Beth Warren Nutrition Blog

5 Ways to Reset and Recharge After Falling Off the Healthy Eating Track

by Beth Warren January 29, 2018

It is difficult to follow your healthy eating track when life keeps getting in the way. Whether it's work, family commitments, or vacations, it is more than likely you fall off the track of your healthy eating goals. The last thing we want is to give up completely. Here are 5 ways you can reverse the tides of your diet and get back on track towards your health and weight goals:

1. Lose the Guilt: It happened. Accept it. Now do something about it. Feeling guilty is proven to only cause a downward spiral into a deeper bowl of potato chips and then some. The best thing you can do is leave the past behind and focus on moving forward.

2. Focus on Small Changes: Moving forward doesn’t have to mean taking a giant leap.  In fact, smaller changes are proven to be more effective long-term than bigger ones. Think about an area that you know you need work. For example, if you are skipping meals like lunch your first goal could be to eat your three meals per day and then balance it with mostly vegetables, a source of lean protein and a whole grain carbohydrate like quinoa or a starchy vegetable like sweet potato.

3. Focus on Consistency: Restrictive diets were so 1980’s. The trend in today’s world based on current science is that extreme fad diets do not work in the short and long term. While you may think you experience true weight loss, extreme weight loss short term simply results in loss of muscle. By losing muscle, you decrease your metabolism and not only gain weight back over time but have a harder time losing weight again. With our InBody comprehensive weight analysis, we can confirm that sticking with a whole foods diet incorporating healthy fats and other balanced food groups, you experience a loss in body fat and sustain or boost muscle when incorporating a fitness routine. These are the lasting results that matter for your weight and health along with how you look and feel.

4. Get Active: The people who say you don’t have to exercise to lose weight are entirely missing the point of why fitness helps with weight loss. Simply put, exercise keeps you motivated by making you feel good, empowering you with the realization of the strength of your body. Plus, fitness is proven to boost your mood and keep you focused which helps you eat better. It will also help you physically see the results of your weight loss efforts more quickly and it is a proven necessity when you have to keep the weight loss off. During the winter, it is even more critical to find exercises you enjoy doing whether out or indoors. If you think you do not like any exercises then I argue that you just didn't find the right one yet. Don’t become overwhelmed by the word “exercise” and instead make a less stressful commitment to simply “be active.” Any movement you do and consistently will work in your weight and health favor long term.

5. Hydrate: A frustrating response to why you may not be losing weight is because you are not drinking enough fluids. Most of the time we are struggling with eating too much, or wanting to eat less and skip a very critical component of our weight: water! Simply drinking primarily water, plus anti-bloating teas such as fennel and mint will help meet your fluid needs and decrease your weight. Not only does hydration help your total weight, it also boosts your metabolism by 30% helping you burn more calories simply by drinking! Try to incorporate hydrating foods like fruits and vegetables into your diet as well help meet your fluid goals.
 

Here's a recipe that is simple to make and creative enough to motivate you to get back on track. This recipe is "free" on all phases of the BWN Method: