4 Tricks That Can Make Eating Healthier Easier

“The natural tendency of all human behavior is toward the path of least resistance. When you resist this tendency, you become stronger and more powerful.” -Brian tracy

People usually follow the path of least resistance when it comes to their eating habits. Knowing this try to utilize these fairly simple tricks the best to stay on track.

1. Place healthier food at eye level

Food placement in the pantry and fridge can play a vital role in what you decide to eat. The foods at your eye level, will have an increased chance of you thinking about eating them. (Even if you really don’t want to eat those brussel sprouts!) If there are many “eye levels” in your family, then choose the most appropriate eye level – eg. the eye level of who is making the food most and is cooking most often.

Quick side note: Next time you’re at the grocery store, look at the product placement of items based on “eye level.” What you’ll notice is that products will be placed at their target consumers “eye level.” Eg. Cereals marketed towards children will typically be placed on the bottom two shelves. This sneaky marketing tactic is exploiting basic human behavior – visibility & convenience.

2. Place the “less healthier” food options out of sight

“Out of sight, Out of mind” right? Place any trigger foods (foods that at some point will likely overpower your willpower to not eat them) out of sight so that you are less likely to see them. Eg. Put that Costco bag of chocolate covered almonds up in the top or down in the bottom of the cupboard or pantry.

3. Have convenient healthier snacks ready and visible

Having a bowl of fruit out in the open, like on the kitchen table makes it convenient and visible; just make sure to fill it with fruit that everyone in the house enjoys. As well as having pre-cut vegetables in the fridge portioned out is another one, just make sure to place it at eye level. Again, visibility & convenience, marketing the healthier foods to yourself.

4. Use “Fast-food” grocery store options

Most grocery stores now have a wide selection of ready-to-eat meal options that are much healthier than grabbing something from a drive-thru or ordering from a food delivery service like skip the dishes. Next time you’re out and you don’t have the time or energy to cook and feel the urge to hit the drive-thru or food delivery service, try one of the following:

• Supper: Chicken Salad (Rotisserie Chicken + Pre-made salad mix) + potato wedges
• Lunch: Deli sandwich + hardboiled egg package (eg. 2 plain/dill/peppered hardboiled eggs) + fruit
• Snack: pre-made yogurt parfait (greek yogurt, berries, and granola)

Something specific for weight loss: be mindful of eating and try to lengthen how long it takes to eat

Stop watching TV and/or being on your smartphone/computer while eating. You’re much more likely to overeat when being distracted.

It takes you about 20 minutes to feel full. As such, If you don’t pre-portion yourself there is a good chance that you’ll overeat if you aren’t conscious about how much you’re eating. Lengthen the duration of your meal, by doing things like setting your utensils down often, chewing your food more thoroughly, and engaging in regular conversation. This way by default you get fullness signals from your brain faster and end up eating less.

These are just a few tips you can use, implement some or all of them to help you eat healthier.