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Forget Fad Diets: Eat Like a Baby and Lose Weight
Photo credit: bigstock.com
When we are with our children, most of us see ourselves in the role of a teacher and caretaker. However, we have so much that we can learn from our babies. For example, have you ever watched a toddler play with something they really loved? They can truly enjoy themselves and forget all about eating, sleeping, or any other toy for an hour or more. They can completely focused on what they are doing. How long can you look at Facebook before you check your email, text message someone, call someone, then put on some music, or try to focus on your work? All in a space of about 15 minutes.
Do you know the same is true about babies and the way they eat? If we were to eat more like our toddlers ate, we would probably be healthier and thinner than ever! Toddlers have a natural rhythm in their lives. They eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full. They also take their time eating- on average, about 25 minutes. When was the last time you took that long eating dinner?
When we talk about eating like a baby, we also mean taking baby steps to change your diet. Let’s start by looking at all of the “baby steps” you can towards eating more like a baby and losing weight naturally.
1. Keep a Food Journal
This sounds so boring and more of the same old, same old, right? Unfortunately, you keep hearing this because it works. You can’t see where you need to make changes if you don’t know exactly when and where the changes are that need to be made. For example, do you remember what you ate for breakfast the last three mornings? Chances are, you can’t. So before you do anything, don’t change what you are eating, just write it all down. Once you see that, for example, you are habitually eating a candy bar every afternoon because you have no energy during that time, you can start to make healthy choices, such as a handful of nuts instead.
2. Plan Heathier Meals
Have you ever noticed how you go to great lengths to make your baby healthy, organic meals, but you grab whatever you can to feed yourself? Have you ever found yourself cooking sweet potatoes, couscous, roasted free range chicken, and eggs for your baby’s food for the day, while you are shoving a chocolate doughnut into your mouth while you cook? Yep, you know you have done it. We wouldn’t dream of letting our baby skip a meal, but we do it all the time. We wouldn’t let our baby eat that drive through fast food crap, but we do it. OK, it’s time for this to stop. Start planning the same type of healthy meals for you AND your baby. The average two year old gets three healthy meals and two snacks per day. Same for you. Larger portions, of course, but cook the same healthy meals. It’s not as hard to do as you might think. When you are cooking for your toddler, cook extra for yourself. Or for the entire family. It only takes a few minutes more.
JessM
Apr 27, 2015 at 2:24 pm
I agree that fad diets should be ignored, but the reason why is because weight loss is best approached by forming habits that impact your overall health. That’s the basis of any reliable weight loss solution. Here’s a nice article – fatfreeme(DOT)net/big5 – that describes the most important factors for a weight loss solution to produce good, lasting results.