Small changes that can make a big impact on your relationship with food

If you struggle with your relationship with food, there are a few easy steps you can implement that can help you eat better and live healthier. This isn’t about dieting, but introducing more mindful eating habits. These guiding principles of getting healthier will leave you with more energy, less cravings, better digestion and mood!

Put it in Black and White

Write down what you eat in a journal daily. This works well as a bedtime ritual, using actual pen and paper.

This increases mindfulness, reflection and awareness. You can use an app if you wish, but don’t get sucked in by all the data!

Eat Homemade: Reduce your habit of buying outside food

There is an overabundance of people relying on grab-n-go, take-out, fast food and prepared foods; this contributes to unwanted weight gain and decreased confidence in your health and wellbeing!

Reduce intake of processed foods as much as possible. Sometimes it’s easier to stick to this if you start with a small window of time where you adhere to this. Start with a week or two, or even 30 days. The longer the better because then you’ll be more aware of how differently you feel.

Make a plan to shop, prep and cook weekly, and cook immediately after grocery shopping.

Plan to shop once a week and cook twice a week, cooking four to six portions per cooking session.

Make Fibre your new BFF

This is as simple as increasing your daily vegetable intake to 2 cups daily. This can be a mix of raw and cooked or all cooked, but preferably not all raw. This can be done with any of your favourite vegetables, though lettuce should be excluded from this measurement. Ultimately you can eat as much veggies as you want, but two to three cups a day is ideal for improving overall health and digestion.

Here are a few more easy ways to boost your fibre intake:

• Have ¼ to ½ cup of raw nuts and seeds daily (unless otherwise prohibited)
• Aim to have 1 cup of high-fibre bran cereal daily and before any big event where you think you may be eating more than usual 
• Have an apple every day
• Have 1 cup of beans or lentils as a source of protein 3 x weekly (instead of meat or chicken or fish!)
• Keep 2 bags of frozen veggies in the freezer to add in a pinch

Kick your pop habit! And drink more water

Not only will this help with hydration, it will help your brain understand if you are truly hungry or just dehydrated like many Canadians. Most people do well with enough water to keep urine a nice pale straw yellow; this means about 2 to 3 litres daily of water, sparkling water, herbal tea, or milks of any kind.

Pop works against you, especially diet pop, in so many ways. Its dehydrating and tricks the brain into thinking it’s getting calories, which can lead to weight gain over time. It can have particular negative effects in people with depression and anxiety, making symptoms worse. Pop is all artificial chemicals and glucose, none of which are helpful for bones, teeth, hair and nails or digestion.

With pop, go as close to none as possible. If you are a regular pop drinker, aim to cut that by 50% by the end of the month

If you only have it infrequently, use advanced decision making and become a non-pop drinker (say it with me!)

Eat REAL!

When you are hungry, aim to FIRST have at least 1 cup of something whole: any fruit, vegetable, nuts, seeds, grains, meat, chicken or fish or eggs. Even a small serving of home cooked leftovers would work.

Have a whole food ALWAYS before you choose something from a package. Think of how close the food you are eating is to its natural form; the closer to nature the better! For example, choose a whole apple instead of a fruit cocktail or applesauce. Choose a cup of quinoa instead of an English muffin.

Check your Patterns

Make time to eat with other people. This isn’t always possible, but reflect on what most of your eating environments are like. Avoid eating in situations that are stressful. This can actually effect digestion and can have you ignore your own body’s cues.

• Are you ALWAYS eating alone, or without your partner because of scheduling?
  Are you always eating just with one child and not the other?
  Are you always eating in the mall by yourself?
• Are you always eating “on-the-run”?
• Are you always eating in front of your computer or phone?
• Is emotionally driven eating a problem you have? Do you eat when you feel strong emotions, or to numb your feelings?
• Do you ever eat larger than average amounts of food and not realize it?
• Or eat later at night when you are not actually hungry, but are feeling nervous, anxious, depressed or tired?

Over 80% of people who described themselves as needing to lose weight call themselves “emotional eaters.” The food record you are keeping is a great place to jot down these observations, remember you can’t fix them until you acknowledge them. These patterns must be addressed in order to be changed!

No screens while eating (yes, I mean even your phone!)

Put away screens when you’re eating and pay attention. That means no computer, no phone or tablet. Sit at a table, or an area designed for eating, or even outside if possible! Pay attention to how you feel while you’re eating and after you’ve finished. Aim to take about 20 minutes to eat if possible, to allow your body the full time to understand what’s just happened.

Put prioritizing sleep BACK on the map!

Don’t allow yourself to choose work, childcare, hobbies or over-fatigue over sleep on a regular basis. Most things can and should wait – so get more sleep! Adults need 7 to 9 hours, and more sleep as you age to repair and recover (not less like most people think).

Sleep is crucial to help your hormones get into the right place and work for you in terms of lowering body fat, particularly stubborn abdominal fat.

When you are tired, your resolve is lower, and you are more likely to make poor choices.

If you stay up after your first signs of fatigue and drowsiness, and watch Netflix to relax, you may actually eat an extra 250 kcal that you do not want. This is an average of 1750 EXTRA calories per week!

Lighten up your proteins

Opt-out of fatty or processed meats, and aim to reduce your meat intake in general. If you are eating meat more than twice a week, aim to cut this down to two servings. If you are eating meat multiple times per day, aim to change one protein per day to plant-based or non-meat. Opt for fish twice a week, and choose plant based proteins like beans, peas or lentils as your protein twice a week as well. Tofu, tempeh, Nuts and nut butters and eggs are also a great choice!