What are your eating habits?

Did you resolve to "eat healthy" or did you resolve "to be on a diet" or to "get skinny?" The first will stick... The others, not so much. 

First and foremost... be ready to put in some effort. In about 4-6 weeks this will be "hard" and "dumb" and "you can't remember why you started," that's really when it's going to take some effort. Make sure your support system is on board.... family, friends, etc. and write down the reason you started. You'll want to remember it later.

Now lets talk about eating habits. Equally important to your fitness as your workout is your diet. You can work out all day, but if you eat horribly, then it's all for not. Your diet needs to fuel your body and be satisfying. You're overall goal should be to eat 5 times a day, but we all need to start somewhere. So 3 steps to start!

Step 1. Review your weekly diet. Not down to the calorie level, but what each meals looks like; how many times a week do you eat out? Drive thru and restaurants? How many of those "convenience meals" from the freezer? BE HONEST with yourself. If you're eating out or eating convenience meals more than 5 times per week, that's a lot. I went through this because my rear end was a victim of our busy schedule. I told my oldest that I wanted us to eat out because we wanted to...not because we had to. Which meant I needed to plan better.

Step 2: Set your goal. If your number is greater than 5, then focus on changing that habit. In my world, planning what we eat is no different than planning what my kids need for the next day. I'm sure you go through some variation of my morning ritual... Kids needs backpacks, practice clothes, gym clothes, lunches. So why not add meals; it doesn't have to be complicated. It could be soup in a crock pot, or hoagie/hero night. If you have a social lunch group at work, suggest brown bagging 1 or 2 days a week in a conference room.

I have found good food blogs on Pinterest (of course!) and I repin. So follow my board for some suggestions Healthy and Yummy Food. And by all means... If you don't have a crock pot - GET ONE! I couldn't live without mine. Lots of my recipes go in the crock pot.

Step 3: Monitor your progress. Don't "kick" yourself too hard when you stumble; Don't "over reward" yourself for success. This is a journey, not a destination.

My Rant: Food companies are in business, so typically they're first priority is making $$ and feeding you is second. When a food product is advertised as 500 calories or less, you need to look at the ingredients or the other nutritional info. Lots of times those are made with fillers or have trans fats that are not good for you either.   Your food needs to be real, and not full of artificial flavors. If you don't currently read labels... START! Its not hard, and it will make a huge difference in what you eat.


I'm not suggesting that you go "cold turkey" on anything. In my opinion, that's the fastest route to failure. But if you set a goal over the next month to eat out less and eat at home more, you'll start to see the difference. Once you change the habit... it'll get even easier.

Easy Points to remember

• learn to read labels
• eat real food
• eat at home more than you eat out
• have a splurge meal once a week