The Weight Loss Blog

Healthy Habits to Lose Weight: Sometimes, the success or failure of your weight loss program depends more on your daily habits than on the food choices you make. The little things you do as part of your routine can affect how much food you eat and how much you move throughout the day. There are healthy habits to lose weight and then there are habits that can work against you and cause weight gain.

These five simple habits are activities that are easy to incorporate into your daily schedule. Pick one and try to practice it this week. If all goes well, pick another one. Try to master one skill at a time so you don’t get overwhelmed. 

1. Healthy Habits to Lose Weight: Watch What You Drink

Healthy Habit to Lose Weight 1: Start to monitor the calories in the drinks that you consume. There are certain drinks, in particular, that can have a big impact on your total caloric intake and on the type of food choices that you make each day. For example, sports drinks, juices, sweetened teas, and flavored coffee drinks are often loaded with fat and calories. Sometimes these drinks boast that they are healthy because they provide vitamins, but they also provide too many calories. Your best bet is to drink water. You can even make flavored water at home to replace your high-calorie sodas and sweetened teas. Get healthy nutrition (vitamins and minerals) from food. 

2. Healthy Habits to Lose Weight: Sleep Better

Healthy Habit to Lose Weight 2: Believe it or not, the quality of your sleep can have an impact on the food choices you make during the day. It can also impact the number of calories you consume from soda or coffee drinks. Use simple tips to sleep better so that you get a full night’s rest and wake up energized for a full day of healthy activity and good eating.

For example, don’t charge your phone next to your bed. Keep it in the kitchen or the den when you sleep. And try to maintain a regular sleep schedule—even on the weekends. This helps your body learn to sleep and wake with less effort. And lastly, lower the temperature in your bedroom at night. A cooler room may help you snooze better.

3. Healthy Habits to Lose Weight: Build a Balanced Exercise Program

Healthy Habit to Lose Weight 3: If you completed last week’s tasks, you’ve already begun to exercise every day. Now it’s time to create a well-rounded workout routine with different types of physical activity. You’ll learn how to build a body that is lean, strong and flexible. If you don’t belong to a gym or need help finding exercise classes, consider using a fun and easy online workout to get the activity you need.

But remember that consistency is key. If you find yourself skipping sessions, your program may be too intense. It’s healthier and safer to do moderate or easy workouts regularly than it is to do very hard workouts once in a while. 

4. Increase Non-Exercise Physical Activity

Healthy Habit to Lose Weight 4: Your daily workout is very important. But if you go to the gym for an hour and spend the rest of the day sitting in a chair or laying on the couch, you are probably doing more harm than good when you exercise. Learn how to increase your daily activity level so that you burn more calories with NEAT, non-exercise activity thermogenesis.

One way to make sure you are getting enough daily activity is to invest in a fitness tracker. These devices track your daily steps and most give you reminders to get up and move when you’ve been sitting too long. Brands like Fitbit offer a variety of styles and features so you can find one that works with your lifestyle and your budget.

5. Set up Daily Reminders

Healthy Habit to Lose Weight 5: Surround yourself with supportive people and healthy reminders that will help you keep your plan on track. You can do this by connecting with people who eat well and exercise at work or in your neighborhood. Set updates to exercise or cook healthy meals together.

You should also subscribe to healthy messages online and in social media. Researchers have found that daily reminders can have a big impact on weight loss success.

Remember that last week’s tasks involved planning healthy meals and exercise. Continue to complete those activities as you move through this e-course and build a better body.

How to Change Eating Habits? When it comes to eating, we have strong habits, some are good (“I always eat breakfast”), and some are not so good (“I always clean my plate”). Although many of our eating habits were established during childhood, it doesn’t mean it’s too late to change them.

Making sudden, radical changes to eating habits, can lead to short term weight loss. However, such radical changes are neither healthy nor a good idea, and won’t be successful in the long run. Permanently improving your eating habits requires a thoughtful approach in which you Reflect, Replace, and Reinforce.

1. Reflect on all of your specific eating habits, both bad and good; and, your common triggers for unhealthy eating.
2. Replace your unhealthy eating habits with healthier ones.
3. Reinforce your new, healthier eating habits.

1. How to Change Eating Habits: Reflect

1. Create a list of your eating habits

How to Change Eating Habits? Keeping a food diary for a few days, in which you write down everything you eat and the time of day you ate it, will help you uncover your habits. For example, you might discover that you always seek a sweet snack to get you through the mid-afternoon energy slump. It’s good to note how you were feeling when you decided to eat, especially if you were eating when not hungry. Were you tired? Stressed out?

2. Highlight the habits 

Highlight the habits on your list that may be leading you to overeat. Common eating habits that can lead to weight gain are:

• Eating too fast
• Always cleaning your plate
• Eating when not hungry
• Eating while standing up (may lead to eating mindlessly or too quickly)
• Always eating dessert
• Skipping meals (or maybe just breakfast)

3. Look at the unhealthy eating habits 

Look at the unhealthy eating habits you’ve highlighted. Be sure you’ve identified all the triggers that cause you to engage in those habits. Identify a few you’d like to work on improving first. Don’t forget to pat yourself on the back for the things you’re doing right. Maybe you almost always eat fruit for dessert, or you drink low-fat or fat-free milk. These are good habits! Recognizing your successes will help encourage you to make more changes.

4. Create a list of “cues” 

How to Change Eating Habits? Create a list of “cues” by reviewing your food diary to become more aware of when and where you’re “triggered” to eat for reasons other than hunger. Note how you are typically feeling at those times. Often an environmental “cue”, or a particular emotional state, is what encourages eating for non-hunger reasons.

5. Common triggers

Common triggers for eating when not hungry are:

• Opening up the cabinet and seeing your favorite snack food.
• Sitting at home watching television.
• Before or after a stressful meeting or situation at work.
• Coming home after work and having no idea what’s for dinner.
• Having someone offer you a dish they made “just for you!”
• Walking past a candy dish on the counter.
• Sitting in the break room beside the vending machine.
• Seeing a plate of doughnuts at the morning staff meeting.
• Swinging through your favorite drive-through every morning.
• Feeling bored or tired and thinking food might offer a pick-me-up.

6. Circle the “cues” on your list that you face on a daily or weekly basis

Going home for the Thanksgiving holiday may be a trigger for you to overeat, and eventually, you want to have a plan for as many eating cues as you can. But for now, focus on the ones you face more often.

7. Ask yourself 

Ask yourself these questions for each “cue” you’ve circled:

• Is there anything I can do to avoid the cue or situation? This option works best for cues that don’t involve others. For example, could you choose a different route to work to avoid stopping at a fast food restaurant on the way? Is there another place in the break room where you can sit so you’re not next to the vending machine?
• For things I can’t avoid, can I do something differently that would be healthier? Obviously, you can’t avoid all situations that trigger your unhealthy eating habits, like staff meetings at work. In these situations, evaluate your options, Could you:
  • suggest or bring healthier snacks or beverages?
  • offer to take notes to distract your attention?
  • sit farther away from the food so it won’t be as easy to grab something?
  • plan ahead and eat a healthy snack before the meeting?

2. How to Change Eating Habits: Replace

1. Replace unhealthy habits with new, healthy ones

For example, in reflecting upon your eating habits, you may realize that you eat too fast when you eat alone. So, make a commitment to share a lunch each week with a colleague, or have a neighbor over for dinner one night a week. Other strategies might include putting your fork down between bites or minimizing other distractions (i.e. watching the news during dinner) that might keep you from paying attention to how quickly — and how much — you’re eating.

2. Eat more slowly

If you eat too quickly, you may “clean your plate” instead of paying attention to whether your hunger is satisfied.

3. Eat only when you’re truly hungry

Eat only when you’re truly hungry instead of when you are tired, anxious, or feeling an emotion besides hunger. If you find yourself eating when you are experiencing an emotion besides hunger, such as boredom or anxiety, try to find a non-eating activity to do instead. You may find a quick walk or phone call with a friend helps you feel better.

4. Plan meals ahead of time

To ensure that you eat a healthy well-balanced meal.

3. How to Change Eating Habits: Reinforce

Reinforce your new, healthy habits and be patient with yourself. Habits take time to develop. It doesn’t happen overnight. When you do find yourself engaging in an unhealthy habit, stop as quickly as possible and ask yourself: Why do I do this? When did I start doing this? What changes do I need to make? Be careful not to berate yourself or think that one mistake “blows” a whole day’s worth of healthy habits. You can do it! It just takes one day at a time!

What works for one person may not work for the next.

When making changes, some people (like me) prefer to go all-in and change everything at the same time.

But others prefer the longer, slower approach… making small changes, one at a time.

Neither approach is better than the other, it’s just that people have different personalities and like to approach lifestyle changes differently.

This article is for those who prefer the longer, slower approach.

It explains how to adopt a healthy, real food based diet in 12 simple, easily manageable steps.

You can do one step per week, one every two weeks, or one per month… whichever suits you. Waiting until you get used to one change before making the next is a good idea.

Whatever you do, you should start seeing results right away, because each step can have a powerful effect.

When you’re done with this, you should have lost a significant amount of weight and improved your health, both physical and mental, in every way imaginable.

Remember… habit puts willpower on autopilot. Changes in lifestyle and behavior can be tough in the beginning, but become effortless when you turn them into a habit.

By mastering one small habit at a time, you will set yourself up for long-term success.

Here are 12 baby steps to optimal nutrition.

1. Eat More Protein to Boost Your Metabolism and Reduce Your Appetite, Making Future Changes Easier

Before we subtract, we add.

This first step will change your metabolism in a way that makes subsequent changes easier.

First of all, protein actually boosts your metabolic rate… that is, how many calories you burn at rest.

The studies show that high protein diets boost metabolism by 80 to 100 calories per day, compared to low protein diets.

Second of all, protein can reduce your appetite, making you automatically eat less of other calorie sources.

In one study, eating protein at 30% of calories caused an automatic reduction in calorie intake of 449 calories per day. The people lost 4.9 kg (11 lbs) in 12 weeks, without intentionally restricting anything.

Of course… adequate protein also has many other benefits, including increased muscle mass, stronger bones, lower blood pressure, to name a few.

Good protein sources include meat, poultry, fish, seafood, eggs and full-fat dairy products (if you can tolerate them). Some people like beans and legumes, which are absolutely fine if properly prepared.

I recommend eating about 1.5-2.5 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight, or 0.7-1.1 grams per pound.

You don’t really need to weigh or measure this, but it may be a good idea to track your foods in the beginning to make sure you are getting enough.

Eating more protein is the easiest, simplest and most delicious way to give your metabolism a nudge towards a lower body weight, reduced appetite and better health. It will also make the rest of the changes easier.

2. Start Eating a Healthy Breakfast, Preferably With Eggs

The second step involves changing one of your daily meals… breakfast.

Most people are eating cereal or something similar for breakfast, but that really is the worst thing you can eat at the start of the day.

Most breakfast cereals are loaded with refined carbs and sugar (even the healthy looking ones).

Eating this stuff for breakfast will spike your blood sugar, leading to a crash a few hours later… followed by cravings for another high-carb meal.

Instead, eat eggs for breakfast.

Eggs are pretty much the perfect breakfast food… they’re high in protein, healthy fats and contain a ton of nutrients .

There are a few studies showing that if you replace a grain-based breakfast (bagels) with eggs, it can help you lose fat.

Eggs are best served with vegetables or a fruit… but you can have quality bacon with them if you want.

If you can’t eat eggs for some reason, any high-protein, nutrient dense food will suffice.

There really is NO valid excuse not to eat a healthy breakfast. Once you get this into a routine, preparing an egg-based breakfast doesn’t take more than 5-10 minutes, at most. Just set your alarm a bit earlier.

That being said, there is no need to eat breakfast in the morning if you don’t feel like it, just make sure that your first meal of the day is a healthy one.

3. Replace Crappy Fats and Oils With Good Fats and Oils

Simply replacing unhealthy fats and oils with healthier ones can have a major impact on your health down the line.

Most people are eating a lot of seriously unhealthy fats… including trans fats and refined vegetable oils.

Although trans fat consumption has gone down in the past few years and decades, it is still way too high.

To avoid trans fats, make sure you read the label on anything you eat. If it says “hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated” anywhere on the label, avoid it.

Refined vegetable oils are also problematic. They have a different composition than other more natural fats, being unnaturally high in Omega-6 fatty acids. This includes corn oil, soybean oil, cottonseed oil and several others.

Without getting into the details (you can read about them here), consuming vegetable oils may be leading to increased inflammation and oxidative damage in the body, potentially raising your risk of heart disease and cáncer.

Instead of these nasty fats and oils, choose fats that are mostly saturated and/or monounsaturated. Grass-fed butter, coconut oil, olive oil, avocado oil and others. Whole nuts are an excellent source of fat as well.

4. Remove Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Fruit Juices From Your Diet

Sugar is bad news… but sugar consumed in a liquid form is even worse.

Studies show that the brain doesn’t “register” liquid sugar calories in the same way as it does calories from other foods.

So you might drink several hundred calories of soda in one day (not uncommon), but your brain doesn’t take them into account when it is trying to control your energy balance.

If you were to add a whole food to your diet, you would automatically eat less of other foods instead. In other words, your brain would “compensate” for those added calories.

That doesn’t happen with liquid sugar calories. Your brain doesn’t compensate for them, so you end up taking in more than you need.

One study shows that consuming a single serving of sugar-sweetened beverages per day is linked to a 60% increased risk of obesity in children.

Many other studies support this… sugar-sweetened beverages may be the most fattening aspect of the modern diet.

Keep in mind that fruit juice is just as bad. It contains the same amount of sugar as a sugary soft drink.

5. Start Exercising… Find Something That You Enjoy and Can Stick To

Exercise is one of the most important things you can do for both physical and mental health, as well as disease prevention.

On its own, it is unlikely to lead to significant weight los.

However… it can help improve your body composition. You may not be losing weight, but you may be losing some fat and gaining a bit of muscle instead.

Exercise leads to so many benefits that it is beyond the scope of this article to list all of them… but let’s just say that exercise is highly protective against pretty much any chronic, Western disease.

It is also incredibly beneficial for mood, well-being and avoiding depression, which is a very common problem today.

When it comes to exercise, what you do exactly is not that important. What IS important is finding something that you enjoy doing and can stick to in the long run.

Although a combination of cardiovascular exercise and some type of resistance training may be the best, something as simple as walking also has incredibly powerful health benefits.

If you’ve already done steps 1-4, the function of your hormones should have improved and your energy levels increased, so starting an exercise program may not be that hard.

Work your way up to doing some sort of exercise at least 3 times per week.

6. Replace Sugar, Refined Carbs and Modern Wheat With Other Healthier Foods

Time to get rid of all the “bad” carbs.

Sugar and refined carbs are some of the unhealthiest aspects of the modern diet.

They’re low in nutrients and fiber and contribute to overeating, which brings with it a plethora of metabolic problems and diseases.

Wheat is in a league of its own. Modern dwarf wheat, introduced around 1960, is low in nutrients compared to older varieties of wheat and is much worse for celiac patients and gluten sensitive individuals than older types of wheat.

Instead of the “bad” carbs, choose healthier carb sources instead. Vegetables, fruits, potatoes, sweet potatoes, healthier grains like rice, oats and quinoa, even legumes if you can tolerate them.

For now, let this suffice and don’t restrict total carb intake (not until step #8).

Whatever you do, just get rid of the sugar and processed carbs from your diet. Eat real food instead.

7. Start Eating Meat or Fish and Plenty of Vegetables for Dinner

Now it’s time to transform another one of your daily meals… dinner.

Replace whatever it is that you’re eating with a meal based on either meat or fish, along with plenty of nutritious vegetables.

I find that dinner is the easiest meal to fit in plenty of veggies.

If you enjoy starches (like potatoes or rice) with dinner, then feel free to eat those too.

Definitely try to eat fatty fish at least 1-2 times per week for all the super healthy Omega-3s. If you can’t or won’t eat fatty fish, then supplement with fish oil.

BOTTOM LINE:Start eating a healthy dinner based on meat or fish, with plenty of vegetables. Try to eat fatty fish at least 1-2 times per week.

8. Match Carb Intake to Your Metabolic Health and Activity Levels

Carbs are a highly controversial nutrient.

Some think the biggest part of our diet should be coming from carbs, while others think they are downright toxic.

As with most things, the truth is somewhere in between and depends greatly on the individual.

The optimal carb intake for any one individual depends on many factors… including metabolic health, activity levels, food culture and personal preference.

Whereas someone who is lean, healthy and lifts weights 5 times a week may function well eating a lot of carbs, someone who is overweight and doesn’t exercise much will probably do better with a low-carb diet.

Although there is no scientific paper that explains exactly how to match carbohydrate intake to individual needs, I’ve personally found these guidelines to be effective:

• 100–150 grams: People who are lean, healthy and physically active (some people may need even more than this).
• 50–100 grams: People who are overweight and/or don’t exercise much.
• 20–50 grams: People who have a lot of weight to lose, or have metabolic problems like type 2 diabetes.

If weight loss is your goal, you can slowly add back in healthier carb sources when you reach your ideal weight.

9. Take Care of Your Lifestyle… Emphasizing Adequate Sleep and Reduced Stress Levels

Often overlooked, sleep and stress levels can have a major effect on your health.

Studies show that not getting enough sleep is strongly linked to many serious diseases, including obesity.

Short sleep duration may actually be one of the strongest risk factor for weight gain. It is linked to a 55% increased risk of obesity in adults and 89% in children.

There are many ways to improve sleep… such as sleeping in a completely dark room, avoiding caffeine in the afternoon and evening, as well as maintaining a consistent sleep schedule.

Another major lifestyle factor is chronic stress.

Excess stress raises your levels of the hormone cortisol, which can make you gain a lot of fat in the abdominal cavity and raise your risk of all sorts of health problems down the line.

Unfortunately, stress can be hard to deal with. Many of us are overwhelmed with various duties and worries.

Meditation can help with this, but if you are severely stressed all the time and can’t find a way to change it on your own, then it may be a good idea to seek professional help.

10. Start Eating Healthy Lunches and Snacks… Now Each of Your Daily Meals Should Be Healthy and Nutritious

Now that you’ve already taken care of breakfast and dinner, it’s time to move on to lunches and snacks.

These meals tend to be the most problematic for a lot of people, because they are often eaten away from home.

A good way to always ensure you can eat something healthy for lunch is to cook an excessive amount at dinner, so you can eat leftovers for lunch the next day.

But today, because the world is more health conscious than ever before, “fast food” places that serve healthy food have started appearing all over the place.

It might be a good idea to write down a list of places that serve healthier foods, so you always have some options on hand if you find yourself hungry away from home.

Snacks are pretty easy… a piece of fruit and a handful of nuts works well. A few hard boiled eggs, a bag of baby carrots… all of these are easily portable.

Chances are that you won’t even need snacks at this point, since avoiding sugar and processed carbs tends to reduce hunger and lead to stable energy levels.

11. Cut Out All Processed Foods and Start Focusing on Quality

Now it’s time to go completely real food based.

You should already be 90% there, but if you’ve been hanging on to anything that you think may be doing you harm, now is the time to get rid of it.

Clear out your pantry… throw away all soda, bread, cereals, flour, sugars, pastries and processed foods.

Start focusing on quality ingredients… look for quality sources of animal foods, choose grass-fed if you can.

Eat quality produce and try to avoid any food with artificial ingredients.

Remember… real food doesn’t need an ingredients list, because real food IS the ingredient.

12. Commit to a Lifetime of Improvement

The final step is a lifelong endeavour.

Turn health and nutrition into a hobby.

Subscribe to some blogs and try to read a few health related books per year.

Stay health conscious for the rest of your life and you will live longer, look better and avoid most of the chronic diseases that people suffer from in old age.