Focus on Adding Not Taking Away

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We’ve all been there, Monday rolls around, we’re at the start of a new healthy eating plan and we mentally write the new rule book: ‘For the foreseeable future I will no longer’:

  • Eat sugar

  • Eat bread

  • Eat processed foods

  • Eat take away

  • Drink alcohol

You have the perfect plan to kick off this new healthy eating regime and hit your weight loss goal. However, life often doesn’t listen to our plans. If you were to remove all of the above from your diet you would more than likely succeed in losing weight, controlling your blood sugar levels and your body would feel the benefits. However, is this realistic? When we think of diets we have been conditioned to think of how we are going to reduce what we eat and all of the enjoyable foods we’ll have to sacrifice.  This is very restrictive and, while it will work for some people, it won’t work for everyone.

There is a different way to think about a new healthy eating plan - forget about what you are going to remove from your diet and focus on what you are going to add. So try switching your mind set to: ‘For the foreseeable future I will’:

  • Eat more fruit

  • Eat more vegetables

  • Eat more oily fish

  • Eat more nuts and seeds

  • Drink more water

 If you are able to change your mindset from taking away foods to adding them, you will probably find that the healthy food which you are including will slowly but surely crowd out the calorific things which don’t help you to feel at your best. Don’t be too restrictive in your mindset. Telling yourself that you are never going to eat bread again is unrealistic. If you really want a piece of toast consider what you could have as an alternative first and if there is nothing that will stop the craving, choose the best option available, like using wholemeal bread. A change in your eating habits shouldn’t be a short term fix to lose half a stone before you go back to ‘normal’. If this is the case you will end up yo-yoing for years. Try to make sensible choices and think about what you can add to your diet to make your body healthier and stronger.

Andy Letham