Healthy eating. It’s not expensive. It’s not hard. It doesn’t have to be complicated.
I hear a lot of people telling me they can’t eat healthy. They don’t have enough time to cook meals every night. Their budget doesn’t allow for fresh produce. And yet they are content with going to the local fast food chain once a week, eating pies and sausage rolls for lunch and downing a can of coke with their midday meal. Now that’s expensive.
As a runner, I know it’s important to fill up on nutritious food to fuel your training. As a woman too. What you eat and drink has a huge influence on your hormones. Too much junk food can make you cranky, not enough vitamins can mean a spot in the middle of your chin for the world to see. Indulging from time to time is ok, but most of the time you need to aim for nutritious meals to get away with the midweek pizza and wine binge.
I find it frustrating when I read interviews with athletes and they claim to train and eat what they want – chocolate, chips, biscuits, burgers, etc. That’s not a sustainable diet for an athlete. Not one who wants to stay in tip top shape. Ok, so they are young and they might still be able to get away with such indulgences but most of us cannot, nor should we want to.
Obesity is a problem. Fortunately, it’s a fixable problem. One person at a time. One mouthful at a time.
Here are a few tips to help you maintain healthy eating habits.
1 – Preparation
Preparation is key. It can and needs to be repeated. Working full time, looking after a family, studying and training or whatever else might fill up your day might not leave much time for cooking a healthy dinner every night and making sure you have a nutritious lunch each day at work. By thinking ahead you can plan most of your work week on Sunday night. Cook enough veggies or a stir fry to last for two days. Grill some chicken and leave it in the fridge to add to a salad sandwich. Fill up on oats in the morning. Make sure your fruit basket is full of seasonal fruits and aim for one or two pieces per day. If you find you don’t have enough time for breakfast in the morning hard boil a few eggs in advance and grab one before you had out the door.
2 – Stock up
An empty fridge and pantry will mean you’re more likely to make unhealthy choices when it comes to meal time. Stocking up doesn’t mean two minute noodles or packets of biscuits. Think canned veggies instead. Kidney beans, white beans, black beans, chickpeas, corn and tomato. You can make a yummy meal just by cooking up some beans, chickpeas and canned tomato if you’ve got nothing to work with. Make sure you always have eggs and tinned tuna in the flavour of your choice. The freezer is perfect for frozen veggies and fruit as well as frozen meals that you’d cooked too much of the week before.
3 – Fill up on greens
With each meal aim for 50% vegetables. The more colourful the better. Broccoli, carrots, rocket, capsicums, cucumber, tomatoes, spinach, eggplant, onions. You’ll fill up on vitamins, antioxidants, fibre and minerals your body needs to stay healthy and strong. Plus with more vegetables on your plate your more likely to stick to a modest amount of calories and avoid overeating. Vegetables can be added to breakfast, lunch, dinner and even the snacks in between.
4 – Eat regularly
Three meals a day plus a snack or two in between. In an ideal world we’d have a mini meal every few hours that had the perfect ratio of carbs, fat and protein. Well forget perfection but aim for great 80% of the time. Make sure you have a small breakfast, lunch and dinner, and aim for a piece of fruit mid morning and a handful of nuts in the afternoon. Nuts are great as you can store them in your desk drawer, leave in the car, or have them waiting in your bag.
5 – Have a chat
My partner always tells me I eat too fast. Most of the time he’s right. It’s an issue I’m working on as it’s not healthy. If you’ve ever been told to eat your dinner before delving into stories forget it. Never talk with your mouth full but in between mouthfuls chat away. Your body needs about twenty minutes to register it’s full. By chatting at meal times you can eat slower and prevent over consumption. Just a thought anyway.
What healthy eating tricks do you practice?
