How to trick your brain to eat healthier
To be honest with you, for most people it tastes better and is faster to make or order. Especially with limited time, you work and when the time comes you feel hungry and you want to eat something right now and not in one hour.
The question is, how can we trick our brains to eat healthier food. Here are some examples that worked for me.
Put healthier food in a more visible and reachable position.
You can trick yourself into eating better food when it's in your environment. We react with our environment and will eat what’s there. So try to replace junk food with healthier options. When there is not a second option you can pick, you will take what is there & in our case, it will be good food.
For example, I replaced my candy shelf with nuts and fruits. When I feel hungry during home office, I go into my kitchen and take something from it. (In the past, it was a candy bar).
So, trick yourself into eating healthier choices.
Don’t eat while watching TV.
I stopped eating snacks while watching TV and it really helped me to eat less junk food. While you’re distracted from your favorite tv show, you will eat more and more until the show is over. That's not good! So eat your meals, for example, outside on your terrace or garden, get some sun which will also help you stay motivated during the day.
Learn about food, make a shopping list & try meal planning
The last habit, I can really recommend you is to think about your food and try meal planning. Food and nutrition are like learning a new skill. How will you know what is best for your body when you don’t understand what is out there and possible to make? So, read a little bit more about nutrition, make a list of good food and search for recipes you can cook which will work for more than one day.
Meal planning is so great because you will prepare your food when you have time and you can eat it during your lunch break without worrying about what to eat or the time it will take you to cook. With meal planning, it is there right now for you to eat. Love it!
I hope you will see your journey as a marathon. It takes small milestones to accomplish your goal & developing supportive habits will make living a healthier lifestyle easier and the progress will help you to reach the finish line.
I wish you the best and you will rock this!
(Inspiration for this article was Dr. Aner Tal)
