10 simple strategies to eat healthy without thinking

The surroundings have the ability to shape your behavior to an unbelievable level. If you design yourself a healthy, healthy environment, then soon you will find that your diet is greatly improved without having to think much about it.

This article is posted on JamesClear.com

Previously, I wrote about " architecture options " and " design environments ", both of which focused on the idea: " By making small changes in the physical environment around you, the only thing Maintaining good habits can become much easier ".

The research I shared before was quite interesting, so I think I should offer some practical and useful methods that you can apply to changing the environment and helping you have a chance. Live healthier, more adventurous and happier.

With that in mind, I would like to give you 10 simple strategies to help you change your surroundings to have a healthy diet without thinking, spend more time and energy than do great things.

Remember that these ideas are just a beginning. You can apply the concepts of surroundings design and create a better "architectural choice" with almost any habit or behavior.

How to eat healthy without having to think much?

Before you start, believe researchers have found these good ideas.Brian Wansink - a professor at Comell University - has conducted various studies on how the surrounding environment affects your eating decisions. The ideas below are taken from his famous book " Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think " (roughly translated as " We Eat More Than We Think ").

1. Use smaller sized dishes

The larger the cup, the bigger the serving size. And that means you will eat more. According to a study conducted by Wansink and his research team: " If you change a bit and use a disc with a diameter of 25.4 cm instead of 30.5 cm, you will eat less than 22% of the food in throughout the following year ".

About this, if you think: " I just need to put less food on the plate " . but things aren't that simple. The picture below will explain to you why. When you eat a small serving on a large plate, you will feel dissatisfied. While, if you also eat such a serving on a small plate, you will feel more satisfied. The circles in the picture below are the same size but your brain ( and stomach ) don't look at them that way.

This image shows a small ration on a small plate but less on a large plate.

2. Always keep drinking water available

Most people don't think about it when they drink a sip of soda or a sip of coffee while they do other things. Replace it by: buying a large bottle of water and placing it near you. You will find that if you have a bottle of water right next to you, you will drink water instead of choosing soda or coffee - unhealthy drinks.

3. Do you want to drink some soda or alcoholic beverages? Use tall and thin cups, instead of low and wide cups

Look at the picture below. Horizontal lines or longitudinal lines?

Photo source: JamesClear.com

When we turn these two lines in the same direction, we will see that they are about the same length but our brains think that the vertical lines are higher. In other words, taller glasses look bigger than round cups and have large mouths. Because, vertically always makes us look at things bigger than horizontal, but in fact you will drink less if you use tall and small glasses. In fact, you will often drink less than 20% if you use a tall and tall cup instead of a low and wide cup.

4. Use a disc that is in contrast to the color of the food

As I mentioned in the title section, when the color of the disc and the food are the same, you will naturally eat more because your brain can hardly distinguish the diet on the plate. So, use a dark green and blue plate for food, because its color often contrasts with light colored foods like pasta and potatoes ( meaning you'll eat less ). However, do not use a colored disc in contrast to the green vegetables to give you more vegetables in your plate.

5. Put healthy foods in easy-to-see places

For example, you can leave a bowl of fruit or other types at the door or where you have to go when you want to leave the house. When you are in a hurry and feel hungry, you are likely to grab the food you see first.

6. Wrap unhealthy foods in tinfoil and healthy food with clear plastic wrap

The old saying " far from the heart " is also true when used with food. Eating is not only physical action but also emotional. Your mind often determines what it wants to eat based on what your eyes see. Therefore, if you store unhealthy foods by covering it up and putting it in places that are hard to see then you will eat less of those foods.

7. Store healthy, healthy foods in larger bags or objects and unhealthy foods in bags or smaller containers

Large boxes and containers often make you more attentive to it, taking up a lot of space in the kitchen and pantry, otherwise they are located right on the aisle. As a result, you will immediately pay attention to it and eat the food inside. Meanwhile, smaller containers can be stored in your kitchen for months. Look for things lying around in your house, small boxes or small containers.

Additional tips for you : If you buy a large box of health-damaging foods, pack it in a Ziploc bag or a smaller container, which helps you avoid eating them too much without checking. control.

8. Apply the " half-disc " rule in each meal

You can design your own dining environment. When you make dinner, start with eating half a plate of fruit or vegetables. After that, apply the feeding rule to the other half of the plate.

9. Use the " outside " strategy to buy healthier foods

Image: UBrand

This concept is quite simple: when you go shopping outside the grocery store or in the supermarket, do not go into the inner space but only buy the food placed in the outer ring area. It is often a place to store healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, lean meats, fish, eggs and nuts. If you just go outside, the food in your basket will be all healthy, healthy foods. And of course, that means that when you get home you will also eat healthy foods.

10. And the 10th strategy

Apply these concepts to some other aspects of your life .

Apply the design environment to the rest of life

When analyzing each of these strategies carefully, you will see that each strategy is a small change that increases the distance between you and unhealthy behaviors, pulling you closer to good behaviors.

For example:

1. Wrap unhealthy foods in tinfoil. You have to look closely at what the package contains, then open it to look inside and decide whether to eat or not. Instead of just looking at a bit of leftovers in the plastic wrap, immediately grab it.
2. Use small plates to eat. If you want to eat more, you have to spend more time to get back to them.

You can use the same approach for most aspects of life. If you want a bad behavior to become harder to implement, then increase the steps to perform the behavior.

Conversely, if you want to make a good behavior easier, reduce the number of steps to perform the behavior. For example, if you want to make morning jogging easier, be prepared with running shoes and accessories from the night before. Thus, you will reduce one more step between yourself and the practice.

Image: UBrand

Author : James Clear wrote it at Jamesclear.com.

James Clear posted on JamesClear.com - where he often shares tips for self-improvement based on proven scientific research.