I am passionate about helping people make improvements to their lifestyle and diet for the long term. I am not about helping people keep searching for the next ‘quick fix’ that has maybe made it’s way into the media spotlight, and so sees everyone jumping on the bandwagon to try. As realistically there simply are no quick fixes to getting healthy, and I mean truly healthy and not just losing weight. To achieve a truly healthy lifestyle, body and mind, you have to put effort in but to help you keep going with enthusiasm passed January, here are my best tips to help you keep embracing a healthy lifestyle month after month. Some tips I have written maybe new to you, and some may not. In the case of the latter it is simply because there is no denying they genuinely help people! So do enjoy what eating healthily can do to make your life a more positive experience.
Tip 1: Eat a little protein at every meal or as the meal
If you have no time to eat a well balanced lunch, breakfast or dinner on the odd occasion, try snacking on food rich in protein. This is because protein helps to fill you up for longer and gives you a nice steady release of energy until you get to make a nutritious meal, and will help you reduce the need to snack on sugary snacks for an energy fix. Unlike carbohydrate rich foods, which when we are hungry, we can overeat on easily as our body looks to obtain the other vital nutrients it needs, including the other macro-nutrients such as protein, and healthy fats and not to mention if they are refined and include lots of sugar, are uber addictive. Even if you have time to eat, be sure to include a little protein in every main meal of the day to help you reduce the need to snack on junk food and keep energy levels high.
Best protein sources: Organic turkey sausages, organic chicken slices, organic boiled eggs, and organic quinoa (cooked with a stock cube and a dash of lemon and fresh coriander).
Tip 2: Become a mindful eater
Gone are the days where punishing yourself for eating something you enjoy to eat but isn’t exactly healthy seemed to appear to help a person eat better. Today, through much research into how the mind affects the body, it is proven to be better to allow yourself to love the food you eat, including the junk food you occasionally eat as the mental anguish of not allowing yourself to do so can have serious implications. Such as making a person feel like they are weak, not good enough and so end up feeling depressed and demotivated to eat healthy foods. But when you eat mindfully however, you allow yourself to eat your food at a slow pace, get to taste every mouthful and love it whatever it is. No matter what you are eating. Obviously the goal is to in time learn to enjoy healthy foods just as much as unhealthy ones, and to include more of these in your diet, and to stop seeing unhealthy snacks as ‘treats’ and just as normal regular food.
Extra mindful eating tip: At your next meal, start releasing yourself from the ‘I can’t have that’ mental restrictions and instead tell yourself you can have whatever you like, but that you would prefer to have something nourishing this meal that loves my body and mind back. And see how many meals you can go for in this way, and remember to also carry on being mindful with your food from the moment you put that first bite in your mouth.
Tip 3: Drink your greens in the morning
Help to get your day started the right way by making a fresh mostly vegetable filled smoothie (stick to 1-2 fruits maximum). If you do this, you will have already gotten in some of your five a day, and you will increase your chances of eating well for the rest of the day as your taste-buds will be primed towards healthy food, and you will be feeling more energetic from the nutritious foods you have just drank.
Tip 4: Make food in big batches when you have the energy and time
At first when making changes to your diet it is easy to think you can do this all year round. But we all get bored, even me, of new healthy routines and recipes we create. So to make life easier for yourself, when you have a moment of energy and freetime, whip up some of your family’s favourite healthy dishes in bulk and freeze some too. This will give you easy to grab meal options when you are short on time, and will help you to eat healthier more often than not which is always the goal. Remember leading a truly healthy life is not about reaching perfectionism (what does that really mean in anycase?!), it is just about being aware and consciously trying to do more good for your body than damage on a regular basis.
Tip 5: Food shop when full and have a plan
Ever shopped for food when ravenous? Yes me too and it is always a disaster! As even I fall trap to the lovely foods on offer and buy way more than I need to! So, before taking the trip to the store, sit down have a filling meal, and whilst it is cooking try to put together a bit of a list of what foods might work for you and your family that week that could be turned into something tasty and delicious. Even if they do not turn out that delicious at first attempt, this is perfectly okay and all part of the fun of trying something new!
Tip 6: Don’t buy the junk food then you can’t eat the junk food
No one is immune to being able to avoid the junk food sitting in their house. Not even me, but this mostly happens when I am super hungry and have missed a meal (my body loves regularity!). So to avoid eating it and feeling gross later on, simply do not buy it. Instead, make sure you do have a few options for healthy snacks and desserts when you crave something sweet or salty in between your meals. And remember cravings are normal but what isn’t is some of the so called ‘food’ we eat available in the supermarkets.
Extra healthy tip: Make up some nut mix jars with your favourite dried fruit, nuts and whatever else you fancy like coconut strips and leave them in the lounge to help you fill up on something healthy in between meals. My son is a huge fan of this!
Tip 7: Buy a reusable water bottle that you love
I bought a bright reusable glass water bottle recently and because it is so bright, it stands out and so reminds me to fill it. Also seeing said bottle makes me feel happy as I simply love the colour of it! I also prefer the taste from the glass bottle than the plastic BPA free one I had which makes me more motivated to fill it up. It is also a great idea to start drinking water as soon as you awake as you are severely dehydrated from sleeping and not doing so for hours, and to enable the body to then carry out all of its jobs correctly, it must have water immediately upon waking.
Extra healthy tip: Be sure to start your day immediately upon waking with 500mls of water (warm if possible as it is less of a shock to the system), and retrain yourself to keep refilling your bottle all day, and aim to drink at least 1.5litres of water a day of purified water.
Extra Ways to Make The Water in Your Bottle Tastier:
- Liver sluggish? Add some freshly squeezed lemon
- Bowels sluggish? Add some fresh mint herb or ginger spice grated
- Craving something sweet? Add chopped Strawberry’s and try drinking water before eating, as you may infact be thirsty.
Tip 8: Your body needs good fats
The only bad fats are trans fats, which can be found in most pre-bought cakes and pastries. So ditch these types and instead help your body to keep the cell walls upright, and hormones and tissue being manufactured by consuming healthy saturated fats like coconut oil and pure omega 3 fish oil. Your body can also convert healthy fats into energy, and I frequently eat a teaspoon of neat coconut oil when I am in a hurry and am hungry because of this! Give it a try and remember your body cannot make essential fatty acids so it is vital you give them to your body on a daily basis.
Tip 9: Don’t calorie count, nutrient count instead
Of course input of energy measured in calories is important but what is more important is how nutrient rich the calories are and you won’t need to count calories at all if you simply choose to only buy food rich in nutrients when shopping.
Tip 10: To enjoy home cooking stop seeing cooking as a chore
The only way to eat truly healthy food is to make your own healthy food. Sorry about this! But instead of seeing it as a chore, change your mindset and start enjoying how therapeutic and creative cooking actually is. And best of all, enjoy the feeling of great health you get after eating it! You will want to cook the more you start feeling rubbish every time you feel ill or bloated from takeaway food or shop pre-made food. And sometimes these episodes are needed as we only truly learn the value of healthy eating when we learn how much better we feel when we eat real home cooked healthy food.
Tip 11: Is coffee your fake energy source?
So many people are totally unaware that coffee is the reason they have energy most days, and that it is simply propping them up which means they have no idea how much energy they have without it. Instead, I would advise everyone who is in this position to learn how you feel without it, and to start relying on food to give you energy. Also, coffee can cause blood sugar problems in sensitive individuals whose liver struggles to break caffeine down, which can then cause strong cravings for sugary things to help try to bring the blood sugar back into balance. If this sounds familiar, reduce your coffee intake slowly and aim to only have 1 coffee every other day or better still aim to cut it out for a while at least and see what else improves health wise when you do. As I have frequently worked with clients who have said their headaches and migraines disappeared when they quit caffeine, and many people have gone on to improve their anxiety and PMT too through ditching caffeine.
Tip 12: You need fibre to keep your microbiome happy
Fruits and vegetables are so important to be eaten because they not only contain vital nutrients, but also because they care rich in fibre. Fibre is important because it keeps your bowels regular and also provides food (called a prebiotic) for your good bacteria. Recent research has found that the state of your microbiome can influence how well your your immune system functions, whether you are are at increased risk of getting heart disease and how healthy your weight is. So ensure you keep your microbiome happy by eating lots of fibre rich food on a daily basis, and remember one excellent way to boost your fibre is by adding in the aforementioned mostly vegetable smoothies.
Extra health tip: Organic food is the best type of fruit and vegetables money can buy, not only is it better for the planet, but certain pesticides used in conventional farming have been linked to causing weight gain.
Tip 13: Sleep well every night to prevent cancer
Melatonin, the sleep hormone produced when it gets dark, offers us more benefits to health than just helping us sleep soundly at night. Infact, melatonin is also an antioxidant which means it helps to protect the body from free radicals that wish to age you quicker, and can potentially damage your DNA which could eventually cause cancer to develop.
Extra health tip: If you struggle to sleep at night, try cutting out caffeine and if this doesn’t work you could be deficient in the mineral magnesium. So if you do want to try a magnesium supplement, go for one in citrate form which is the type the body can break down and utilise the best.
Tip 14: Exercise on your terms
To stick to some sort of regular exercise, lets be fair it needs to be fun. So whatever tickles your fancy, be it a daily dog walk in nature, yoga, ballroom dance class or even a pole dancing class – make sure you choose to exercise your way and don’t sign up to a class doing what others think you should be doing. Remember, all movement is good healthy movement and you can work on improving the quality of your exercise routine at a much later date. For now, the point is to inspire you to want to exercise and by doing so, you will ensure it stays a part of your healthy lifestyle on a regular basis.
So there you have it, my best 14 tips to help you cement your new healthy lifestyle habits month after month, and make them a real part of your life beyond the New Year’s resolution list. What do you find helps you to keep on the healthy side of living? Share your comments below to keep inspiring others to stay healthy and eat well long term!
