Three healthy eating habits that will help you reach your goals
Creating sustainable healthy habits is something I preach to all my clients. Any health behaviour must become a habit if you wish to sustain it over the long term. Start incorporating these healthy food habits to help reach your goals.
Plan the day ahead!
Do you know what you are going to eat the following day or do you just wing it and hope for the best? Planning your meals for the day ahead does not need to be an arduous task. You don’t need to even plan for the full week ahead - although this is something you could aim for down the track. I know from personal experience and working with clients that when we are busy and unprepared we make choices that quickly remedy the situation without too much thought for longterm benefits.
Working all day and come home with nothing planned for dinner? Let’s get pizza. Wake up in the morning and realise there’s no toast left for brekkie? Let’s stop by Maccas and get a bacon and egg McMuffin. Stop this from happening by just knowing what you are going to eat the following day. Start with brekkie and ensure you have everything you need on hand, if not pop it on a shopping list. Lunches can be super simple to prep and plan for - have leftovers or whip something up while you are cooking dinner, like a salad or sandwich/wrap filling. Dinner is usually the biggest meal of the day for many of us and one where we all come together to eat the same meal. If you are short on time a particular day due to kids having sport late, then a roast probably isn’t the best idea. Maybe a slow cooked dish would be better suited so it’s all done when you get home. Always plan your snacks too! Take a look here if you are short on ideas for healthy snacks.
Planning takes all the ambiguity out of your decision making when you are hungry and tired. Have a plan and stick with it by giving yourself no other option. Make your plan the default and easiest option so you aren’t tempted to stray.
Always sit down to eat from a plate/bowl
How many times do you eat standing up in the kitchen aimlessly looking around for more food? If you follow point 1 this would probably be a pretty rare occurrence. Distractions are all around us and these days you’d be hard to fully engage with your meal without a phone in your hand or while trying to simultaneously wrangle the kids into the car on the way to school. Although eating on the run might seem like a smart way to save time, it may be detrimental to your waistline in the long run. Ensuring you can sit down and eat from a plate or bowl means you have made a conscious awareness to sit down and eat the food you’ve served. You know how much you are eating, you can fully taste it, feel the textures in your mouth, smell the aromas and most importantly you are much more likely to be in tune with your hunger and fullness signals. Set aside at least ten minutes per meal to eat, enjoy your food and listen to your body’s responses to it.
Snack wisely
Are you afraid snacking is going to derail you from reaching your goal? I tend to find that in an effort to snack less we can tend to end up eating more. Let me give you an example… You’ve been working all day and didn’t pack any snacks because you are trying to lose some weight. So you’re ‘good’ all day and only eat what you’ve packed for lunch. You come home and are STARVING, so you start looking everywhere to deal with the hunger. In your haste you end up eating half a pack of chips, a few rows of chocolate, some grapes and whatever else you can get your hands on. Sound familiar? I hear this exact scenario from many clients when they first come to see me. Snacking wisely can be a great way to keep your energy levels stable and manage your hunger. If you didn’t click on the link above for healthy snack ideas, here it is again!
There is nothing magical about any of these habits but they can certainly help you reach your goals. Make healthy habits the easy ones by setting yourself up for success. Plan ahead and make healthy food accessible, always sit down and eat your meals and snacks and ensure you are snacking in a way that keeps your hunger in check. Simple!
