ideas there, too.
Environment 1: Eating In
First, pat yourself on the back for completing the 21-Day Plan. Three weeks of
home-cooked meals: That’s no small feat. You’ve done a good thing for your
body. Keep the benefits rolling with the following easy strategies. At first, they
might feel like work, but give them a week or two and you’ll be in the groove,
noticing major benefits to your overall well-being.
- Plan your weekly menu before grocery shopping. Decide what you’re
going to cook before you hit the supermarket, write up a shopping list, and bring
it with you to stay on track. (A list can help you lighten up your weekly cart’s
calorie load without even trying—by 6,500 fewer calories, according to one
study.) That’ll help to prevent junky impulse buys—or that sad, sad moment two
weeks later when you have to throw out armfuls of spoiled produce. (We’ve all
gotten overambitious with salad greens.) Also, treat shopping as an opportunity
to make healthy cooking easy on yourself because your supermarket is full of
good-for-you convenience foods. Why suffer through cutting up a winter squash
when the cubed kind is right there in the produce aisle? Load up your fridge,
pantry, and freezer with other time-savers like precooked beetroot, cleaned and
sliced mushrooms, fast-cooking whole grains, prepeeled hard-boiled eggs, and
refrigerated wholewheat pizza dough.