Food and drink sustain our bodies and should also bring us pleasure. For most people most of the time, what you eat is a conscious, affirmative choice. Begin each day with a “To-Eat list,” a fun and highly useful variation on a To-Do list. It’s a simple daily plan for what, and when, you will eat and drink.
There are many short-term diet plans but Doing Your To-Eat List is not one of them. Doing Your To-Eat List is a habit. It is a mind-set that lasts a lifetime. It says I should plan which foods I eat and the calories I consume. To form the habit, start by making the simplest list possible based on what will help you reach or maintain your target weight. Find out how many calories are right for you. You can begin by working with 2000 calories, sort of an average for everybody, or get an estimate geared to your body type.
The To-Eat List divides the day into three periods: Morning (breakfast and snacks), Noon (lunch and mid-day snacks), and Night (supper and later snacks). For each period you plan what to eat from the five food groups (Fruits, Vegetables, Grains, Protein Foods, and Dairy) plus drinks. Each person has their own style of eating, so find yours without being confined to a straight “three square meals” concept. It might help to pack fruit and other light snacks to keep your appetite manageable through the day. Also remember that when it comes to meals, super-sized isn’t super.
A good To-Eat list will evolve to have the right balance of carbs, protein, fruits and vegetables adding up to a recommended number of calories. A big plus is that having a To-Eat list means knowing what you will not eat or drink that day. You can pick the foods you want on your To-Eat list using guidelines from the many health and nutrition plans. As you refine your list, take into account the caloric content of drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic.
To help you get started, here are three hyperlinks. To find out a target body weigh, go here. Given that target weight, this link recommends a daily caloric intake. This link from WebMD tells you how many calories are in the foods you may be eating. With the help of these tools, you can build your daily To-Eat List, using this Worksheet:
