Healthy Eating Tips
How do I improve my dietary intake?
When looking at making dietary changes to improve your health, it is best to start with building a good foundation for your diet. Think of it like building a house, you need a good sturdy foundation to build your house on, if the foundation is poor it is likely that the house may collapse and you will have to start rebuilding again. Once you have a good foundation to your diet just like a house, you can build up and improve it, so it suits you and your needs.
So, let’s start with the following three tips to do this!
1. Implement a regular routine with your meals and be consistent with it!
What is a meal routine?
A meal routine is exactly that, a routine with consuming your meals. This means consuming regular meals, everyday around a similar time of the day, including the weekends.
Understandably things happen in life, and we cannot always have a meal at the same time every day, and that is okay. It is important to continually try to be as consistent as you can as often as you can. If we miss a day here and there that is okay, we just get back to our routine at the next meal we can.
Why should we do this?
Consuming regular meals each day help with the following:
· Stabilising energy levels and help to reduce energy slumps later in the day,
· Helps regulate and manage our appetite and hunger levels,
· Ensures we can get adequate nutrition into our diets daily.
What does this look like?
A meal routine can look different for everyone, depending on your needs and preferences. Some people prefer to have 3 larger meals, others 6 small meals, some people need to eat very early in the day, others may work night shift and eat at midnight. Everyone is DIFFERENT, we need to find what works for YOU and your needs.
As a guideline, it would be recommended to consume at least 3 regular meals throughout the day, such as a regular breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If you are hungry in between, add a snack or two!
An example may look like: Breakfast between 8-9am, Lunch between 12-2pm and Dinner between 6:30-8pm.
2. Ensure each main meal contains the following:
When making and plating up meals, we would like it to look like the portion plate displayed below.
Why?
Plating our plate like this, ensures we are getting an adequate supply of energy, macronutrients, vitamins, and minerals. As well as feeling full and satisfied after our meal.
What to include on the plate?
Carbohydrates: provide us with energy, this is our bodies favourite source of fuel. Fibre found in wholegrains will help keep us feeling full and satisfied.
Protein: protein is important for repairing and maintaining muscles and helps keep us feeling full and satisfied.
Vegetables: provide us with a range of vitamins and minerals important for immune, mental health, immune health, and overall health. Vegetables also assist in keeping us feeling full.
3. Remember: food is not just about nutrition it is also something to enjoy!
Some foods provide nutritional benefits, and some foods provide enjoyment (Eg. chocolate, cake, chips, etc.). It is okay to consume foods for enjoyment, all foods can fit into a healthy and balanced diet. Food is something to enjoy and celebrate! We just want
to be mindful how much of sometimes food we consume and how often, if consumed in moderation it is perfectly okay to include into your diet!