Image via Rent Cafe
It’s hard to get rid of some bad habits, particularly when it comes to foods that we eat and drinks that we slurp with reckless abandon. As you approach the path to a healthier lifestyle one step at a time, here are a few tips for enjoying unhealthy treats in healthier ways:
- Love drinking coffee but hate icky, stained teeth? Adding high-fat milk to your beverage keeps coffee from staining your teeth. Milk binds to the polyphenols in coffee, providing a buffer between the staining agent and your enamel.
- You won’t have to kick aside your love your strawberry Fanta, either. Drinking soda through a straw minimizes enamel erosion and staining. No real magic here. The straw directs the fluid further back into your mouth, minimizing the amount of artificial color swooshing across your front teeth.
- Got a sweet tooth? Learn the chocolate hierarchy of evil. First try carob, a bean often used to replace cocoa. It has a similar taste yet carob is healthier than cocoa because it lacks stimulants caffeine or theobromine. Cocoa, packed with antioxidants and flavonoids (and usually less processing) is healthier than dark chocolate. Dark chocolate, with fewer carbs and sugars, is healthier than milk chocolate…and just about anything is healthier than white chocolate.
Get more healthy ways to enjoy unhealthy treats.
I’d also like to add a few more to the list. It’s practical advice that I (and people that I know) have applied over the years with good success.
Image via Dr. Gullo
- When enjoying a snack food, don’t settle down in front of the TV with the entire package. You’ll likely keep eating until everything is gone. Rather, control your portion sizes by measuring out a decent serving and then putting the package away! Once your portion is over, don’t exert the effort needed to get more from the original packaging.
- For every soda refill that you order at a restaurant, drink the same sized cup of water. You’ll hydrate your body while enjoy a soda that you love without having room in your belly for overdoing it.
- Just say no to “biggie sizing” at fast food restaurants. It just makes matter worse.
- If you want dessert at a restaurant, ask a friend to share it with you. It spreads out the calories while still making your tongue happy with a taste you crave.
Remember, eating healthier is a step by step process. Wherever you are in your healthy living goals, there are small things that you can do to help out your body.