Top Tips to Healthy Eating

Jan 5

Top Tips to Keep your Eating Clean.png — I’d like to preface this blog by saying that there is no actual ‘secret’ to eating really well without any effort. It just doesn’t exist (unless you have a full time personal chef!).
You will need to change some habits, re-arrange some routines and put in a little time. Fresh food requires preparation and cooking. and there is no magic bullet.
But at the same time, you don’t need to live in your kitchen! And you certainly don’t need to be thinking about food all the time. Food is there to fuel your body and help you live life to the fullest, not the other way around. You also don’t need to have a perfect diet. I don’t actually believe that there is such a thing. Work at finding the balance that is right for you. Healthy eating looks different for everyone. So Meal planning looks different for everyone.
If you struggle knowing what your body likes, I offer Metabolic Testing that gives you information about the food your body needs to be at its’ best.
Now on to my tips!

1. Plan to Plan.

There is nothing worse than getting home from work wondering what to pull together for dinner. The more tired you are the more likely it is you will resort to skip-the-dishes! You don’t want to make decisions when you are tired and so planning for this is key. Book 30 minutes on the weekend to pull together a plan. You will be surprised just how much stress this takes off of you. Decision fatigue is a thing.

Reduce the number of decisions you need to make during the week for a smooth and stress-free week. Here is a template I’ve used in my Cleaning Eating for Busy People Program - Template. (make a copy and rename it please!)

2. Batch cook on Sunday.

Large batch cooking is a fantastic way to prepare your lunches and meals for a busy week. You can use the extras for leftovers or repurpose them so they don’t feel like leftovers.

I love to cook up big batches of soup or stew. Soup makes a great lunch or snack in cooler months and you can teach the kids to help themselves to this for snacks. Try this delicious Roasted Garlic and Asparagus soup. Or this Butternut Squash Chilli. Or this Big Batch Black Bean Soup.

I sometimes make a big batch of grain like quinoa or rice that can get put into a soup, made into a salad, or eaten for breakfast or even used as a side dish.. We love this Quinoa and Kale Salad. Or Banana Pecan Rice Pudding for breakfast…yum! For my women avoiding grains, try having riced cauliflower ready and cook up some root veggies on the weekend for user later in the week.

3. Use a slow cooker for weekday dinners.

Prepare your dinner in the morning or at lunch. There is nothing better than coming home to the smell of a meal ready to eat! We love this chicken curry! I especially love this Vegetarian Korma. The boys love this beef brisket. And cook a double batch so you can have it for lunch the next day. For those who aren’t morning people, pick yourself up a good quality air fryer. Be sure to pick ones that aren’t made of plastic to reduce endocrine disruptors.

4. Make snacks ahead of time.

You will eat what’s easy and available. Yes, it’s time to put the junk in the freezer or out of plain sight! You know yourself. For us, there is a reason we don’t purchase boxes of cookies, ice cream or junk food because we don’t have great self-control. The kids received boxes of junk (wagon wheels and maple cookies) under the Christmas tree this year because Santa buys this stuff…not me! If we want treats…we try to make them instead. I’m not perfect and will sometimes pick up some googies but I try to keep them GMO free.

Replace the box of candy on your table with a bowl of fresh fruit. There is research that says you will eat more fruit when it’s in front of you! See the study here.
Boil some eggs and keep them in your fridge to grab when hungry. Eggs are the perfect balance of protein and healthy fats.
Chop up some veggies and portion them out with some hummus, nut butter or guacamole.
Make a batch of trail mix and portion it out in little containers. (keep some in your car for when you are on the go and hungry)
Make your own treats. We LOVE these wellness cookies. The kids prefer these Oatmeal Chocolate Chip ones.
Stock your freezer with frozen fruit. Have you ever had frozen grapes. So good!
Stock your cupboard with some quality protein powder and/or collagen powder so you can whip up a greens smoothie when a craving strikes.

5. Institute a family theme night

You might be wondering how this made the list. Stay with me. Getting the family involved in cooking early will provide them with some valuable skills for later in life, will bring you closer as a family as you role model what eating healthy can look like and will help you in the long term! There is no such thing as a kids meal! Kids should eat what we eat so that they develop a taste for real food. It does help to train them young. p.s. this doesn’t always work out perfect (my oldest will not eat fruit!) but still strive for this and never give up.

If your kids are young, get them to stir something or find and count cutlery.
If your kids are older, have them chop, pick recipes, and make part of the meal!

My youngest will cook about anything so we involve him in everything. My oldest will do anything if it involves potatoes, shepherds pie or pizza. We don’t fight it…we just go with it! It’s wonderful seeing how proud your kids are when they can pull off a meal themselves!

In case you need some inspiration, our favourites to do as a family is homemade pizza, Buddha Bowl’s or Fish Tacos or Cauliflower Tacos. (perfect for families because everyone customizes their own bowl or taco to their own tastes.)