Add more than you subtract

Adding more than you subtract from your diet will help you to maintain a healthy balance and prevent the stress of constantly worrying about what not to eat.

Make a list of all the good, healthy foods you already like, but don't eat that often. This will be the first list you work from. Start planning your menus and shopping to add one or more of these each week.

At the same time, make another list of healthy foods that you are curious about but not sure if you will like them. Make a point to add one of these weekly, monthly, or even every other month -- depending on your comfort level with new tastes and how much time you have to learn to prepare new dishes.

Concentrating too much on subtracting foods you love from your diet in order to make it healthy is just too painful and too stressful. That's why most people can't stick with it. Unless you are a true binge eater -- in which case this blog will probably not be as helpful to you -- you can only put so much food into your tummy each day. OK, maybe on certain holidays or for special foods, you can squeeze in a bit more. But the basic truth is that if you fill up with healthy foods you will eventually start to have less room -- and less interest -- in less healthy foods. So stop worrying about cutting out good things. Instead, plan to keep your diet the same, but with the addition of one healthy food each day, that was not a part of your normal diet last month. If you can fit in more on some days, that's wonderful. But all you have to worry about is fitting in one extra healthy food a day, for now.

This is not a diet plan, it's a way of life. There's no particular order.
This blog is not written in any particular order because it's important to realize there is no particular order. All you are trying to do is learn to eat a healthy, balanced diet, and maintain that healthy balanced diet for life. So, you can start at any point you feel most comfortable. Don't try 5 pages from this blog all at once, unless you honestly feel each of the five steps is something that will be very easy for you.This will work, if you follow it. Even if you lose interest half way through, you will still have succeeded in making some healthy changes to your life. And anyone who seriously wants to change to a healthy lifestyle and healthy eating habits will find this method easy, sensible, and painless.

What to do now:

• make lists of healthy foods you like and those you'd like to try
• try to give up one soda each day
• try to add one healthy food each day to your normal routine
• do not worry about cutting things you love from your diet