3 Simple Tips to Improve Your Diet and Start Losing Fat

1. Modify Your Environment

Your environment impacts your behavior. That includes what foods you choose to eat. Foods that are easily accessible and convenient tend to be eaten more often. Knowing this, ask yourself how you can redesign your environment to increase your chances of making better food choices.

Think about the foods that you want to stop eating, or eat less of. How can you make it more difficult to eat these foods?

Think about the foods that you want to eat more of. How can you make it easier to eat these foods?

The most obvious answer is to not buy the foods you don’t want to eat as often, and to buy more of the foods you do want to eat more often. I work with many parents, and for many of these parents, not buying cookies, ice cream, chips, and other calorie-dense foods high in sugar and fat is not an option. Their kids enjoy them, and maybe their spouse too. In this case, the next best move is to keep these foods out of sight, out of reach, and remove any cues or triggers that make you want those foods.

Put the foods that you want to eat more of in plain sight and easy to reach places. Make them convenient. Put the vegetables towards the front of the fridge. Leave a fruit bowl on the kitchen counter. Have lean meats and fish cooked and ready to eat, and sitting at the front of the fridge at eye level.

You probably spend quite a bit of time at work. How can you redesign your work environment? Instead of taking an entire container of nuts to work, can you bring a small plastic bag with 1-2 servings of nuts? This can prevent overeating. Can you remove the candy from your desk? Can you go to work with nutritious meals made from home so you’re prepared and can avoid the foods offered at work that don’t help you reach your goals?

You don’t have control over everything, but you probably have control over more than you realize. What changes can you start making today?

2. Plan Ahead and Stay Prepared

The food choices we make that don’t align with our goals is often a result of not having a plan and not being prepared. Consistent planning and preparation cuts down on decision making and helps develop routines that can work in your favor. Having less decisions to make and developing routines that will help you be successful is half the battle.

When you have nutritious foods prepared, those foods are more likely to become the default choice. When you don’t have a plan and are not prepared, you now have an endless amount of food choices.

One of the hardest parts of eating better is overcoming the feeling of being restricted or deprived of certain foods. A common cause of feeling restricted is making food choices you’d rather not make.

A lot of us don’t want to give up a cheeseburger or slice of pizza for salmon and vegetables. But if you consistently have salmon and vegetables prepared and easily accessible, it becomes the default choice. It becomes easier to eat more of those foods. You no longer have to make food choices when hungry or emotional. The choice has already been made well in advance.

You can prepare meals to take to work. You can plan how to handle eating at restaurants by looking at the menu and choosing what you’ll get before you go. You can plan ahead for any social events involving food.

Ask yourself, “How do I want this to go, and what do I need to do to make that happen?”

That question can help you plan and prepare.

You can also plan ahead by including the approximate times you’ll eat each day. A regular eating schedule creates more structure and consistency.

It’s common for many of us to feel extremely hungry after not eating for long periods of time. When we finally do get to eat, we overeat. A regular eating schedule can prevent this.

Like with many things in life, planning and preparation produces better results. The same goes for nutrition, the gym, and building the body you want.

3. Eat More Protein, Fruits, and Vegetables

Remember how I mentioned that having less decisions to make and developing routines that will help you be successful is half the battle? The other half of the battle is finding ways to feel full and satisfied from your meals. When you do that, you’ll decrease hunger and the desire to eat. Then it is easier to control your calorie intake and lose fat.

Protein, fruits, and vegetables tend to be some of the most filling and nutritious foods. Lean meats and seafood provide a lot of protein, but for few calories.

Many fruits and vegetables are high in water content, fiber, and nutrients. These foods are high-volume foods, meaning they take up a lot of room on your plate and your stomach, but for few calories. It’s difficult to overeat when you prioritize protein, especially lean protein, and fruits and vegetables.

Protein also has the highest thermic effect of food (TEF). This means you burn more calories digesting and absorbing protein than you do carbohydrates and fats.

Protein will also help hold onto muscle as you lose fat. Keeping muscle will not only help you look better, but it will keep your metabolic rate higher. This means you’ll burn more calories at rest.

So, what changes can you start making today? 

What’s one change in your environment that you can make?

What’s your plan to do better and how are you going to prepare for it?

What protein, fruits, and vegetables are you going to eat more of?