Tina Haupert, author of Carrots ‘N’ Cake: Healthy Living One Carrot and Cupcake At A Time
Author bio
Tina Haupert publishes on Carrots ‘N’ Cake: Healthy Living on a daily basis, and also writes another blog called Trading Up Downtown for a nutritional rating company called NuVal. Additionally, she writes a weekly feature for Health.com as part of their Feel Great Weight program. She lives in Boston, Massachusetts with her husband, Mal, and her pug, Murphy.
For more information please visit www.carrotsncake.com or search for her book.