Watch Your Food

Someone asked me tonight, "How do you watch what you eat?" I'd never really thought about it before, honestly, and I didn't give it a good answer. I pretty much brushed it off with a, "I ate four spoonfuls of icing yesterday and that's not a rare thing to happen" and a "well I have food allergies so no dice on eating whatever I want." Obviously not helpful. So, when I got home, I thought about it some more and decided maybe I should share what I really try to keep in mind when eating.

1. Eat whole foods as much as possible. Rice over noodles and bread, potatoes (baked or mashed) over french fries and chips, actual fruit over fruit snacks, etc. It's not something I did much growing up, honestly
2. Try to consider what you need nutritionally when figuring out what you're going to eat. Haven't had fruit today? Have a smoothie. On a high-carb, low fat diet and haven't had the fat part yet? Have some a burrito with some guac. Need iron? Put spinach on your sandwich or in your smoothie. Zinc? Nuts (also helpful for fulfilling the fat quota). 
3. Try not to eat oils and salt. Unfortunately, if you're really strict about this one, you can't eat out as pretty much anything and everything will have both salt and oil. Which brings me to my next point - 
4. Make your own food. If you can find some quick, good recipes to make for yourself that you like, do it! It costs less or it costs the same amount for larger portions. It's healthier. If you prepare it beforehand and bring it to work, you waste less time during your lunch break waiting for food. There's really not much of a downside, as long as you pick simple, tasty recipes.
5. Don't try to make healthy food into your favorite junk food. Just don't. They won't taste as good, they'll make you crave more real junk food, and they probably won't be very healthy anyways. Instead, come up with new favorite, healthier foods. If you find things you really like, you'll start craving more similar things. Your taste buds can change, if you give them time.
6. Don't tell yourself, "Everything in moderation will be fine" or "I can have a cheat day." This often leads to cheat weeks and four spoonfuls of icing because "it's not that bad." As cheesy as it sounds, I firmly believe the whole saying about shooting for the moon so if you miss you'll at least end up among the stars. Apply that to this.

These are somewhat idyllic principles, but I find that they've been much more helpful in watching what I eat than simply telling myself to eat better. 

Anyways, happy belated Valentine's Day!