When you’re determined to eat a healthier diet, it can be tempting to start by eliminating all unhealthy foods—no more sugar, white flour, fast food, potato chips, etc. And while fewer of those things can be good for one’s health, super-focusing on severely restricting or eliminating unhealthy foods often backfires with rapid-fire rebellion.
No sugar…no more of those brownies. Celery sticks all the way!
And then, before you know it, those celery sticks have turned into three…four…five…or more brownies. And you end up feeling sick to your stomach and terribly discouraged. The can-do spirit you started the week out with has become the I’ll-never-be-able-to-change! spirit. And it’s only Tuesday.
In my work as a health and wellness coach, I have seen this pattern repeatedly as people seek to improve their eating habits. However, eliminating unhealthy foods completely rarely works because, for most, such an approach is unsustainable.
But the good news is that there is a better way, and that better way often starts with a simple strategy called positive adding.
In positive adding, instead of focusing on eliminating what you think you shouldn’t be eating, what you’re tempted to make forbidden, you focus on the delicious, nourishing foods you want to eat more of in your day-to-day life. And you make it as easy as possible to eat more of those foods in a given day and week.
And then you see what happens.
Over the years, I’ve had clients who have tried this approach and found that previously banished foods become less appealing. They often experience increased energy and fewer cravings. And they generally find this approach less stressful and more sustainable than the past all-or-nothing approach to eating healthy.
If you’re curious and would like to give positive adding a try, here are 3 simple strategies to get you started:
Use a nourishing diet framework as a guide. One of my favorites is the Healthy Eating Plan by Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. It’s simple, visual, and evidence-based, and it will help you be mindful of the foods that support increased energy and good health. Find it online and bookmark it on your phone or print a copy and post it where you will see it often as a reminder.
Make a list of the healthy foods you love. Take time to brainstorm whatever comes to mind, writing each food down as quickly as possible. If it helps, brainstorm by category—the fruits you love, the vegetables, the whole grains, and so on. Consider keeping the list in the notes section of your smartphone, ready to access when searching for a snack, planning a meal, or running by the grocery store on the way home from work.
Ask yourself a simple question: “What could make it as easy as possible to add more nourishing foods to my diet?” Be sure to ask this question as you embark on your experiment with positive adding, and return to it repeatedly over time – “What could make adding more nourishing foods to my diet as easy as possible today?” Or, “What could make positive adding more doable while traveling? Or eating out?” If you ask the question, you’ll discover answers that will help you eat healthier in no time.
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Would you like to eat a more nourishing diet, increase your physical activity, improve your sleep, experience less stress and more peace, and/or take better care of yourself in other ways? You don’t have to do this alone. Reach out, and let’s talk!
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The information offered in this article is not a substitute for individualized health care.