9 Ways To Start Eating Right Without Much Effort

How to eat healthily and get rid of junk food and drinks? This question worries many. It's not difficult. You just have to follow 9 simple rules.

The environment directly affects our behavior. But it is worth changing it a little, as you can find that following a proper diet or diet is simple and easy. For example, if you change a large plate to a smaller plate, you will start eating less. Find out the rest of the recommendations in this article.

Small changes in your environment will help you easily stick to healthy habits. At the same time, it does not matter what sphere of life it is about. Below you will find tips to help you start eating right. But the principle underlying all these strategies can be applied to acquire other good habits or to abandon bad ones.

1. Eat from small plates

The bigger the plate, the bigger the portion. So, you will also eat more. As a result of research by Brian Wansink and a group of psychologists, it was found that if you use a plate with a diameter of 25 cm instead of 30 cm, you will eat 22% less food in a year.

As you read this, you're probably thinking, "I can just put less on a big plate." But everything is not so simple. And the illustration below clearly shows why. When you eat a small portion from a large plate, it will seem to you that you have eaten little, and therefore you will think that you are not full. But you only need to replace the plate, and after eating you will feel full. The circles in the picture below are the same, but your brain (and stomach) doesn't see them as such.

 

2. Keep water handy

When you are busy with something, often, without thinking, you drink a glass of soda or coffee to quench your thirst. But try to always carry a bottle of plain water with you. For example, put it on the desk at work. When water is always close at hand, you will drink more than unhealthy drinks.

3. Use tall, narrow glasses instead of short and wide ones

If you want to drink less alcohol or soda, then use tall, narrow glasses. Look at the picture. Which line do you think is longer, vertical or horizontal?

 

In fact, both lines are the same length. But our brain tends to overestimate vertical lines. In other words, it will seem to us that there is more drink in a tall glass than in a wide one. Therefore, you will drink less from a tall, narrow glass. Studies confirm that people drink 20% less from a tall glass than from a wide one.

4. Use plates whose color strongly contrasts with the food

When the color of the plate matches the color of the food, you will automatically charge yourself more, because it is harder for your brain to distinguish the portion from the plate. For this reason, it is better to use blue and green plates: they contrast strongly with pasta or potatoes (which means you will put less of them), but practically do not contrast with greens and vegetables (most likely, you will put more of them).

5. Keep useful products in a prominent place

For example, put a cup of fruit or nuts on a shelf near the front door or in a place where you must pass before leaving the house. When you're hungry and in a hurry, you usually grab the first thing you can get your hands on. Let it be a healthy snack.

6. Store junk food in foil

And it is better to store useful products in transparent packaging. There is some truth in the old saying "Out of sight, out of mind." Often the brain determines what it wants to eat based on what the eyes see. Thus, if harmful products are stored in closed form and in places that you rarely visit, it is less likely that you will want to eat them.

7. Put healthy food in large containers and packages, and put unhealthy food in small ones

Large boxes and containers constantly catch the eye and take up space in the kitchen. The essence of the advice is simple: you notice the container and, most likely, you will eat what is in it. Small jars and boxes can hide in the kitchen for several months. Just look at what has been lying idle in your kitchen for a long time: most likely, it is something in small packages.

And additional advice. If you buy a large box of junk food, pack its contents into small containers and zip-lock bags. So it will be easier for you to control the size of the portion and not to eat too much at once.

8. Remember the "half a plate" rule

 

 

When you prepare your lunch, make sure that one half of the plate is filled with vegetables or fruits. The second half should occupy everything else.

9. To buy only healthy food in the store, use the "outer ring" rule

The essence of the strategy is simple: when you come to the supermarket, you don't need to wander aimlessly through the aisles. Go around the outside perimeter of the store. As a rule, healthy food is placed there: fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, eggs, nuts, dairy products. So you will buy healthy products, which means you will eat right.

How to change the environment to improve other areas of life

When you try to use these strategies, you will see that their principle of operation boils down to a simple rule: we add extra steps between ourselves and the unwanted behavior, and we get rid of the intermediate steps between us and the good habit.

Example:

• When we store junk food in foil, we add another step: to see the dish, we have to unwrap the foil, see what's inside, and decide whether to eat it or not. When we store healthy products in transparent packaging, we can see what is inside and immediately proceed to the last step: deciding whether to eat or not.
• Using small plates adds one step between you and the habit of eating a lot. If you want to eat more, you will have to go to the kitchen again and fill the plate.

This approach can be applied in other areas of life. If you want to get rid of a habit, increase the number of intermediate steps between you and the unwanted behavior.

Conversely, if you want to acquire a useful habit, reduce the number of steps between it and you. For example, if you want to run in the morning, prepare your shoes and clothes in the evening. So there will be one less step between you and your training.