Happiness includes a happy gut. A happy gut wants nutritional foods. Nutritional foods, from my perspective are 1 ingredient foods. Broccoli, apples, chicken, and water are all 1 ingredient foods. Cheesy broccoli, apple pie, Buffalo chicken wings, and beer are not 1 ingredient foods. Our gut is a fascinating system that works great when it is not overloaded with non-nutritious, sugary foods and drink. I know, eating a bowl of cereal is easy but is it the best choice? The Happiness Diet is all about making smarter nutritional choices for your body.
Junk Food Bad
The foods we eat should NOT have added ingredients such as sugar. Food is for energy and nutrition. You are not going to find much nutrition in junk food. Do you know what junk food has, lots of calories and bad carbs. Junk food will also kill of your good bacteria in your gut. Junk food has been found to be the cause of many chronic illnesses. If you want all of your organs to continue working for your all of your life, stop eating junk food.
I Want to Make Smarter Choices
To start the Happiness Diet, you will journal EVERY single morsal of food and sip of a drink you consume for the next 7 days. Note the time you ate the food or had the drink. Next record why you chose that food and/or drink.
Was this your breakfast, lunch, dinner, late afternoon snack, TV watching snack?
Why did you choose this food or drink?
Was this food or drink nutritious or not? If not, what better choices could you make?
When you chose to eat or drink it, what were you feeling? Were you calm, tired, bored, stressed, or was it a habit?
Be honest and do not lie to yourself. No one has to see this but you. This is for your awareness. Armed with the data for the week, determine where can you make improvements. Can your TV watching snack be replaced with an apple or a bowl of cantaloupe? Do you think food prepping could deter eating drive-thru for lunch? How about bringing your own nutritional snacks to work for the late afternoon munchies instead of a candy bar. There are a billion (maybe not that many) websites for nutritional recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner that take the stress out of putting a meal on the table for your family or a meal in your lunch bag. The Happiness Diet’s goal is to consume nutritious foods and drinks for your well-being.
But I like Snacks
Some snacks are better than others. When you have that urge to wolf down an entire sleeve of Chips Ahoy®, give your muffin top a shake. Grab some back fat. Go ahead. Especially if you are standing in the cookie aisle. Still want them? Do not use your stressful day to justify eating junk food. You probably have done that in the past and could be the reason you can shake your muffin top today. You don’t need motivational quotes on your refrigerator when you carry an instant reminder of your past poor food choices. Put it back on the shelf and walk proudly out of the cookie aisle.
The Happiness Diet Going Forward
It really is all about making smarter choices. I started with eliminating soda, chips, popcorn and pretzels. After day 3, I did not want them anymore. Next was all bakery items. I cook my own meals and rarely eat drive-thru. A pot roast will feed me for 3 days. When I get an urge to snack, I ask myself if I am hungry or bored. If hungry, I’ll eat some fruit. If I am bored, I tell myself, “You are just bored” and shake some fat. I also decided not to eat after dinner which helps with the snacking.
Your mission is to find several food sites that you like and start journaling for the week. I’ll say it again, it really is all about making smarter choices.
Have fun.