Controlling Your Eating Environment
Posted in Yo Naturals | By YoNaturals | Tags: Yo Naturals, YoNaturals
While many of us have used our willpower or self-control at one time or another to avoid eating certain foods that might not be effective for our weight management, it is often the case that our well-intended willpower will fail us. This is why it is important to practice strategies on an ongoing basis that ensure that we have environmental control, rather than relying on self-control. Practicing these strategies develops the habits needed for ongoing health management.
Planning ahead around the many environments in which we find ourselves, such as work, school or errands, ensures that we have the proper food available to effectively manage our weight. Hopefully there will always be a fabulous salad bar or a YoNaturals vending machine wherever we happen to be. Until that happens, however, we should expect to carry with us the foods that we need to help us stay healthy.
What do you need to add to your environment to support your successful health and weight management? Do you have fruits and vegetables in your house and at work? Keep canned fruits and vegetables at your desk or in your car so that they are easily accessible. Fill up on fruits and vegetables before you eat anything else and your calories will automatically decrease while still filling you up with volume.
If you are not accustomed to eating fruits and veggies, start by buying frozen and canned fruits and vegetables while you are learning what you like and how you like them prepared. That way you don’t waste money or food as you start incorporating these things into your diet. Libby’s now has canned fruit sweetened with Splenda, but for other fruits, look for them sweetened in fruit juice. Many frozen vegetables are now available to be steamed right in the bag in which you buy them. Incorporating as many fruits and vegetables, prepared in a low-fat manner, as you can into each day, increases your chances for managing your weight on a long-term basis.
Also, remove from your environment any food that is ineffective for managing your weight and fueling your body. It is not about “good” food or “bad” food… you are not a better person because you have made “good” food choices today. You are not a “bad” person because of the foods you eat. You are simply either making effective or ineffective choices regarding your health. If it is in your environment, at work, at home, at a friend’s house, then the possibility exists that you will eat all of it; so as a strategy, do not keep unhealthy food available at home. If you must have food at home or work that is not in your healthy plan, place it somewhere where it is hard to reach or out of sight. The extra effort it takes to find it may give you enough time to head for the fruits and vegetables.
Contributed by Rachel Moss
Tags: Yo Naturals, YoNaturals
