There are many healthy habits that can help you lose weight, like eating more vegetables, getting adequate protein, keeping a food journal and moving your body more. On the flip side, some habits can keep you from achieving your weight loss goals—like eating mindlessly and turning to food when you're stressed. But there is one habit that is deeply ingrained in people with a diet mentality. And while most people think it's helping, it could be the number one reason you aren't seeing lasting results.
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What Is the #1 Habit You Should Break to Lose Weight?
The number one habit you should break to lose weight is not eating enough. Yes, you heard that right. Eating too few calories, especially at breakfast and lunch, is preventing you from losing weight and keeping it off.
If you've spent a lot of time trying to manage your weight, you've likely heard the suggestion to "eat less and stay active" many times. And while a calorie deficit is required for weight loss, this advice is more often than not taken to extremes, leading people to eat 1,200 calories or less per day while also trying to burn 500 calories or more a day—a combination that doesn’t lead to lasting weight loss.
Severely reducing calories and overexercising is not a sustainable way to lose weight. Although you might see initial weight loss, it's difficult to maintain because extreme hunger often leads to overeating and regaining the weight. Additionally, this approach can make you feel miserable, causing hunger, headaches, fatigue and irritability.
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How Does This Habit Keep You from Losing Weight?
Even if you aren't currently on a plan to lose weight, you may still be intentionally or unintentionally eating too little at meals out of habit. Years of hearing "eat less" has conditioned you to find the lowest calorie options around. The emphasis on quantity of food at the expense of quality can get you into trouble.
It looks something like this: a non-fat yogurt for breakfast, a salad at lunch with chicken and then from 3 p.m. on things tend to go downhill—cheese, crackers, endless grazing, a semi-healthy dinner, then dessert or more snacks post-dinner. In an attempt to start your day by keeping calories low, you end up so hungry by the afternoon that you end up eating more calories than your body needs by the end of the day.
Frequently eating later in the day can also keep your body in fat-storing mode instead of fat-burning mode. To understand this, we have to review blood sugar.
When you eat, food is broken down into glucose (sugar). This causes a rise in blood sugar, which stimulates the release of insulin, a hormone that takes glucose from the blood to cells for energy. Extra glucose is stored as glycogen in the muscles and liver. If there is any leftover after that, it is stored as fat. Therefore, insulin is released every time you eat. If you are eating more calories than your body needs, your body will store fat.
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How to Break the Habit of Eating Too Little
Start with Your Mindset
Changing any habit begins with your mindset. In this case, you must change your belief that you always need to eat less, even if it leaves you hungry. Hungry people aren't successful with losing weight and keeping it off—satisfied people are.
Build Balanced Meals That Satisfy Your Hunger
When you build balanced meals that leave you full, you won't constantly think about food between meals. Constantly thinking about food is not a lack of willpower, by the way. It's just your brain's built-in mechanism to alert you that you need to eat more.
Eating balanced meals that satisfy will allow your blood sugar to rise steadily, instead of spiking, and keep you energized for hours. It will then naturally come down versus crashing.
So, how do you do it if you are also trying to lose weight? The goal is to feel comfortably full while also maintaining a small calorie deficit every day so you can see results. This process will take some time and go slowly, but it allows you to enjoy your life while getting healthier. And it will be less likely to slow your metabolism down.
Include Fiber, Protein & Healthy Fat at Each Meal
Fiber, protein and fat digest more slowly and help keep you full. Plus, they're found in healthy foods like nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, chicken, salmon, whole grains and yogurt. Eat every 3 to 4 hours instead of picking and grazing all day. This prevents the constant release of insulin and allows your body to burn fat instead of storing it.
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For lunch and dinner, aim to make half of your plate vegetables, a quarter of your plate whole grains, and the last quarter of your plate protein. Then add some healthy fat, like olive oil or nut butter. Filling half of your plate with vegetables fills your stomach with fiber, so you feel full with fewer calories.
One common mistake is skipping a whole grain at lunch due to fear of carbs (complex carbs are your friend!). But this can backfire and lead to eating less healthful carbs in the afternoon. Try adding a half cup of cooked quinoa or farro to your lunch salad or make a sandwich using a whole-wheat tortilla. You'll be surprised at how much more satisfied you will feel.
Remember, because protein, fat and fiber are digested slowly and suppress hunger hormones, they keep you full longer. This slows the rise of blood sugar and the release of insulin.
At breakfast, this might look like oatmeal with peanut butter and berries or plain 2% Greek yogurt with fruit and nuts. If you crave savory, try whole-wheat toast with avocado and two eggs. And yes, bread can fit into a healthy diet! Choose high-fiber, whole-wheat bread, which will help keep you full for hours.
Listen to Your Body
Finally, eat intuitively and listen to your body. Ditching restrictive diets allows you to recognize that some days you are hungrier than other days—whether because of a hard workout, stress or your menstrual cycle—and it's okay to eat more those days. Try to show up to meals hungry but not starving, slow down while eating and finish when you feel satisfied but not stuffed.
The Bottom Line
Instead of eating less at every meal, aim to eat more—but more nutrient-dense foods. These foods will keep you full but allow a small calorie deficit so you can reach your health and weight-loss goals. You'll be amazed at how satisfied and energized you feel when you bulk up breakfast, add whole grains to lunch and eat adequate protein, fiber and fat at every meal. No more feeling hungry all the time and constantly thinking about food. When you change the habit of eating less at every meal and replace it with a habit of building balanced meals, you will feel better and get results.
