We know: Monday is the best day to start your diet. But if you’re going to do it this time, try a healthy start for the week. Here are some tips to help you do things right and keep at it, until you’re satisfied.
Starting a diet is very tough. Because there’s a fine line between being up to the challenge and simply putting so much pressure on yourself that you’re going to burst and head straight for deep-fried food central. To prevent this breaking down and subsequent binging on unhealthy, fatty, sugary food, it’s best to take it slow and have a healthy start to a diet. Just go with baby steps!
When you set a smaller goal and then achieve it, the satisfaction you feel is precious and it motivates you to go one step further. Loftier goals tend to up the stakes so much you’re looking at the skies and can’t even see them anymore. So, try to be more measured and work little by little. This is how you can avoid disappointing yourself.
8 tips for a healthy start on your diet
1. Just add (more) water
Here is a simple and easy goal to keep: try and have more hydration in your life. There are plenty of free apps out there that remind you to drink more water during the day. Simple, accessible H2O keeps you full and energized. And hydration is good for weight loss. It’s a win-win situation.
2. Cook most meals at home
Yes, it’s a huge time investment on your part, but it’s an investment in you, and you deserve it, I assure you. Cooking can be super relaxing and fun. Invite a few friends and make a day out of it during the weekend. Make as many foods as you can, with their help, and then eat those for the rest of the week.
The food you make doesn’t have to be extremely complicated. For instance, I like to cook a large batch of chicken thighs, and then mix and match them with simple sides, turn them into sandwiches with sauces, or chop them up and add them to salads, with other fresh, tasty ingredients. What you do is up to you. But there are also plenty of recipes you can make in under 30 minutes, right here on this website.
So plan your meals for the entire week, calorie-wise and shopping-wise. This leads us to…
3. Prep your food in advance
Maybe cooking wouldn’t seem like such a chore if your ingredients were to simply prep themselves. But alas, they can’t. You can help them a little, though, by prepping them in advance. Over the weekend. You can pre-cook grains, make dressings, and also do all of the chopping, dicing, and chiffonading you want. Then store everything in the refrigerator, in individual containers. Also, try to choose recipes with a tiny number of ingredients, three to five, so that you don’t have a lot of prepping (or shopping) to do.
4. Change your mind about snacks
Don’t go for the bag of chips or the loaded with sugar chocolate. There are crunchy, salty, and even sweet things you can snack on without a problem because they’re much healthier than those processed items we all (guiltily) love so much. Make your own granola bars or pick and choose your own nuts and dried fruit to add to a trail mix. When in doubt, apple slices always do the trick!
5. Streamline the smoothie process
You can prep your nutritious smoothie drinks just as well as you do with other meals. Just cut the fruit and veggies in advance, keep them in ziploc freezer bags and when the time is right, in the morning you need the smoothie, just add everything and blend. This means a bit more time for you to wake up, every day!
6. Just add veggies
You can add so many veggies to your smoothies. Like spinach, kale, and beets. You can also make cauliflower dough for pizza; did you know that? Cauliflower also works mashed, in biscuits, or you can add it as an ingredient in muffins. The latter part works well with zucchini, too.
It’s time to try and make a cauliflower pizza. This is a great recipe!
7. Exercise at your desk
I know, I know. You work so much at your desk and have no time to exercise. But if you’re trying to make a healthy start, how about you combine the two then? Try exercising while at your desk. There are plenty of ideas out there that will get you in better shape while you’re working. And remember: never take the elevator! The stairs are always the healthier option.
