One common misconception when it comes to improving your nutrition is that in order to be “healthy” you must cut out all tasty foods.
And anytime you eat something tasty you aren’t “healthy”.
In today’s world this isn’t practical. Not only does this food taste amazing, but its usually involved when we are doing something with loved ones or close friends.
So if a client mentions in their check-in that they either had an event the past week or have one coming up where this type of food is involved, we focus on making it work instead of saying “cmon just use your willpower and say no, what the hell is wrong with you?! You must not want this enough!!”
This doesn’t mean you can eat what you want when you want, and how much you want all of the time.
But If you aren’t happy with where you are at then that will require change, and it won’t be a walk in the park.
However, we can still enjoy tasty foods and not have to feel bad for it.
Here are some things we do with online clients so they can still enjoy their favorite foods but continue to progress:
✅Slow down
When we eat tasty foods we usually eat them quickly because we are hungry and they taste freaking good. These types of food are designed to get you to eat quickly, so that doesnt help.
There is a lag time between your stomach being full and your brain finding this out.
So you can hack this by eating quicker. This is something we would tell someone who is trying to gain weight, but for someone who is looking to get or stay lean you need to do the opposite and slow down.
By eating quickly you sneak in extra calories essentially and this can lead to extra energy being consumed.
Again, not helpful for losing weight.
Some tips to slow down:
- Eat undistracted, at the dinner table.
- Try to avoid eating tasty foods while doing other things (driving, working, etc.).
✅Enjoy it
If you are already eating the food, you might as well just enjoy it. It doesn’t make sense to stress about how “it isn’t on the plan”.
When you stress about how it isnt on the plan, not only does your body utilize the energy, but you also dont enjoy it.
This can lead to overeating because you never really get satisfied with the food and then just keep wanting more.
If you are going to eat it, just freaking enjoy it and move on.
Stressing about it does nothing except make the situation worse.
✅Pair it with a meal or eat protein/veggie portion of the meal first
A big mistake clients make with tasty foods is they eat it by itself and when they are hungry, which is a recipe for overeating.
Have you ever been hungry at a party and they had chips or sweets sitting out before you eat your regular meal?
You said just one, but since you are hungry and these types of foods are designed to get you to eat more and taste so good, you give in and have another, and then another.
If you can wait to eat these types of foods until you are closer to the regular meal that way then you will focus on the regular meal instead of the sweets or snacks beforehand when you are hungry.
Eat your normal meal first (or the more filling foods) and then enjoy the tastier food after.
The goal here is that you will fill up on more filling foods.
✅Smaller bites
When I eat something tasty instead of completely avoiding it I have started to take smaller bites.
This helps me slow down and really savor the foods.
All of the times I have overate is because I scarf the food down instead of taking smaller bites and enjoying what is there in front of me.
✅Drink a big glass of water or calorie free beverage before
This can help fill you up, which can then lead to less food being consumed overall.
Sometimes we may feel hungry, but might just need to drink more water.
This might not make a huge deal at one time, but saving 150 calories here or there can add up.
Studies have shown that zero calorie drinks can actually lower your appetite and food consumed in the subsequent meal (Rogers et al., 2020).
Before you eat that tasty food, make sure you drink a glass of water or calorie free beverage first.
✅Eat from a bowl/plate instead of from the bag or container
One of the biggest mistakes clients make is eating from the bag or container rather than portioning it out and putting in a bowl/plate.
You may still go back up and get more, but you are at least less likely to mindlessly eat from the bag or container.
Putting it into a bowl can be a good reminder to stop eating once you are finished.
This way you can still eat the tasty food, but you instead eat less overall.
I hope this helps you still eat tasty foods.
We need to get away from this black and white thinking when it comes to leaning out. All foods have their place in your diet, but you get yourself into trouble when you eat what you want, when you want and how often you want.
There needs to be some sacrifices and changes made somewhere along the line to get you to a place where you arent currently at.
If you need more structure and guidance with your nutrition, fill out the link here and lets get to work.
Rogers, P. J., Ferriday, D., Irani, B., Hei Hoi, J. K., England, C. Y., Bajwa, K. K., & Gough, T. (2020). Sweet satiation: Acute effects of consumption of sweet drinks on appetite for and intake of sweet and non-sweet foods. Appetite, 149, 104631. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2020.104631
