How to Train Your Brain to Stop Eating Junk Food?

Can’t help eating something unhealthy all the time and wondering what to do about it? Most of us can’t get rid of this bad habit because usually, it’s very tasteful and delicious. However, if you want to live a healthy life you should start learning how to stop eating unhealthy food.

You can’t have a healthy civilization without healthy soil.
You can’t have junk food and have healthy people.
Joel Salatin

If you’ve tried to control your cravings and say no to unhealthy foods but you failed, here’s the Ultimate Guide to staying away from Junk Food. Here we go!

1. Keep the 5 Ingredient Rule

Follow the rule of 5 ingredients when buying products in the store. If some foods have more than 5 ingredients in its composition, don’t buy it. Avoid such products, instead, try to choose something natural and organic. As a result, you’ll be able to find out if there is an unnecessary ingredient and avoid impulse buys.

So next time ask yourself this question: “What’s the quality of ingredients used?”. More than 5 ingredients should always sound the signals and bring out the red flags in your brain.

2. Pay More Attention to Colors

You may have noticed that many fast food chains use red and yellow to influence potential consumers on a psychological level. Attention – these colors along with orange are the ones that make people feel more hungry and impulsive.

To avoid the trap, you need to see at least 3 different colors of products on your plates. Therefore, instead of running for the next junk food, try to add a variety of bright colors to your meals. This can help a lot!

3. Eat a Variety of Foods

Eating different kinds of food helps to maintain good health and provides a range of various useful nutrients to the body. Choosing a variety of foods within and across food groups improves dietary patterns because different foods provide different types and amount of key nutrients.

Besides, even if you decide to eat healthy food, you can’t bear eating the same food all the time. Create some diversity!

4. Keep Healthy Food Handy

It’s already a proven fact that when you get hungry, you’re more likely to eat the first thing you see on your kitchen counter or in the cupboard. Store healthy snacks handy, display in various areas of the house.

If you set up your kitchen or office so that healthy food is easy and convenient to get right. With this way, you’ll grow to prefer that healthy food instead of junk food.

 

Related Article:  A Brief History of Mayonnaise

 

5. Make the Healthy Food Your Pleasure

Start by getting eating balanced, nutritious meals under control and you’ll feel much better about allowing yourself the occasional treat.

One of the easiest and greatest ways to cut junk food is definitely having desired healthy food available at hand. If you have the food you like most in your fridge you’ll not definitely run to buy junk food for sure. Try to do this and sooner or later you’ll understand that you’re feeling good as well. Moreover, this is also one of the most effective ways to lose weight. Try it! You won’t regret.

6. Practice Mindful Eating

Mindful Eating is a key step for you in having a better relationship with food, your mind, and your body. It will help you to cultivate awareness of your eating life.

When did you have a mindful meal last time? 

Here’s advice: avoid snacking on junk food during your work, checking your phones or watching a TV. Try to eat slowly, sit at the table, pause between each bite, turn of your TV, phone and any other forms of distractions, enjoy the taste, smell, sight, and texture of your meal. Think a second what you’re eating. It’s healthy food or it’s something junky?

Moreover, mindful eating practice allows you to pay more attention to what, when and how much you’re eating. This proven technique can help you take control of your eating habits. In this way, you can eat less enjoying your meal more and stay away from eating junk food too much (or even at all).

7. Make Healthier Swaps

You can cut calories by finding healthier swaps of your most favorite junk foods. You can say goodbye to unhealthy meals and swap them to healthier and joy foods that taste just as good.

Here are some easy and delicious junk food snack swaps:

• Swap your favorite Mayonnaise to Avocado;
• Swap chips to air-popped popcorn (without butter);
• Swap fries to baked Asparagus Fries with roasted garlic aioli, parmesan carrot fries or baked green bean fries;
• Swap pizza to making your own with Zucchini.

8. Maintain Food Journal

Having a killer daily routine? Keep foods journal – it helps you giving an accurate picture of your food habits. With the help of that Journal, you won’t forget what and when you eat every day.

Food journaling can nearly double weight loss. With this easy way, you can be aware of what you’re eating, and it will help you meet daily calorie goals and reduce the number of the reasons why you may not losing weight.

Overall, the rejection of junk food is not so difficult to implement, as it seems. The main thing is to clearly realize the goal and go to achieve it step by step, day after day.