No more excuses! 10 tips to stick to your diet
When you’re on a diet it seems as if there are a million reasons NOT to follow your healthy plan. Thankfully, the experts at Shape.com tackled ways to avoid your most popular excuses, curb your cravings, and make a permanent change. Here are some of our favorites:
Excuse: “I have no time to cook”
There are plenty of ways to eat healthy without spending all night cooking, like picking up a nutritious main course such as a grilled rotisserie chicken or grilled salmon. Then add quick sides like five-minute whole-wheat couscous and frozen veggies at home. For an even lighter meal, the editors at SHAPE suggest you pick up a broth-based soup from the deli counter with a side whole-grain roll. Either way, avoid going out for a heavy meal – a 2011 study published in Obesity found that “when dieters eat out, they consume 226 more calories and 10 extra grams of fat.”
Excuse: "I keep candy and chips around for my kids and can't help eating them"
Your kids health is just as important as yours, so you both should be eating the same nutritious foods. Toss the unhealthy snacks like chips and candy to avoid temptation, and instead replace it with graham crackers, baked chips or chocolate milk instead of cookies, regular chips, and soda. According to SHAPE, portion controlled snacks work too, like 100-calorie cookies and fun-sized candy bars, but it’s important to remember to actually stop after one.
Excuse: "Every time I buy fresh produce, it goes bad too quickly"
It’s important to know that fresh fruits and vegetables only stay good for about seven days, so make sure you account for that before you hit the grocery store. Next, it’s important to store them correctly and SHAPE suggests you keep produce on the second or third shelf of your fridge in the thin plastic bags you find in the produce section. According to the editors at SHAPE, “These are designed to release the moisture and gases that fruit and vegetables naturally emit and that accelerate decay – but since the type of gas fruit releases can spoil veggies, store them away from each other.” However, there are some fruits and veggies that last longer unrefrigerated, like mangoes, tomatoes, and bananas.
Excuse: "I can't survive without something sweet"
If you have an undeniable sweet tooth, satisfy your craving with an ounce of dark chocolate, which has only 150 calories. Dark chocolate also has a slew of added benefits found in the flavonoids, such as lowering blood pressure and improving circulation. According to a USDA analysis, “dark chocolate also offers about twice as many antioxidants as milk varieties and just an ounce boasts more of these disease-fighting compounds than one and a half cups of blueberries (one of the most antioxidant-rich foods).”
Excuse: "Vegetables taste so blah when I make them"
Most of us make similar mistakes when it comes to preparing vegetables; we overcook and under season. Whether you steam, sauté, or grill, shorten your usual cooking time a bit and then toss them in what chefs call “a finishing sauce” – like this quick option from SHAPE: “Whisk equal parts of olive oil and balsamic vinegar with half a teaspoon of each minced garlic and mustard. Top with a sprinkle of toasted almonds, pumpkin seeds, or fresh herbs such as cilantro, basil, or chives.”
For the full list of excuses, visit Shape.com.
