Don’t deprive yourself—reward yourself by eating foods that keep you healthy, full and energized. These are a few of the easiest ways to stay on track:
Eat a breakfast that’s fit for a king.
Make a big bowl of oatmeal, fresh fruit and cinnamon, or egg whites, avocado and whole grain toast. Fill yourself up with nutritious food so you can focus on hundreds of emails and meetings throughout the day instead of your rumbling stomach.
Make time for tea.
Swap coffee and cream (or, that mocha frap/vanilla latte you’ve been treating yourself to) for flavored green tea. It tastes good, it’s loaded with antioxidants and Vitamin C, and it won’t leave you with the pain of caffeine withdrawals. (because even green tea has caffeine!)
Toss the box.
Eliminate processed food all together. If the idea of calorie counting is too daunting, just get rid of everything processed. This includes Deli Meats !! These are full of nitrates (why do you think they last so long ????) Plus they are FULL of sodium. THINK about what you are buying and READ the labels.
Eat when you’re hungry, but make sure you pick real foods like whole fruit, vegetables, hummus, or cottage cheese.
Start snacking.
Don’t ignore the afternoon snack slump (see above) or you’ll just end up binging. Embrace the fact that you’ll want something to nosh on around 3pm and plan ahead so you don’t hit the vending machine. I see people do this all the time at my work...Power Balls; healthy almonds and Nut Butter with Apples.....SOOO many great snacks so don't be lazy and plan ahead !!
I take alot of flack for my huge "Fred Flintstone" lunch bag I cart around daily, but it's always my "go-to" and I am never caught without something healthy in case my planned day goes off the rails ! Think about your schedule the day before and use Sunday as your weekly food planning day !
Make dinner an event.
For dinner, make a meat-free, hearty winter salad with ingredients like arugula, quinoa, butternut squash, pumpkin seeds, and Gorgonzola. Meals that feature root vegetables and grains as the ‘main event’ will fill you up without any guilt.
If you are counting calories, and you find yourself cheating by having bites of things that “don’t count,” you should estimate every bite of your colleague’s doughnut or your boyfriend’s burger to be about 50 calories. This is probably overestimating, but it will make you think twice about taking “just one bite.” It DOES matter and every thing you eat can have its consequences later on !
If you are working out regularly, then you can balance your meals and diet a little differently and taper/increase proteins/carbs for training requirements. (for example - you can fuel up for a marathon/race pre event). If you know you are going to do a long run then it might be OK to enjoy a creme brulle dessert the night before !
"Inspire, Create, Motivate"
