Choose To Change Your Life In This Moment: How To Not Get Overwhelmed By Healthy Eating
Choose to learn how to swim and you won't drown.
Every moment is a choice.
You either choose to take the easy route–which is often times the less healthy one–or you choose to change your life and achieve what you’ve always dreamed of.
Every time you eat, you choose what you fuel your body with.
You choose the hormones that will either tell your body to feed muscle or store fat.
You choose instant satisfaction–even if it causes a sugar crash and disappointment later on–or to take another step toward your goal.
You choose to keep your arteries clean and your blood pressure low, or you choose to eat foods that worsen your health.
You choose to change your life, or you choose to stay the same.
The reason many people perceive changing their diet as difficult is because they look at all the moments in their days combined.
Why not take every moment as it comes, and deal with it when it happens?
If you are thinking now that you would like to change, then all you have to do is make the choice.
In this moment, choose to change your life.
The next moment that gives you the choice between having that sugary, fattening, processed snack or a handful of almonds, remember that in this moment, your goal is already yours. When you choose the unhealthy option, you’re throwing that goal away. Instead of thinking that you’re saying “no” over and over again to the foods you love but can’t eat all the time, think of it as saying yes to that goal.
Here are some tips that I’ve used personally that have helped me achieve life-changing results:
- When faced with snacks at a party, ask yourself if you’re eating just because it’s there, or if you are genuinely hungry.
- When going out to dinner with friends, know that they are not there to act as permission to order the creamy pasta with fried chicken on top. Your body doesn’t recognize that this is a “special occasion.” It will still process those calories and nutrients the same way it would if you were eating that platter of pasta at home.
- You choose whether you work out or not. Your body processes food differently when it’s fit and it makes losing weight and gaining muscle easier.
- If your significant other was blessed with a higher metabolism than yours (which is just about all of us ladies with boyfriends/husbands), recognize that you cannot eat the same things or the same portion sizes as him/her. Make the choice to give yourself enough to be satisfied, but not so much that you are stuffed at the end of every meal.
- Do you often find yourself mindlessly munching in front of the TV at night? Make the choice to become aware of what you’re doing, and get rid of that habit. If you really love to have a snack at night is to choose ONE snack instead of giving yourself free reign of the pantry. If you’re not hungry, but still eating, pop a stick of gum.
There are so many more examples of choices you can make. For me, once I realized that goals are all broken down into opportunities and how you choose to handle them, I stopped feeling overwhelmed at the thought of losing weight. Take each opportunity at a time and embrace it.
Do you have more tips to add to the list above? Please share them here; let’s all help each other discover how easy it is to stick to a healthy lifestyle!
photo 1 by Albert K Law, photo 2 by Ed Yourdon
Hi Amy,
This is such a great and timely post in light of the fact that the holidays are coming up. Thanksgiving and Xmas/Kwanza/Haunukah or huge holidays centered around food. The number one thing that really helps me to stay in healthier eating patterns more often than not, is tuning into my body’s reactions to food. Will what I’m about to eat contribute to more energy, more clarity, more vitality and improve my mood? If I get more no’s then yesses, then I put it down.
It is a practice to stay connected to our bodies instead of objectifying them by pushing them too hard, ignoring hunger, thirst or fatigue and feeding it foods that don’t uplift us on all levels. You give some great tips here. Thanks for the post and healthy reminder!
Hey Maira! Welcome to the site!
You have some really great insight into this! My tendency is to push so hard that I end up crashing, so I completely understand what you’re talking about. I feel like I adopted some of the Pura Vida lifestyle from my trip to Costa Rica, so I’m taking it easy a lot more and letting things happen, rather than trying to control every outcome. Sometimes you just can’t! The reason I wrote this post is because I am realizing this myself- it’s all broken down into every moment we make that choice.
It’s great to have you here, Maira!
Good call with the awareness, it’s so easy to mindless eat.
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Thanks, Doug! I know. I fall into it more than I should, too.
Hey Amy – choosing to be healthy takes conscious decision-making as you point out. when the whole food industry is trying to pull a quick one on us (with their marketing and emotional messaging) it’s so hard to fight back.
I’ve found drinking water before meals to be helpful to reduce food consumption.
I’ve also found munching on fruits and vegetables (free sampling right??) at grocery stores reduce my hunger before mealtimes. And eating only tiny sample sample cups of frozen yogurt at fro yo stores instead of ordering your own cup to be effective strategies for healthy eating. I’ve only been banned from 2 whole foods in the area. And my yogurt eating strategy simply requires me to go at different times of the day to avoid the same staff – you know – staring at me like I’m a thief or something!?! the nerve.
HA! I always wondered about you serial yogurt tasters! ;)
Your tips are spot on, Vishnu! It’s not the easiest thing to battle constant marketing, peer pressure, and emotional messaging if you’re not tuned into yourself. That’s the thing though- you can choose to be just like everyone else, or you can choose to be who you’ve wanted to be your whole life. The latter requires different decisions than those that society pushes us to make.
LOVE your comments, Vishnu!