Baby steps people, baby steps.....

Set yourself up for success

Remember:  If you are reading this, what you are currently doing is likely not working well for you. 

 I can't tell you how many patients I see in clinic who can't seem to figure out why they look and feel they way they do.  They insist that they have not changed their eating habits, or that they eat very healthy - and in my office, and making a villain out of "hormones" as the source of all of their woes. 

It is the sad truth that in our country we are destined to fail with our diets if we don't fight to stay healthy.  If we just 'go with the flow' and eat what is provided to us for convenience sake the vast majority will find ourselves hungry, tired, and overweight to some degree. 

The biggest challenge is recognizing the rut that you are in, followed by making the commitment to change it to a healthier, happier you. 

To set yourself up for success, think about planning a healthy diet as a number of small, manageable steps rather than one big drastic change. If you approach the changes gradually and with commitment, you will have a healthy diet sooner than you think. 

• Simplify. Instead of being overly concerned with counting calories or measuring portion sizes, think of your diet in terms of color, variety, and freshness. This way it should be easier to make healthy choices. Focus on finding foods you love and easy recipes that incorporate a few fresh ingredients. Gradually, your diet will become healthier and more delicious.
• Start slow and make changes to your eating habits over time. Trying to make your diet healthy overnight isn’t realistic or smart. Changing everything at once usually leads to cheating or giving up on your new eating plan. Make small steps, like adding a salad (full of different color vegetables) to your diet once a day or switching from butter to olive oil when cooking.  As your small changes become habit, you can continue to add more healthy choices to your diet.
• Every change you make to improve your diet matters. You don’t have to be perfect and you don’t have to completely eliminate foods you enjoy to have a healthy diet. The long term goal is to feel good, have more energy, and reduce the risk of cancer and disease. Don’t let your missteps derail you—every healthy food choice you make counts.

(credit: Harvard Health Review)