🗞 Local News

1. There’s a Women’s Health Fair at Two River Theater on Saturday, April 26th from 10AM to 1PM. Screenings, info, resources…and it’s FREE! (Red Bank)

2. The Fort Athletic Club is running a spring promo: Join by April 30 and get your first month FREE + no enrollment fee. (Oceanport)

🍗 Today’s Nugget

You’re better off tracking habits not calories… at least until you get them under control.

Paying closer attention to specific foods, people, places, occasions, seasons, times of the month, sleep quality, exercise intensity, weather and stress level can really help create a more accurate picture of what’s going on dietarily and help you reach your goals better than counting WW points ever could.

You don’t have to obsess, but just practice being a little more aware of how certain habits could be derailing your personal health train.

Here are some of the most common food-habit-offenders worth tracking + tips for shaking them.

You order 10 family style appetizers with friends every time you go out

• choose fewer = mindless calorie control

• choose lighter; there are always better options so try to stick with those

• don’t go! If your friends are bad food influences perhaps it’s time to make some new ones

You’re notorious for getting obliterated at happy hour and then “soaking up the booze” with half a pizza on the way home

• don’t get obliterated

• eat before you go, particularly something with protein to squash your appetite

• drink a full glass of water after every cocktail (you’ve heard this before- it really works)

Dinner doesn’t stop when your plate is cleared; it’s actually just the beginning of a several-hour-long chow session that only ceases when your head hits the pillow. This behavior is not hunger. It’s a habit. A very bad habit.

• switch up your surroundings; go for a walk, go meet a friend, start a new hobby, workout, curl up with a new book; you get the idea

• drink herbal tea to get that “full” feeling — and to satisfy the oral fixation

• when all else fails, just go to bed!

Every morning your barista sees you coming a block away and has a venti white mocha and cheese danish ready before you get to the door.

• go to a new coffee shop

• break the news to your barista that you’re switching things up

You can’t seem to get past the pastry assortment in the conference room at work.

• take a detour and do NOT walk past the conference room

• bring a healthy mid-morning snack so low blood sugar isn’t clouding your focus (my go-to: a jar of peanut butter and a spoon in my desk drawer)

• bake your own healthier treats

• gorge yourself on a super high protein breakfast so you literally don’t have room for another bite

When you’re feeling lonely you swing by the bakery

• remember this: food isn’t company and it’s not going to make you less lonely

• exercise is actually a far better mood-booster than pastries; you won’t regret it and it won’t end up stuffed into your jeans

• figure out a way to not be lonely like taking a class or joining a club

When you’re celebrating anything it always includes cocktails and dessert and you always end up going overboard

• whatever price you’d spend on eating, spend on yourself; get a massage, buy a new bag, put that cash in a vacation stash, etc.

• figure out new ways to celebrate that don’t always include food

• make better choices at those celebrations

After a long, stressful day all you want are carbs

• find a better way to calm down. Stress can make you carb-crazed so actively work on soothing yourself. Deep breathing, meditation, yoga, and bubble baths all work wonders.

• drink a giant glass of water as soon as you walk in the door; it’ll help take the edge off

• take a long, hot shower to unwind before you go anywhere near the kitchen

• go to bed early tonight…and most nights actually

🔨 TOOLS

1. Habitify- habit tracking app (iOS, android)

2. Way of Life- another habit tracking app (iOS, android)

3. ReclaimAI- AI tool for managing calendars better…which could probably help with long, stressful days and carb cravings, huh?! (web)

📚 How-To Library

1. Lower Cholesterol Naturally

2. Eat for Mental Health

3. Make Better Smoothies

4. Read a Food Label

Disclosures:

This is not medical advice. Speak to your doctor before taking supplements or making any major dietary and / or lifestyle changes.

We’re affiliates for some of the brands and / or products we recommend which means we’ll make a small commission if you click and buy. Thanks for the support!