by
Bill Herren
We
are bombarded with advertisements pushing
delicious looking, fat filled, and obesity
producing food in our faces every single day.
We hear it on the radio; see it on TV and
on billboards and even in newspapers.
We
go on a diet and try to totally turn our eating
habits around. We go from eating hamburgers,
French fries, pizza, hot dogs, and other junk
to eating lettuce and drinking water.
If
we are really disciplined we make it a week
or so. But like most people, we are back to
our old habits within days. The change is
just too drastic and makes it next to impossible
for us to stick to our diets.
I
have slowly improved my eating habits over
the years. I have done this in a way that
has been painless to me and has replaced bad
diet choices with good eating habits. Of course,
before any diet changes you should consult
your physician. I was not in any immediate
health danger and therefore did not need to
immediately change my habits.
What
follows is not a "how to" article
but more of an article on how I changed my
eating habits over time. There was a time
in my life when I received my daily intake
from fast food restaurants. I was in a sales
position and on the road most of the time.
I would have the burger, fries and coke combo
from a different fast food joint every day.
I
was much younger then and blessed with a decent
metabolism so I did not see much negative
effect from all of the unhealthy eating. It
was upon my taking a physical for another
job that I discovered my cholesterol was not
in a good range. I was way too young for something
like this to happen and I knew that I must
change my ways.
I
attempted to totally overhaul my eating habits
in one day. I would do well for awhile and
then go back to my old ways. I had made improvements
but they were not ingrained good habits like
I was hoping for. Upon much reflection I decided
to go a little easier on myself.
I
decided to start substituting food choices
one by one until they became habit. My first
substitution was with my beverage choice.
Instead of having the cola I would order water.
It was kind of a mental reward system for
me. I would eat the burger and fries guilt
free as long as I drank water instead of cola.
I
know that you are probably thinking "how
can you eat a burger and fries guilt free?".
I could do this guilt free because I knew
that it was just a stage in my long term diet
plan. I chose water as my first diet choice
because it came easy for me. It required very
little discipline on my part.
After
a month or so drinking water with a meal became
second nature to me. It was no longer a sacrifice;
it was a habit. After that came the French
fries. I substituted the French fries with
a plain baked potato. Burger diet now consisted
of a burger, plain baked potato and water.
I actually started enjoying the baked potato
rather quickly. They are much tastier than
grease drowned fries.
You
can see where I am going with this. If you
have been trying to lose weight for any time
now, you know what a good food is and what
a bad food is. You will know where and what
to substitute. I continued these substitutions
and still do to this day.
Now
I am more aware of an unhealthy habit starting.
I am very conscious of what I eat. Some of
the great things about these diet choices
are that they became habits; the desire for
the unhealthy foods was replaced with a desire
for healthy foods. Nowadays I rarely eat out.
I have lost my taste for such foods.
Some
of my diet substitutions:
Water
for Cola,
Baked
potato for Fries,
Whole
Wheat for white bread,
Soy
Milk for cow's milk,
pretzels
for chips,
salads
for desserts,
Meal
replacement shake for cereal,
and
the list goes on and on.
Habits
are built by doing something over and over.
I have read it takes around 30 days to establish
a habit.
Do
not stop your substitutions with the foods
you eat..carry it over to other parts of your
life. For example, substitute the elevator
with the stairs, substitute the car with a
bicycle, give up the evening news and replace
it with a walk.
Discouragement
comes when we feel overwhelmed and want results
yesterday. Take your time, develop habits,
and enjoy a leaner healthier body!
Bill
Herren is the webmaster of www.proweightloss.com
bringing you top rated weight loss supplements
and ebooks
