Kick your bad habits

Make small changes

When you see clients for weight loss on a regular basis, there are a number of common dietary habits that arise time and time again. Here are solutions to the most common mistakes many of us make, which can prevent us from reaching the weight and health-related goals we have set for ourselves.

1 Ditch the coffee

It doesn’t matter if it’s a flat white, latte or cappuccino – any coffee that contains a significant amount of milk is also likely to contain a significant number of kilojoules, especially if it’s ordered in a large or grande size. There are several issues with large, milkbased coffees. First of all, humans don’t tend to compensate for liquid kilojoules, which means we don’t eat less simply because we have consumed extra liquid kilojoules. Coffee can also mean we have a few small breakfasts, especially when we begin the day with a coffee, add to that some extra toast or cereal, and then have another coffee at work an hour or two later.

And then for some of us,

Commit to making breakfast and lunch a priority

breakfast has become coffee, which can interfere with our natural hunger and fullness signals through the morning.

Solution: If you enjoy a coffee, have a small-sized serve with your breakfast and then wait at least

2-3 hours before you eat again. You can enjoy black tea or coffee without worry.

2 Stop the mindless munching

You know what we’re talking about here – picking at the kids’ leftovers, the slice of cake a colleague offers you at work or the few handfuls of nuts you munch on throughout the day. It’s eating you may not necessarily remember doing, but these are the high-kilojoule extras that seem to slip in most days. Mindless munching is a habit that tends to gradually creep up on us over time, is often situation-dependent and is a habit many of us are in complete denial about. If you wonder why you’re not losing weight despite eating relatively well, simply keep track of every morsel you put into your mouth over a 24-hour period. You may be surprised how many extras slip in.

Solution: Aim to eat just 4-5 times each day with 2-3 hours between meals, and only have water, herbal or black tea or coffee in between.

3 Drop the “all-or-nothing” mindset

Chances are at some point you have started an incredibly strict diet on Monday, only to run out of steam by Wednesday afternoon as the hunger pangs and feelings of restriction get the better of you. As soon as any diet feels restrictive, whether it is or not, the brain will respond by focusing on what you are psychologically missing out on. If you’re overly restrictive with kilojoules, hunger and cravings will make it very difficult to maintain the restriction for a prolonged period. These are just some of the reasons strict diets don’t work.

Solution: Make positive dietary changes gradually, one at a time. For example, one week focus on eating more vegetables, the next on reducing portions. Here, the focus is not on what you can’t do, but on what you can do to get results.

4 Check labels

Just because a particular product looks healthy, doesn’t mean it is. An abundance of food labels telling us about the benefits of packaged foods, rather than the cons, means we often get sucked into buying foods that are not particularly healthy.

Solution: A quick scan of an ingredient list will tell you much of what you need to know about processed and packaged foods. The longer the ingredient list, the more processed a food is, and as soon as you see extra fats, sugars and additives it’s a sign to leave the product on the shelf.