Awareness of the importance of healthy eating and living is increasing, especially amongst the younger urban demographic who are all too familiar with juice cleanses and Zumba classes. In a world where obesity rates are going up with no signs of slowing down, seeing more and more people take their health seriously is a welcome sight.
Unfortunately, getting in shape can be a long drawl depending on how far we allowed ourselves to go. A process that can take many months will seem daunting to many and some of us are not able to keep sight of the goal and fall off the band wagon halfway through the journey and go back to our old ways.
It is very important that we identify the main problems with sticking to our nutritional goals and find ways to tackle them in an effective manner. Indeed, there are many ways of getting your lifestyle on a healthier trajectory and many more ways of sticking to it.
Counting Calories Without Wanting to Pull Out Your Hair
Having a meal plan can be very helpful in keeping track of your caloric intake simply because the number of calories in each meal are already known. These types of meal plans can be obtained through a subscription with a meal plan service such as Nutrisystem and others like them. It is recommended that you look at a complete review of Nutrisystem products or other such product lines in order to determine which one works best for you.
Meal plans are very customizable services that deliver meals and deserts right to your doorstep whenever you order them. When you sign up for a meal delivery service, they will show you what your selections are and based on your unique preferences, you can pick whichever meals you want.
One of the big benefits of meal plans like this is that they advertise the caloric count as well as other valuable nutritional information on the website before you make your selections so that you exactly what you are getting into from a calorie point of view. Because of that, you will even be able to systematically plan you cheat meals properly so that they do not derail you from your dietary goals.
Another big benefit of meal plan service is that you do not need to go out on regular grocery runs. Your meals and snacks can now be delivered to you without you having to leave your house. This saves on the need to drive every day.
On top of that, you can save a lot of money on food wastage. No longer will you be throwing away that bag of spinach that you planned on using for something but kept pushing it away until it became spoiled. You will be able to reduce your grocery bill to the odd luxury desert that fits into your diet plan.
You will also be able to save on buying seasonings that will only be used once or a few times before being forgotten in the pantry. This is because the meals delivered will come with the seasonings in the packaging, so that you will have absolutely everything you will need in the meal kit to make your delicious and healthy meal at home.
An Accountability Partner Makes Habits Easier
When embarking on a long-term lifestyle change, it can get very difficult as time goes by. The first few weeks usually go by very well and your willpower is largely intact, but you have a very long way to go yet. It is usually somewhere before the 90-day mark when most people lose their drive and willpower to keep the fire burning and find it easier to just give up and go back to what they were doing before.
A big reason behind this is not only a lack of self-discipline, but also the fact that many people go about their nutritional plans alone. This has been shown time and time again to run people a very high risk of not following through with their goals, simply because they are doing it by themselves.
This is why it is highly recommended that you partner up with someone to keep each other in check. The benefits of having an accountability partner are two-pronged. The first benefit is that you now get to go through this journey with someone who shares the same goals and aspirations as you do. Just knowing that you are not alone will do wonders in increasing the chances of you keeping your nose to the grindstone and seeing your plans through.
The second prong is that you now have someone else to keep you out of trouble. When you have an accountability partner who regularly checks up on you and you doing the same to them, you build up a system of accountability that would not be there had you two went and did this on your own. This too can increase the chances of both of you hitting your nutritional goals.
Ultimately, this trend of increasing health awareness should be celebrated. While much still needs to be done as too many children and adults are eating their way into obesity, this is certainly a good start and infinitely better than nothing at all. Hopefully, this trend of health awareness can continue to spread amongst other demographic groups and penetrate all levels of society.
