7 Eating Habits You Can Actually Keep for Life

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Readable Version:

7 Eating Habits You Can Keep for Life (So Food Finally Stops Being a Battle)

The eating habits you can keep for life are ones built on foods you enjoy, flexibility, and eating when hungry and stopping at enough, rather than restriction. When your habits fit your real life, weight management gets easier and food stops taking up so much of your mind.

If you’ve ever lost weight and watched it come back, I want you to know that makes complete sense.

As a former Physician Assistant with 15 years of clinical experience, I watched patient after patient get solid nutrition advice and still struggle to follow it, and that’s exactly why I focus on eating habits you can keep for life.

What are the best eating habits you can actually keep for life?

The best eating habits are the ones that feel natural and easy to live with in your current life, and that still work when your life changes.

My goal for these habits is nourishment, energy, ease of weight management, and enjoyment… And when all 4 are in place, food stops being a constant battle.

Why do most eating habits stop working?

Most eating habits stop working because they’re built on effort rather than ease, so they only last as long as your motivation does.

Here’s what that usually looks like:

• Spending so much time planning and prepping that it becomes a second job
• Eating foods you dislike because they’re “healthy”
• Cutting out whole food groups or your favorite foods
• Eating so little that you’re hungry and thinking about food all day
• Following a plan so strict that one off day feels like failure

How do you build eating habits you can keep for life?

You build them by making each habit easy enough to live with when life is busy, stressful, and imperfect. These are the 7 I help every client build in Lighter, my 1:1 coaching program:

1. Eat foods you like or love, rather than foods you hate or dislike
2. Keep your food choices flexible rather than cutting things out
3. Eat enough, without restricting calories so far that you feel deprived
4. Eat when hungry and stop at enough, like a normal eating routine
5. Keep a fairly consistent routine that can flex in busy seasons
6. Keep it uncomplicated and not time consuming
7. Let it be imperfect

That last one matters most, because a habit that requires perfection will always break.

Can I really lose weight without being strict?

Yes, and in my experience it’s the only way weight loss actually lasts, while having a healthy relationship with food.

Many of my clients had already tried popular programs, nutritionists, tracking apps, and calorie counting before working with me, and they got results here that they hadn’t gotten anywhere else.

I’ve checked in with clients months and even years later, and none of them have gone back to their old habits or regained the weight. Many went on to lose even more, and some have had babies or gone through stressful breakups and still kept their habits and weight. Okay so that’s the difference between a diet and a habit you actually live with.

What are the benefits of eating habits you can keep for life?

When your habits are sustainable, you get much more than weight loss.

• You stop thinking about food constantly, so your energy goes to your career, hobbies, and people you love
• You feel energized and nourished
• You enjoy your food without dieting or eating things you dislike
• You feel satisfied because you eat when you’re truly hungry
• You lose weight in a way that stays off, with no more yo-yo dieting
• You trust yourself around food
• You feel calm, confident, and in control around sweets, French fries, pizza, and crunchy snacks

Quick answers to what you’re probably wondering

How long does it take to build eating habits you can keep?
It varies person to person, habit to habit, but you’re building habits gradually rather than overhauling everything at once, and that’s why they stick.

Do I have to give up sweets or carbs to lose weight?
No. Cutting foods out usually makes you think about them more, so foods you love stay in if you want them to.

Why do I keep regaining weight after diets?
Because most diets rely on significant restriction, and restriction isn’t something you can live with long term.

Ready to build eating habits you can keep for life?

If what you just read feels refreshing to you compared to what you’ve been trying, this is exactly what habits you’d create inside Lighter.

I not only teach you skills and help you change your mindset, but help you implement changes so you become the person who eats in a way that supports the life and body you want.

You can start immediately with a free consult.

We’ll talk about where you’re stuck, where you’d love to be, and I’ll share how to get there in a way that fits your life as it is right now.

Kate Johnston is an Eating Habits and Weight Loss Coach, host of the Eating Habits for Life podcast, and a former Physician Assistant with 15 years of clinical experience.

She specializes in helping high-achieving women break overeating and emotional eating habits, build healthy eating habits, and lose weight sustainably through mindset and strategy coaching in her 1:1 program, Lighter.