How often have you or someone else said, “I’ll watch my diet after [insert excuse here.]” That blank is often filled in with “the holidays,” “my birthday,” “my kids go back to school” and even, “the winter.”
This sort of perpetual procrastination is common; after all, who would want to stop eating their favorite foods in unlimited portion sizes at any time of day? No one I know. But if you change how you think about what eating better involves, it can be easier to stop procrastinating and start getting healthier right now.
[See: How to Make Healthful Dietary Changes Last a Lifetime.]
So instead of waiting for the perfect time to improve your eating habits (hint: it doesn’t exist), settle for taking a few small steps in the right direction to make some solid changes that will last all year:
1. Start today.
If you’re waiting for a lightbulb to go off to launch your health kick, consider this article that flash. At your next meal or snack, just pay attention to how your stomach feels while you eat. Notice whether you’re feeling full. Bring your attention to how the food in your mouth tastes and feels. Is it hot, cold, crunchy, smooth or creamy? Introduce your mind to your mouth and try to choose portions of food that will help, not harm, you.
2. Keep a diary.
If there’s one instrument that effectively promotes weight loss, it’s the food journal. But you have to take it seriously for it to really work. Seeing what you eat in black and white will help you define portions and help you become more aware of everything that crosses your lips. Be specific, be consistent and be honest.
3. Get a move on.
When you’re bored, tired or stressed, take a walk to blow off some steam and keep off extra pounds. Any movement — whether it’s dancing, hula-hooping or just jumping up and down during TV commercials — can help you start to connect with the body that needs your help — your own!
4. Put on your bathing suit.
If you’re still in denial about the summer coming, try wearing your bathing suit under your clothing. That should serve as a reminder that soon enough, you won’t have the comfort of clothing on top.
5. Ditch excuses.
You are the only one who decides what you eat. No one else is responsible for what you stick your fork into. Don’t blame your husband for aggravating you, your wife for serving you big portions or anything else that “makes” you eat poorly. You choose food; it doesn’t choose you.
[See: 10 Unusual Weight-Loss Tips That Actually Work.]
6. Set realistic goals.
If you set goals that are too high — say, going to the gym every day, ditching carbs, beginning a cleansing diet or going to sleep every night by 10 p.m. — there’s a good chance you won’t stick with it. Make a list of your faulty habits and then choose one item on that list that you can realistically modify — even if the change is slight.
7. Veg out.
Try to make veggies take up at least half your plate. In all my years of practice as a dietitian, I’ve never counseled a patient who was overweight because he or she ate too many vegetables.
8. Have a conversation.
Talk to yourself about what you are planning to eat. Use the inner voice of a therapist to try to be helpful and kind, not the voice of a sabotaging friend who says, “Go ahead and have the brownie” even when you know it’s a decision you’ll regret.
[See: 7 Diet Mistakes Sabotaging Your Weight Loss.]
9. Get excited!
Today is the day you will start changing your life. There are so many situations (and people) that can make you feel sad, hurt, angry, stressed and depressed — don’t make yourself one of them.
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How to Stop Putting Off Healthy Changes and Actually Start Today originally appeared on usnews.com
