Developing good nutritional habits can be a difficult journey when you do not know where to begin. Often you may be given advise to change your habits, but that advise does not come with additional input. Our habits are usually intertwined together in one way or another. Therefore, I have put together some tips that will help you see how our habits go hand in hand. You will see how what ends up on your grocery list, leads to what you cook and how you eat it.

Steps to Good Nutritional Habits

Shop with Purpose

Always create a plan of meals that you plan on cooking for the week before you even head out to the grocery store. Make it a habit not to leave your home without a grocery list and try to stick to your list to the best of your ability. Sure, there may be a temptation or two, but stay strong. The grocery list can also be a huge money saver as you are not bringing items home that you regret and end up throwing out later.

Learn to Cook

Cooking can appear to be much more difficult than it really is. However, once you have prepared a meal or two, it will start to flow. In the beginning a good habit would be to follow recipes. With the access to the internet, we have an endless supply of cooking ideas. There are also cooking books and cooking magazines for those who like the old-fashioned way of cooking.

Cooking can also be made simple by starting off with easy meals and by cooking for a few days ahead. When my husband and I cook, we like to have leftovers for at least an additional day or two. Therefore, we make soups, chilis, and beef stews frequently because they make for great dinners. We also do large baking sessions when we use the oven. Living in Florida using the oven daily is not conducive because it really affects the electric bill drastically. So, when we bake we do large trays of vegetables, potatoes and other delicacies.

Eat regular Meals

Skipping meals is not only bad for your health, but it is also bad for your weight management. Have you ever skipped lunch, and then ate a super large portion for dinner? You may think that it is not a big deal to have two large portions for dinner since you have not eaten lunch, but skipping meals is bad for you. When you skip meals, you deprive your body of nutrients. As a result, at the next meal this deprivation is going to cause your body to store more food out of fear that you will neglect to feed it again.

Additionally, skipping meals creates an irregular eating routine, which confuses your metabolism. Therefore, your body could have a difficult time processing the food you eat. Furthermore, eating large meals later in the day just means that you will be going to bed with your meal since there is a small chance that you will be able to digest it and burn it off before heading to bed.

Eat Mindfully

When you eat, try to be present and not with your mind someplace else. A good practice is to pay attention to the texture, smell, and taste of the food that you are eating. This will also slow down your chewing process and help with digestions.

Eat When You Are Calm

Never eat when you are angry and upset. If you think of the last time when you ate angry and upset, you most likely inhaled your food with no attention to how much you were eating. You also most likely experienced digestive problems later that day. Therefore, if you are angry or upset go for a walk or do a calming activity before you sit down to eat. This allows you to quiet your mind and bring back your attention and focus to the present moment.

Skip Empty Calories

There will be times where you are on the run and feel like grabbing a snack, but before you do, you should ask yourself whether it will provide you with the right nutrients. For instance, you may think that a little breakfast-to-go bar or a doughnut will solve your problem. Sure, it is better than nothing, however that can easily develop into a bad long-term habit. Instead, always make sure that you have nutrient rich snacks around the house. Also, ask yourself does the food you are grabbing provide you with the right nutrients to get on with your day?

I like to have different nuts and seeds in the kitchen as well as fresh fruit. I also like to prepare my healthy version of a Muffin-to-go that is filled with fresh blueberries, nuts, and seeds. This way I have no excuse to grab empty calorie snacks.

Do Not Finish Your Plate

I know that most of our parents have raised us to finish everything that is on our plate and that we got praised for finishing everything. However, that method is old and outdated and must not be followed. It is ok not to finish everything on your plate. You can always put it away as a leftover for your next meal. You can follow this also when you are eating out. If the portion ends up being too large, do not force yourself to finish it, instead ask the waiter to pack up half of it for you so that you can take it home and have it later.

Conclusion

Did you notice how habits go hand in hand and how you can build on your habits? Purchasing the right nutrients, will lead to cooking healthy recipes. Furthermore, eating mindfully and while in a calm state, will determine your portion size and the choice of food that you select. So, next time before you head to the grocery store, sit down and put a list together and have a good meal plan for the entire week. This will do wonders for your new habit development.

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