6 WAYS TO HELP HEALTHY EATING BECOME SECOND NATURE
Just like everything else, habit plays a huge part in what we eat. We have visual cues like the Golden Arches or goodies next to the check out to stir our senses, or social cues like the work place tea and biscuit run at 11am, bar snacks with a pint, or popcorn/sweets/ice cream at the cinema. If you want to form new habits that can help support healthier eating, one of the key aspects will always be preparation.
Here are six strategies that can help you access new ways of eating healthily more easily.
MEAL PLANNING
Take 10-15 minutes on a Sunday to look through my monthly recipe booklet or your favourite recipe books and pick out a few different recipes to make during the week. These can be family favourites or something you’ve never tried before - as long as they entice you. Try to think about the week ahead - are you eating out? How much time will you have to cook? How tired might you be? Who else might you be cooking for? Plan for what is appropriate and doable. I have made this a weekly routine and have found it saves so much time, energy and headspace, especially during busy weeks. For those of you who have signed up to receive my monthly recipe booklet, you’ll have access to both weekly and monthly food planners with shopping lists too to ensure you can get all the necessary ingredients ahead of making them.
SHOPPING LISTS
Making a shopping list based on your weekly meal plan before going to the shops can be incredibly helpful in keeping you on track with your shopping, plus it can decrease stress and feelings of overwhelm when you get there. Shopping lists have been shown to reduce impulse buying which helps resist the urge to put undesirable food in your basket, and keeping you to your budget. Also…
AVOID FOOD SHOPPING WHEN YOU’RE HUNGRY
Supermarkets certainly know where to place excellent and tempting snack foods to get our attention. If we’re ravenously hungry and surrounded by visually and tastefully delicious food, it makes them SO much harder to resist. And before we know it, we’re putting a bar of chocolate, packet of crisps, or bag of sweets into our shopping basket to munch on the way home (despite maybe already having snack options in the cupboard)! So when you’re meal planning, I’d also recommend thinking about the best time to go shopping for the ingredients.
FOOD PREP
Spending 10-15 minutes on a Sunday or at the start of the week prepping food can make healthier choices easier throughout the week. Some clients prefer to prep in the morning before work or in the evenings alongside cooking dinner when the chopping board and knives are already in use - whatever works best for you. Prepping vegetables you plan on roasting or even cutting crudités can help save time during the week when you may feel more pressed for time. And if you have more than 10 minutes, try and batch cook full meals to give you a head start into the week, or freeze for the future. If I have time, I try to prep my breakfasts (overnight oats, chia puddings, seasonal fruit compotes, granola) and lunches (hearty salads, soups, dahls, beany stews etc), especially if I’m working away from home. That way I’m not tempted to grab the first shiny packaging off the shelf when I get hungry.
STORE CUPBOARD
If you’re able, each week (or month) add something to your basic ingredients collection. This could be a spice, or a tin of chickpeas, or an oil - it doesn’t need to be big or fancy but the aim is to build up your store cupboard, whether it’s an actual cupboard, a refrigerator ice box or a freezer. Because once you have a solid base of flavours and ingredients you can turn basic recipes into something extraordinary - a vegetable stew can be transformed into a chilli with the addition of dried chillies and cocoa powder, a coconut soup can be lifted with a dash of lime juice and a scattering of coriander. If you do have a freezer, keep it well stocked with frozen vegetables and fruits. My go to frozen fruit and veg are: peas, edamame, broad beans, spinach, kale, cauliflower, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries. And if you only have a refrigerator ice box, even that should have the capacity for a couple of bags of fruit or veg and an ice cube holder full of stock or cut herbs. And don’t worry about using frozen food, the process ensures nutrient preservation.
MAKE MORE!
Leftovers are a gift for those who are busy! When planning your meals, look at how easy it would be to scale up the recipe 2x or more so you can have leftovers to eat throughout the week. If you’re unsure about scaling up, then consider bulking up instead - add a can of beans, or several handfuls of green leafy vegetables, or serve with quinoa or brown rice to make it go further. But if the thought of eating the same thing every day is not remotely inspiring, think back to your store cupboard - would a dash of Tabasco bring new life to a dish? Or maybe a different dressing? Or a sprinkling of hazelnuts to add an extra crunch? It takes far less time to pimp leftovers than it does to start from scratch.
BONUS TIP
To make fresh produce last longer you can do things like putting berries in ice cold water, wrapping leaves in a damp tea towel, putting salad leaves in airtight containers, and putting crudités in water filled jars.
For more tips, tricks and strategies, you can subscribe to my weekly newsletter, or if you want to chat about ways to help healthy eating become second nature, just click here to book a free 45 minute discovery call.
