The word diet always brings out a negative connotation in people, there is an automatic assumption that a diet will be restrictive and keep the person away from the foods they like and enjoy. But, the truth is, dieting is not so hard, it just takes a little mindfulness and meticulous planning on establishing healthy eating habits. When done right, dieting can become a habit rather than a hindrance.
It is crucial to have a healthy relationship with food while dieting otherwise the results might not last long. Letâs talk about ten ways of laying the groundwork for your diet and ensuring that you stick to it.
1. Map out a routine
Plan, plan, plan. Plan your day according to your meals. Set a specific time for your main meals and snacks and stick to it. This helps you get into a rhythm with your eating habits and you will soon find yourself feeling hungry at your meal timings. Planning is important because it brings discipline to your eating habits and establishes a strong base to build the rest of your healthy habits. Waking up on time, not skipping meals, going to bed on time, and drinking enough water are all small tiny habits that can make big changes.
Planning is important because it brings discipline to your eating habits and establishes a strong base to build the rest of your healthy habits.
2. Stay away from packaged foods
The next significant step that one must take is to get rid of heavily processed foods. Anything that comes in a package with a long shelf life, especially snacks, breakfast cereals, etc are highly processed foods with high levels of sugar and sodium in them. Avoiding them and replacing the house with fresh and sustainable goods is an utmost must towards a healthy lifestyle.
Invest in whole grains, explore the cereal, pulses, and millet aisle more and buy the ones that retain some color rather than the polished and washed out products.
3. Eat them whole
Keep away from refined and processed cereals and flours like white rice. Invest in whole grains, explore the cereal, pulses, and millet aisle more and buy the ones that retain some color rather than the polished and washed out products. Brown rice, millets like bajra, jowar, ragi, barnyard millet, organic unpolished pulses, and whole grain flours are the products that should be included in your diet charts.
Take time with your meals, chew them thoroughly, enjoy its effects on the senses, and indulge in it completely.
4. Take time with your meals
Given our busy schedules, we are used to finishing our meals in 5 to 10 minutes. There is no patience when it comes to eating. This habit has to be changed, to do dieting right, it is important to eat right. Take time with your meals, chew them thoroughly, enjoy their effects on the senses, and indulge in them completely. This helps in making a person full earlier than usual, reduces bloating, and improves digestion tremendously.
5. Donât shop hungry and have a list
A thumb rule of shopping is to never shop while hungry. Leave the house after having a small healthy snack and even carry a sachet of nuts and dry fruits with you to ensure you have something to snack on while hungry. We tend to do a lot of impulsive shopping while hungry, foods would seem more enticing than usual. Always make a grocery list so you know exactly what to buy and what you need. This cuts down shopping time tremendously and also ensures that you come out of the supermarket with as little guild shopping as possible.
Always make a grocery list so you know exactly what to buy and what you need.
6. Look for protein in every meal
Every cell in the body needs a constant supply of protein to function properly. So, it is only sensible to add each meal with a protein counterpart as per your PCOS diet plan. The choices will vary depending on your diet chart and preferences but each main meal should have one portion of protein to meet your daily protein requirement, including sprouts, dhals, pulses, eggs, dairy, poultry, fish, etc.
Beware of any cooking method as part of your PCOS diet plan that involves a high amount of oil along with a long cooking time.
7. Keep an eye out for cooking methods
What is your cooking style? Do you tend to overcook everything or are you happy with gently sauteed meals? Always choose the option with the least amount of cooking time but a thorough cooking process like that of steaming, grilling, baking, pressure cooking, etc. Beware of any cooking method as part of your PCOS diet plan that involves a high amount of oil along with a long cooking time. Especially cooking methods like frying erode a lot of nutrients from the foods. So, choose a clean cooking method for a better diet.
Remember to wake up the next day and be consistent with all the progress that you have achieved so far.
8. Realize it is okay to mess up
When you are on a diet or when you are trying to eat mindfully as much as possible, there are going to be some slips that are inevitable. Anyone is bound to slip, it doesnât mean that you give up on the whole process. Remember to wake up the next day and be consistent with all the progress that you have achieved so far.
Fad diets are highly restrictive and might eliminate major nutrients from the diet.
9. Donât opt for fad diets
Deciding to go on a diet is an easy decision, the trouble lies in figuring out what diet to follow given that there are numerous options to choose from around us. Fad diets are highly restrictive and might eliminate major nutrients from the diet. Try to not indulge in these kinds of diets as they might be deriving results but not be as good for the health as one might think. Stick to a sustainable PCOS diet plan that will ensure a prolonged and promising journey.
10. Home-cooked meal is the best diet
There is no comfort meal more than that a home-cooked meal. It is healthy, we have control over making it as tasty as we would like, we can follow our preferences while cooking, and it can be made using minimum oil. At any point, try to stick to home-cooked meals rather than ordering from outside. On top of being gut-friendly, this decision will also be pocket friendly. This is a great way to be consistent and stick to your PCOS diet plan.
Takeaway
Building a diet plan can be daunting at first, but with the right guidance and approach, you can develop a holistic understanding of nutrition. This will be greatly helpful in avoiding any form of deficiencies and making sure that you achieve your goals in a holistic manner.
These points add up to some building blocks to begin your journey with but in the long run, this might not be enough. Get in touch with us at BCOS Foods, talk to our nutritionists and get your personalized meal plan today.
Also, do checkout our tasty millet flour staples to take charge of your nutritional modifications for long term reproductive health management.