{"id":48181,"date":"2016-03-21T07:15:41","date_gmt":"2016-03-21T11:15:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=48181"},"modified":"2021-11-18T10:50:29","modified_gmt":"2021-11-18T15:50:29","slug":"mindless-healthy-habits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/health\/mindless-healthy-habits\/","title":{"rendered":"Never Diet Again: 5 Mindless Ways to Build Healthy Habits"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Never
Photo by\u00a0Jan Va\u0161ek<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nowadays, \u201cmindfulness<\/a>\u201d is the name of the weight loss game. You\u2019ve heard the tips<\/a>: Turn off your TV at dinner. Chew a million times before swallowing. Eat in silence. But sometimes life just gets in the way! And you know what\u2019s easier than trying to live mindfully 24\/7? Picking a few mind-less<\/em> healthy habits you can work into your life without giving them a second thought.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why researchers from the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab recently started the Global Healthy Weight Registry<\/a> to track the mindless habits that men and women (who\u2019ve never been overweight\u2026lucky dogs) use every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of these people just follow three or four rules of thumb \u2014 often that they don\u2019t even think about \u2014 and those are what keep them\u2026in control,\u201d says study co-author Brian Wansink, PhD, director of the Food and Brand Lab and author of Slim by Design<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Apart from being way easier than counting calories and macros, or measuring serving sizes<\/a>, their mindless methods may actually be more effective, too. After all, calorie obsession can backfire on you, Wansink says. Research suggests<\/a> that you\u2019ve only got so much willpower working for you \u2014 and if you\u2019re using yours to count calories all day, sooner or later you might just give up. That\u2019s when weight gain happens.<\/p>\n

Ready to make maintaining a healthy weight so much easier? Just follow these five mindless healthy habits of the effortlessly slim.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> 12 Things Nobody Told Me About Losing Weight<\/a><\/p>\n

5 Insanely Easy Ways to Build Healthy Habits<\/strong><\/h3>\n

1. Eat Breakfast
\n<\/strong>OK, here\u2019s what you need to do: Wake up, eat breakfast<\/a>. (And then hopefully take a shower.) It\u2019s as simple as that and once you make it your routine, it takes absolutely zero thought. It\u2019s as easy as brushing your teeth (which you also hopefully do every morning), and can make a huge impact in your ability to stay healthy. So much so that 96 percent of people in Cornell\u2019s online Global Healthy Weight Registry eat breakfast. Every. Single. Day.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> Not a Morning Person? 7 Make-Ahead Breakfast Ideas<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cEating a healthy breakfast<\/a> sets you up for a healthy day of eating,\u201d says nutrition and food scientist Danielle Starin, M.S., R.D., director of nutrition for the Nutritionix<\/a> nutrition database. \u201cBy having a filling breakfast, you won’t be starving at lunch and won’t be as easily swayed by the cake in the break room.\u201d Plus, eating breakfast helps get your body out of starvation mode in the morning so your body can start burning, rather than hoarding, calories, says Wesley Delbridge, R.D., a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics<\/a>. For an added boost, Wansink recommends trading yogurt or cereal for an omelet or quinoa bake<\/a>. Why? We tend to register warm meals as more filling, he says.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> How Bad Is Your Breakfast Food? We Ranked 10 Popular Items<\/a><\/p>\n

2. Chow Down on Quality Foods
\n<\/strong>Forget counting calories. People who stay slim simply choose high-quality foods<\/a> over junky ones, according to the Cornell research. \u201cThink about 100 calories of potato chips versus 100 calories of almonds<\/a>. Although it looks like you’re getting more food from the chips, you are more likely to feel hungry sooner after eating 100 calories of chips than 100 calories of almonds,\u201d Starin says. \u201cThis is because the almonds are more nutrient-dense.\u201d The almonds contain more fiber, protein and other health-boosting compounds. Meanwhile, the chips will just make you feel crappy, bloated and, in 30 minutes, hungry again.<\/p>\n

Granted, it might take some thought to choose whole or minimally processed foods<\/a> over less savory options \u2014 especially at first. But as you realize how much better you feel by eating this way, it will become automatic. You\u2019ll eat those foods because just the idea of plowing through a sleeve of cookies makes you feel sick \u2014 not because you\u2019re trying to \u201cwatch what you eat.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> 7 Days of Clean Eating Made Simple<\/a><\/p>\n

3. Eat at Home<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Two-thirds of slim men and women ate veggies at dinner every day, half included fruits and veggies in their morning meals.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

People who never struggle with weight gain tend to cook from home, says Wansink, who has studied the various ways restaurants and menus are designed to make you overeat. \u201cStudies have shown that home-cooked meals<\/a> are significantly healthier than similar foods from restaurants,\u201d Starin says. And even if you do manage to eat healthy when you\u2019re dining out, let\u2019s be honest, it can become a bit of a chore. Can you not bring a basket of bread to our table? How\u2019s the chicken prepared? Hold the oil.<\/em><\/p>\n

To make cooking at home even easier than eating out, Delbridge recommends prepping your meals<\/a>. Once a week, head to the supermarket with a list of all of the meals you want to make for the next seven days, focusing on ones that use similar ingredients. That way, you can use your bell peppers to make egg bakes, pastas and fajitas. Then, immediately wash, chop and cook up all of your meals at once, and divvy \u2018em out to eat throughout the week, he says. Bonus: This tip will also save you serious time and cash.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> 20 Meal Prep Tips from the Best Preppers We Know<\/a><\/p>\n

4. Exercise Regularly
\n<\/strong>One foot in front of the other \u2014\u00a0it can be as simple as a long, brisk walk. Bonus points if you can mix in some strength work, too. A whopping 90 percent of the men and women in Cornell\u2019s Global Healthy Weight Registry exercised at least once per week and 42 percent exercised five or more times a week.<\/p>\n

That might come as a surprise to anyone who thinks they can keep their weight down through healthy eating alone<\/a> (weight loss is 80 percent diet, right?). But exercise is critical not just to burning calories in the gym, but for building muscle and boosting your metabolism all day every day, Delbridge explains. Case in point: In one year-long Obesity <\/em>study<\/a> of 439 women, those who ate healthy and exercised lost nearly 30 percent more weight than those who dieted alone.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> Daily Burn 365: New Workouts, 7 Days a Week<\/a><\/p>\n

5. Build Meals Around Produce
\n<\/strong>It\u2019s time to learn to love your broccoli. In fact, in the Cornell study, two-thirds of slim men and women ate veggies at dinner every day, half included fruits and veggies in their morning meals, 44 percent said fruit was their favorite snack food, and another 21 percent said nuts were their go-to snacks. Produce is clutch when it comes to weight loss, Delbridge says. Besides taking up a lot of space on your plate (leaving less room for macaroni and cheese), fruits and veggies are packed with filling, blood sugar-regulating fiber and require a ton of chewing. It may sound silly, but all of that chewing actually triggers the release of powerful satiety hormones in your brain to keep you feeling full long after your meal.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> 9 Healthy Dinner Recipes for Meatless Monday<\/a><\/p>\n

To get more produce the mindless way, simply make sure to fill half of your plate at every meal with fruits and veggies, Delbridge says. And, no, it doesn\u2019t have to be fresh. Frozen varieties can be a great, cost-effective way to enjoy produce that is out-of-season. Plus, since frozen fruits and veggies are picked when they are at their peak, you can be sure that you\u2019ll get the most nutrients per bite, he says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ever wonder how some people stay slim without ever going on a diet? New research explains how they do it \u2014 and how to steal their healthy habits, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,7,18],"tags":[289,51,229,341,352,285],"class_list":["post-48181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diet-nutrition","category-health","category-weight-loss","tag-exercise","tag-food-choices","tag-mindfulness","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2weight-loss","tag-weight-loss"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48181\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}