One of the more difficult habits for people to change seems to be what they eat.
It’s also seems to be one of the most popular ones to try to change.
Some of the habits that I´ve found to be the easiest to change are the ones where you just do adjustments rather than turning your life upside down.
These everyday habits may not lead to drastic weight loss in record time. But I do believe that over time they can help you improve your health. Or in the case with #10, avoid serious accidents.
Replace sodas with water. I found this to be a pretty easy transition actually. Some obvious advantages are that you consume less sugar, that you do less damage to your teeth plus you save a couple of bucks.
- Replace sweet snacks with vegetables, fruit and nuts. Instead of having cookies and candy stored in your cupboard replace them with alternatives that are a whole lot healthier. Some examples are tomatoes, apples, bananas, blueberries and in the nut-department cashews, almonds and peanuts. But eat just a handful or two of nuts, not big bowls. They pack a lot of fat.
Eat more fiber. It can lower the risk of diabetes and heart disease. It can also help you with weight loss as high-fiber food often takes longer time to chew which gives your body time to register when you are full. Overeating thereby becomes less likely and the fiber also makes you feel full longer. You can find a good amount of fiber in, for instance, beans, fruit and raw vegetables. For a 7 step list on how to eat more fiber click here and if you want more general information go here.
Eliminate temptations in your environment. Like with the first and second habit in this article you can use the same procedure of changing your environment to change yourself wherever you find the possibility. If you don´t have the unhealthy food at home, or in your cubicle, the temptations will be quite a bit smaller. And one of the best ways to change a habit is to replace it. Think about what you can throw out and what healthier alternative you can replace it with today.
Cook and bring your own meals to work. This is of course generalized, but there is often a lot of extra sugar and fat added to preprocessed food and at least extra fat in a lot of the meals when you eat out. When you cook for yourself you have more information about and control over what you actually put into your body. Plus, you save a whole bundle of money.
Avoid the buffet. You are likely to eat too much. Or if you eat at a buffet, be aware and a little careful of how much you eat.
Be careful with your plate-size. You’ll probably habitually want to fill the plate. If you use a too big plate you run the risk of eating too big servings.
Eat a healthy breakfast. Yep, it´s the most important meal of the day. Just don´t forget to keep it healthy too. That´s better than a big bowl of sugar-puffs. According to this article there is at least four benefits of eating a healthy breakfast: you are more likely to consume more vitamins and minerals and less fat and cholesterol, to have better concentration and be more productive during the morning, to control your weight better and to have lower cholesterol.
- Eat Slower. It takes about 20 minutes for your brain to register that you´re full. That´s because your stomach needs to begin streching before it starts to produce the hormones that tells your brain that you are full. By slowing down your eating your brain can stop you before you eat unnecessarily much. Eating slower can also help prevent digestion problems and generally makes you feel less stressed.
Don´t eat and drive. Just like talking on the cell phone while driving it can be dangerous for both to you and your fellow motorists to eat and drink while driving. Sit down at a table while eating.
Use a grocery list. Try to stick to buying just what you have written down. A written list can decrease the need for impulse buying (which often, in my experience, results in more unhealthy food in the grocery bags).
Shop when you are full. Like using a written shopping list, this is useful for limiting impulse buying. When you are hungry you are likely to just shop for anything. I´ve also noticed that when you go shopping hungry it seems to increase the craving for junkfood .
- Get enough sleep. Or your hormonal signals may change and increase your appetite. In one study sleep was restricted to four hours for one night. The next day the results among the participants were a 24% increase in hunger and 23% in appetite. Read more about this research.
Be conscious of what you eat. This is a big one. Try thinking before you eat instead of just going along with your normal routine. Think about what you should eat and plan at least a little instead of just wolfing down something unhealthy while thinking about everything else except what you are eating. Be aware of what you put into yourself. Do some research on what is more or less healthy. Take control of what you eat.
译文:
14种对健康有益的食物
改变人们的饮食习惯是比较难的一种方式。
而这似乎也是一个人们最为迫切想要尝试改变的习惯。
我所发现的最为容易改变的一些习惯是让你的生活做调整，而不是颠倒你的生活。
在一定的时间内，这些每日习惯不会导致你生活的严重的失衡。但是我确信加以时日他们将帮你提升你的健康水平，或是在第十号案例中一样，避免严重的事故。
用水取代苏打水。我发现其实这些其实是相当容易的转折。一些明显的优势是你可以避免摄入大量的糖份，而着对于你的牙齿减少伤害，增加你牙齿的耐磨度。
用蔬菜，水果和坚果来取代甜点。而不考虑饼干和糖果储存在你的碗柜换上替代有一大堆健康。一些健康食品例如西红柿，苹果，香蕉，蓝莓和坚硬的坚果，杏仁和花生。但是只是需要少量的食用，而非大量。因为他们带有脂肪含量。
多食纤维。纤维可以降低患冠心病及糖尿病的几率。也可以帮助你减轻你的重量，因为高纤维食物需要长时间的咀嚼，而这些时间则可以让你的身体一些时间来感觉自己已经处于饱的阶段。因此暴饮暴食很半发生，而且可以持续长时间的饱感。你可以在许多食物中发现纤维的存在，例如，豆类，水果和粗菜。关于如何食用纤维的7大步骤请点击这里，若想得到更多的资料请到这里。
在你的生活环境中消除诱惑。如同本文第一第二条，你可以使用同样的程序来改变你的周围，那些你发现存在可能性的地方。如果你的家中没有不健康食物，或是你周围，那么诱惑将会变的极小化。而改变这种习惯的最好的方式是拿别的食物来取代他。想一想，你有什么可以仍掉的坏习惯和那些健康的习惯来取代他们。
工作餐自煮或自带。当然，这是广义的，但是还是有很多额外的糖和脂肪被添加进了食物，当你外出用餐事至少有额外的脂肪在大多数的餐点中。而当你自己做饭时，你可以了解更多的信息以及掌握好你想要身体接受的。再加上，你还为自己的荷包省钱了。
避免自助餐。你可能会吃的太多。或是在吃自助餐时，注意或尽量提醒自己克制。
注意你的餐盘尺寸。你肯定会想要习惯性的望餐盘里加餐。如果你用的是大的餐盘的话，你将冒吃过量的风险。
健康的早餐。是的，早餐是一天当中最重要的一餐。但是同样的不要忘记他的健康性。它比起泡芙来的更为健康。这篇文章中提到的吃健康早餐至少有四个好处：你可以摄入大量的维生素与矿物质，少量的脂肪和胆固醇；一上午能更好的集中精神和高效率的工作；可以更好的控制你的体重；更好的降低你的胆固醇。
细嚼慢咽。当你的大脑反映出你已经饱的过程需要20分钟。那是因为你的肚子只有开始拉伸才能产生荷尔蒙，从而通知到你的大脑，你已经饱了。 然后你再吃时你的大脑会制止你，而后你会克制你的食欲。细嚼慢咽还不可以帮助消化，使你有种减压的感觉。
不要边吃边开车。就像不要在开车时讲电话一样，边吃边开对于你和你的客人都有危险。吃饭时应围坐在餐桌旁边。
列张杂货清单。尝试只买你写在清单上的东西。书面清单可以减少冲动购物（常常，以我的经验，在购物带中会出现大量的不健康食品）。
充分准备后去购物。如同用书面清单一样，这是有效的为限制即兴购物。当你急切时你会买任何东西。我也意识到你急切的期盼购物是你会为增加许多冲动品。
保证充足的睡眠。你的荷尔蒙信号可能会改变，增强你的食欲。在一项睡眠研究中，睡眠被限制在一夜四小时。第二天，参加者中饥饿率提升24%，胃口方面是23%。阅读更多关于此调查的相关资料。
考虑你吃什么。这是一个大的方面。尝试在你吃东西前考虑，而不是一味的例行公事。考虑什么是你应该吃的，或是至少计划下是不是除去了不健康的那些，考虑下你除了你吃的还有什么。关心你想要接收的是什么。在对健康有益和无益的方面做些研究。掌控自己的食欲。