7 Ways to Build The Habit of Eating Healthy
Mar 5th, 2008 by Mehdi
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You’ve got StrongLifts.com’s 10 nutrition rules for building muscle, losing fat and getting stronger. But how do you stick to these 10 nutrition rules? How do you build the habit of eating healthy?
By preparing and eating healthy foods over & over again. The more you prepare and eat healthy foods, the more you build a healthy eating lifestyle. Here are 7 ways to build the habit of eating healthy.
1. Know Why. Will power doesn’t work. You’re driven by desires. Why do you want to build the habit of eating healthy?
- Increased Performance. Most of you will feel sick at the gym if you eat junk food all day. Healthy foods make Squats easier.
- Better Looks. The first step to losing your beer belly is getting stronger and eating whole, unprocessed food.
- More Health. Bad cholesterol, blood sugar, etc. If your doctor warned you, it’s time to do something about it.
Write why you want this on a piece of paper. Put it somewhere you can see it daily. On your computer or nightstand for example. Look at it several times per day so you don’t forget about it 1 week later.
2. Plan. “Failing to plan is planning to fail”. List what you’ll eat during the next 7 or 14 days. Go to the grocery and buy what’s on your list only. Don’t buy junk food, you don’t want temptations at home.
3. Prepare. Lack of time is 1 reason we like junk food. Nobody has time to cook 3x/day. Cook your food in bulk. Even if you work from home. This way you only need to warm-up your meals when it’s time to eat.
- Morning. Wake up 30 mins earlier so you can prepare all your meals while making breakfast.
- Evening. If you have trouble waking up early, cook your meals for the next day when coming back from work or while preparing dinner.
4. Make it Tasty. Your taste will need some weeks to adapt if you ate junk food up till now. Learn to cook. Check for recipes online. Worst case put your mind over matter. Eat your healthy foods, you know why you need them.
5. Simplify. No time for advanced recipes on weekdays. You have a business, career, family, social life, … Keep it simple. Eat raw veggies and canned foods. Make double rations. Keep leftovers for the next day.
6. Take Food with You. This way you won’t have to rely on junk food because you didn’t eat anything for more than 3 hours. Eat before you leave. Take food to work and school. Grab a bag of peanuts to go to the movies.
7. Aim for 90% Perfection. Example: Monday to Saturday whole foods, Sunday junk food. The junk food should be fun, but only for the duration of the meal. As long as you get back to your healthy lifestyle the meal after, you’ll be ok.
Got tips to build the habit of eating healthy? Share them in the comments.
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I have been popping popcorn in a cheap brown sack in a microwave. I add the popcorn and fold bag shut and then tear top of fold in half and fold once more with each half folded in opposite directions. This will usually not come undone when popcorn is fully popped unless you add too much.
This is much cheaper than store bought microwave popcorn and healthier. I add no salt, oil, or butter. Not to bad. You could add olive oil before popping but I don’t since I get my good fats by other means. I like to sometimes add a couple of squirts of Smart Balance butter flavor spray. It is soy based with no trans fat but the last ingredients are artificial flavor and beta-carotene color.
I forgot to add that I have been tempted to take my popcorn with me to the movies but haven’t yet. Anyway, popcorn has become my healthy “junk” food of choice.
Doo, butter is much better for you than something “butter-flavor”. Butter is one of the best forms of fat there is.
Thing that keeps me eating healthy is respecting myself to a degree that I don’t want to eat anything but the best stuff for my health. No matter the cost, eating healthy and working out is the best investment for today and and for future.
I also find it helps to have a nice clean kitchen, make sure all the necessary supplies, and plan a schedule for grocery shopping. I prefer to go a couple times a week rather than one huge grocery ordeal every once in a while.
I’m even considering planning out what I will eat each day of the week so I always have that healthy food default to fall back to.
Good tips, I already follow many of them, and I think the best tip is No. 2 - Planning what you’ll eat.
Writing down what you’ll eat for the week is great, it’s rewarding knowing you’ve stuck to your plan of only natural clean foods for the week.
I definitely notice the different in everyday life when only eating natural healthy foods, and that feeling makes me want to continue eating this way and not cheat with junk food.
P.S. Mehdi: Please accept my forum registration/sign-up
(Username = Jack)
Healthy food is actually much better tasting too. When you make everything by yourself from unprocessed, fresh food, the food is much more delicious. Processed food contains the worst part of the crop, that’s why it’s cheaper.
HABIT: You eat burgers all you’re life you will love them.
You eat broccolli all your life you will love it too. It’s all about habit. I used to love junk food but now I eat clean. I eat out of habit for nutrition. Flavor really doesnt interest me anymore
I’d like to take the time to express my appreciation for this site (especially this post!). I’ve sent a link to this blog to all of my friends, work peers, and basically anyone I’ve encountered who share a genuine desire to work out. Thanks and keep it up!!
At work it can be difficult so I purchased a small cooler. (Like the kind steel workers carry) I put my 4 small meals in there. I have breakfast in the morning, and dinner at home with the wife & kids. Sure, I got a bit of ribbing from the guys at work. But when the weight came off, the jokes disappeared too.
I’ve been on strong lifts 5×5 faithfully since november, prior to that I was working it in to my existing routine as a changeup. My main focus now are oly lifts and I find Mehdi’s routine as the perfect foundation to work up to my goals. That being said, I just can’t get my eating under control. I am trying to cut out carbs during the week, i.e. anabolic diet, however my live in girlfriend cooks the meals or wants to go out to dinner 3+ nights a week which makes it almost impossible to eat clean. Ya’ll are not alone…I am going to print out the above post and make my woman follow this…
Mike…I’m in Philly also, work here 5xdays a week…live in Jersey…My co-workers eat out everyday at the lunch carts in front of the Philly Inquirer building on Broad st. I am going to get a cooler just like you tonight and stop eating that crap!