Eat Healthier & Avoid These Common Mistakes

Everybody wants to eat healthier, right?

Maybe your motivation is how you look, the number on the scale, or a desire to feel better.

Why does it seem to be such a struggle to eat the way you know you “should?”

After all, if the journey to healthier eating wasn’t filled with common mistakes, then we would all be fit and healthy.

However, the benefits of eating more healthfully go far beyond how your clothes fit.

Healthy eating is better for your body, and if you do it right, better for your mind as well!

6 Mistakes Everyone Makes When Trying to Eat Healthier

The challenge with eating healthier is that it’s not a set-it-and-forget-it deal.

Instead, we have to weave it into our daily life at the same time.

That can get tricky.

Below are some common mistakes and suggestions to make the transition successful.

Meal planning mishaps

You go to the grocery store on a Saturday and fill your shopping cart with anything that looks “healthy.”

Then you plan all of your meals for the next week.

The problem: If you develop a plan on a relaxed Saturday to carry you through the rest of your hectic workweek, it’s likely not going to get you past Tuesday.

What to do instead: Optimism is a wonderful thing, but the bottom line is that your motivation is only as strong as it is at the hardest part of your day.

While planning ahead is wise, you want to make sure your plan has flexibility.

When you decide on a new eating routine, make sure the change is simple enough to get you through your most stressful times.

Create your plan around it and build from there.

You rush into eating healthier

You do a complete overhaul of your meals in one day.

The problem: Eating has anchored in culture, relationships, self-care, stress management, and many other aspects of our lives.

Change it all in one day, and you’re tampering with more than your nutrition.

What to do instead: Make slow and steady changes.

You can’t quit one habit or coping strategy without replacing it with another.

Your mind and, more specifically, your emotions have a harder time with food changes than your body!

Make slow, steady changes so you have time to adjust physically and emotionally.

You are quick to share your attempt at eating healthier

You post your plan on social media.

You’re super-excited, and you want everyone to know!

The problem: This is dangerous because the first few days of changing your eating habits are usually…shaky.

You’ll have wonderful, Pinterest-worthy days, and then you’ll have days where you get your money’s worth at the all-you-can-eat buffet.

While there is no shame in these very normal stops and starts, posting it on social media before you reach your goal can make you feel embarrassed when you have an off day.

What to do instead: Be sure to post after you meet your daily goal.

You’re eating too much of a good thing.

There really can be too much of a good thing!

The problem: We tend to overestimate the calorie burn of exercise and underestimate calories consumed.

What this means is that you can eat your way through any workout.

This is especially easy to do when you eat healthier food.

The cautionary voice in the back of your mind reminding you to think about serving size isn’t as loud when you’re eating grapes as when you’re eating doughnuts.

What to do instead: The goal is to develop an awareness of the amount of food you eat.

It would be nice to have this awareness naturally, but that is rarely the case.

The most efficient way to track what you eat is to use a food-tracking app.

There are many of these available, like the popular MyFitnessPal.

Yes, it’s a tool that takes getting used to, but this approach has freedom and relaxation.

Much like having a financial budget, a food tracking app will give you a fresh, reloaded calorie budget every day that you can spend any way you want.

This alone provides freedom that makes healthy eating doable in the long term.

You require your family to join in

While you may strongly desire to eat better, your family may not share your enthusiasm.

The problem: Wait, whose goal is this anyway?

The difficulty is that you’re likely not living in a vacuum.

As a result, when you make lifestyle changes, everyone feels it.

What to do instead: While it’s certainly more convenient if everyone is on board with you, it’s unnecessary.

If you cook a healthy meal and your kids are over it, allow them to make whatever they want.

Or, if they’re old enough, challenge them to take over the cooking one night a week.

Just be sure to give them the nutritional parameters you are aiming for.

Who knows?

They might surprise you, and you get a night off cooking.

Win-Win!

The other limitation here is regarding junk food.

The cookies, chips, soda—pretty much anything that can stay on a shelf forever don’t need to be in your line of sight, and it’s okay to ask for that.

Your eating style is all habit, no inspiration

Do you grab a handful of cereal as you rush through the kitchen?

The problem: Are you hurrying through your meals?

That sort of mindless eating can leave you feeling emotionally hungry and short on calories at the end of the day.

What to do instead: Make some visual changes in your eating space.

Set a bowl of fresh fruit on the table for everyone to have a healthy, convenient snack.

Take the time to eat at the table instead of the T.V., and shut down your phone.

Let’s be honest.

Potato chips taste better than broccoli, no matter how much we wish it weren’t so.

When you take one comfort away, replace it with another, even more comforting one.

Lighting candles is not silly if it makes your eating experience more enjoyable.

Eating healthier requires long-term changes

Healthy eating is not just a nutritional change but an overall lifestyle change that takes time to develop.

By making the decision and re-committing to your goal daily, you are well on your way to better health!

Share your tips for eating healthier with us in the comment section below.

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