This week I’m writing about healthy habits. Not every healthy person has these habits, but every person that has these habits, is healthy.

Sure, you can develop any habit out of pure determination; but for most of us humans, that doesn’t work. Don’t rely on your own will to have success in 2021. You need a mentor to pull while having a supportive community to push. That’s what I do. Read more about this concept here.

But to start things off, let’s talk about the plates you’re eating off of.

1. Are you eating off of a plate?

Healthy people eat meals. And those meals don’t come in plastic bags through a window or air-tight packaging.

Healthy people eat food off of dinner plates.

2. How big are your plates?

Most Americans tend to have 11-inch plates. Many even have 13-inch plates. But you only need a 9-inch plate. If you don’t have any 9-inch plates, ask for them before Christmas. Here are the ones I own.

One of my mentors is a dietician who put away her 11-inch plates. She then pulled it back out this year for Thanksgiving. One of her family members said to her, “Every Thanksgiving, I can eat at least two plates full of food. But this year, I can’t even finish everything from my first plate! What is wrong with me?”

Nothing is actually wrong with them. Her family member’s metabolism simply changed from using smaller plates in the house.

3. What do you put on your plate first?

Rocks before pebbles. Pebbles before sand. Sand before water.

If you put a big piece of meat or mac-n-cheese on your plate first, you tend to grab too much. You also have less space for the other food you want.

Healthy people always start with a vegetable. At RxFIT, our nutrition coaches don’t even care if you put one tiny cucumber slice on first… you just need grab a vegetable before anything else.

Who knows? Maybe you’ll accidently grab too many vegetables!

4. What’s on the top half?

If you can successfully develop steps 1-3, then move on to this final habit. I don’t recommend being ambitious and trying to develop this habit before the others.

Cover the top half of your plate with vegetables. Salads, tomatoes, carrots… any vegetable on this list. Do it every day for lunch and dinner.

Don’t worry about breakfast for now.

Takeaway

What’s amazing about developing these habits is that you learn how to listen to your body’s satiety cues.

And if you can listen to your body, you’ll never have to count a calorie or macro again.

Tyler

WOD

Day 38 (of 50)
10 Rounds (Score is Slowest Round):
10 Handstand Push-Ups
250-meter Row
-Rest 1:00-

Other Articles in this Series:
1. Habits: 2021’s 6-Week Challenge
2. Habits: Pull and Push
3. Habits: Plate Method
4. Habits: Macronutrients
5. Habits: Exercise
6. Habits: Eating-on-the-Go
7. Habits: Sleep and Stress
8. Habits: Supplements, Fad Diets, and Mindset
9. Habits: Hermit Crabs