Diet for life? You must be thinking I am crazy right now…who would want to be on a diet for life??? That sounds miserable. Bland foods, small portions, and worst of all NO chocolate. Starving yourself and not enjoying anything you eat – this is typically what most people think of when they hear the word diet. I want to challenge that notion and put a different term in your vocabulary. Instead of diet, how about eating pattern? If I haven’t swayed you yet and you are thinking this is simply a way for me to trick you into eating carrots and celery for lunch everyday, let me explain a little more.
What is an eating pattern and how do I follow one?
I like to define an eating pattern simply as the foods and beverages you eat and drink on a daily basis. This includes how often, where and with whom you eat and drink. Eating patterns can be considered healthy or not so healthy. Humans are creatures of habit and tend to eat and drink a majority of the same things each day or week. If I asked you what a typical day looked like for you meal-wise, most of you could rattle off a list of foods and beverages you eat most often and when. For example, Desk Job John might say his breakfast is usually around 7:30am with a bowl of Mini Wheat’s, 2% milk, a banana, and a cup of coffee with sugar and creamer. Next he might have a snack around 10:00am of a granola bar. Lunch is at 12:30pm and he usually goes to the sandwich shop across the street from his work and gets a turkey sandwich on white bread, a small bag of potato chips with a Pepsi to drink. Then he starts to get hungry again around 3:30pm so he usually has some crackers and cheese. After he gets home from work he has dinner with his family around 6:30pm, it varies but an example might be spaghetti with meat sauce, garlic bread, corn on the side and Pepsi or water to drink. In the evening he sometimes has a snack or treat of cookies, ice cream or popcorn. This would be Johns eating pattern. This can vary from day-to-day and week to week, but overall it would stay pretty consistent.
Eating patterns are different in various parts of the world and are not always the same for each country, region, household or even from person to person. One key aspect of an eating pattern is it is something you can stick with and live with from day-to-day for the rest of your life. That’s right, you heard me – the REST of your LIFE! I like to encourage people to find the right eating pattern that will lead you to a happy and healthy life. I try not to promote a 12-week eating plan or 21 day-style challenge, but instead a lifestyle change of healthy habits (and yes, chocolate is included).
How do I change to a healthier eating pattern?
If you want to change your eating pattern from one that is not so healthy to something healthier, start by making small changes. From my example above, John has decided to not drink Pepsi at lunch anymore and will instead have water. After he achieves that goal he might choose 100% wheat bread for his sandwich instead of white bread. When he has conquered the white bread, John then decides to only have cookies or ice cream in the evenings twice a week instead of every night. If he really needs a snack in the evenings he will have popcorn, some fruit, or rice cakes. Over time, as you can see, John has made significant improvements in his eating pattern while not depriving him nor making drastic changes all at once. He can continue down the path of creating a healthy lifestyle one habit at a time.
If you want a little more structure and advice on how to start having a healthy eating pattern visit a registered dietitian, or look into sources such as MyPlate, the Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet, or by visiting the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics website.
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