If you eat healthy, you'll also feel better. As you get used to different foods, you'll find your tastes shift and that things you previously found unappetizing are actually really delicious. The only real downsides to improving your diet are completely temporary.
Weird tricks don't exist. If you want to change your health, that typically requires effort and a change in lifestyle.
For me, I found reading how other people made changes to their lifestyle to improve their health to be motivating. After seeing enough stories about that, eventually I started thinking, why not me? So here's my personal account, should you care.
Personally, once I switched from eating out/ordering DoorDash for my one big meal of the day to cooking all my meals, I began to eat far fewer calories. Turns out the average meal you make at home has fewer calories than a delicious al pastor super burrito or a dutch crunch sub.
I did Hello Fresh for a few weeks, and I appreciated the variety of meals but eventually canceled it because I want more flexibility/spontaneity in my cooking, which is something you lose when you subscribe to a meal plan. Many of the meals left me feeling like I did a damn good job, so I can see myself trying the service again in the future.
I found a very easy breakfast I can make in 15 minutes that I like. 2 slices toast with jam, 2 eggs in a tortilla with cheese and salsa, and 2 pieces of bacon. Before I had always skipped breakfast, leading me to that one big meal a day strategy, which always led to me overeating. My dog appreciates the now frequent bacon in her life (don't worry, she hardly gets any).
I found cooking to be much easier once I got an induction stovetop, because you can see the actual temperature you're cooking with. I always hated the guessing game of turning a gas stove knob, which prevented me from cooking regularly.
At the same time, I've started going to the gym every day, doing a simple linear progression PPL program. I also make a delicious shake every day, which I look forward to after every workout.
Over the last couple months I made these changes and they are now part of my daily routine.
Before, I couldn't really see myself randomly going to the gym or cooking at home. Now that's absolutely flipped- I can't really see myself not doing these things. It's early, but I feel I've done the work to change my habits for good.
And to bring it back to the topic at hand, with these weird tricks of changing my daily defaults my weight is trending down at a rate I'm happy with.
Oh, and I did count calories for like a month, but only to get a feel for how many calories are in the foods I tend to eat, and how my body weight fluctuates based on my intake. I don't any more, at least I don't write it down. It's all just sort of done on my head in a wishy washy way.
As others said: eating less/different, moving more.
Now the question is: How would you reach that goal the best way? This depends very much on why you are eating like you are. What is it for you etc. My grandfather e.g. was a Nazi soldier on the eastern front when he was 16, where he nearly starved — which is why my brothers and me had to eat every last crumb of a plate over half a century later, because this got so hammered into my father, that he passed ot onto his kids. I managed to reflect on this and watch myself from the outside and sort of get rid of that habit. Your history and relationship with eating might be different, but you should also see it as an psychological issue, as much as an health issue — because usually it is.
One thing that you might try is instead of focusing too much on what you are eating, to focus more on what you are buying and when. So instead of going for groceries hungry and buying unhealthy trash and a lot of it, only go to the store when you ate, buy healthier stuff and exactly the amount your body needs. Then at home you have no choice but stick to the plan and make something good out of what you got.
I know, eating is enjoyable, but it can also be enjoyable if a meal doesn't leave you completely stuffed. In fact it might be more enjoyable if you are not.
Come up with a plan, stick with it, at least for a certain predefiend time (as an experiment), then if you feel better, decide how to go ahead
1. Smaller portions
2. Making meals more of an 'event' (so, eating slower?)
3. Walking more (not exactly directly related to diet, but ok)
Nothing nutritional, just super basic advice we all know already and some cute pictures of different dishes from around the world. Eat less and slower and take more walks, the end.
Edit: Oh yeah, and did you know fish, vegetables, olive oil, certain cheeses and red wine might have health benefits?
You can also reduce how much you eat for your fun meals, but changing the boring meals makes a difference even if you don't.
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