How to Stick to your Healthy Diet and Lifestyle Habits with Kate Dimmer

Written by Kate Dimmer (MSc Registered Nutrition)

Summer is on its way (hopefully!) and you might be feeling motivated to stick to some health goals that may have slipped during the lockdown and colder months. This is a great time of year to start a new activity or routine to help you achieve better health and wellbeing. Often the challenge is sticking to our new routines. We know what to do but soon life gets in the way and we are back to our old habits. I can relate to that. Here I share some tips so that you can stick to or create new daily healthy habits.

Adapting the habit into your daily routine

Firstly, we need to make our health goal or lifestyle change achievable and realistic. If it is unachievable, we end up feeling defeated and unmotivated.

So, start with a manageable change. For example, if you want to drink more water, instead of going from 2 glasses a day to 8, just add 1 extra daily glass to start. One effective method is to attach a new habit to an existing habit or behaviour. So, continuing the theme of increasing your water intake, try drinking a glass of water before you have your morning coffee or swap one of your existing drinks for water instead.

Be Prepared

One of the keys to success with healthy living is preparation. If the wholesome nourishing food is still in the shop when it's time to eat, you're more likely to reach for convenience foods, takeaways or possibly skip a meal. Some people like to do a big batch cook at the weekend. I find this is unrealistic for most people. Instead, give yourself half an hour a week to sit down to write your shopping list and plan your meals. There can be flexibility when meal planning. But it will make shopping and cooking a lot easier. If you have a family and find yourself rushing around taking children to after school clubs on a Tuesday, then Monday would be a great day to make a big batch of bolognese so it's ready to heat up after your busy Tuesday.

Work Smarter, Not Harder

Further to this idea of preparation, when you’re in the kitchen making a meal, use this time to get ahead with another meal or snack. A good example might be whilst you’re prepping veg for your evening meal, peel, chop or grate some extra carrots for either a snack or as part of a salad for another time. Whilst you’re using your oven, pop in a couple of extra sweet potatoes. Consider boiling a few eggs for a salad or snack whilst you’re already cooking on the stove.

Schedule It In

Make time for your healthy habits. People often complain that they are too busy to exercise, read, relax or prepare a meal. If we don’t prioritise self-care, we will end up at the least resentful and at worst burnt out. Consider getting up 30 minutes earlier than you need to so you can start the day with some gentle yoga or meditation. Or go up to bed a bit earlier to make time to read. Schedule the times that you exercise, relax or cook, into your diary to give them the priority they deserve. If you don’t plan them, they may not happen.

A Clean Cupboard is a Clean Mind

When it comes to making healthy food choices, you might like to spring clean your cupboards. Why not give unwanted but in-date tinned items to the food bank and look at what you’re buying and what you’re using. You might find this might change with the seasons and with summer coming there may be more fresh foods in your fridge. Try to plan what you’ll use and don’t buy too much, so you avoid waste. If you have a freezer, mixed berries, frozen pineapple, peas, and edamame beans are all great to keep in stock so there’s always fruit and veg in the house.

Remove the temptation

If you’re finding yourself tempted by treats such as crisps, chocolate, biscuits, wine etc., avoid keeping them in the house. If you have kids and you feel these snacks are needed for them, ask yourself why they need to eat these foods daily. If these foods are in the house, they will be chosen over fruit and veg every time. I don't like to say any food is off-limits, but what can be helpful is to wait until the weekend to buy these treats. Then in the week, you're not tempted by them and everyone will appreciate them more at the weekend. Consider alternative snack options that could be available. A ready-prepared pot of exotic fruit is always appreciated or prep your own. Cheese, oatcakes, nuts, fruit, olives, veg crudités etc are all great alternatives.

Concentrate on the Feeling

Another important factor for making a new healthy behaviour a regular habit is how that habit makes you feel. If you want to get fit but hate exercise, then you'll find any excuse not to go to the gym and then later you'll beat yourself up for not having gone. The trick is to find something that you enjoy doing. With physical activity, there might be limitations but try to be creative. If you hate every kind of sport, what about a challenging walk up the hill with a friend? It does not have to be conventional exercise either. Moving your body in any way is useful. Hoovering is good exercise plus you have a nice clean floor. Likewise, gardening can be a good workout and you're outside too. Can you think about what you enjoyed as a child? Maybe it's time to dust off those roller boots!

Similarly, with food, think about how it makes you feel when you prepare home-cooked nourishing meals. Some people feel better when they avoid processed foods and this motivates them to eat them less often. Do you get pleasure from cooking for others or from enjoying a delicious dish that you've prepared? Remember that feeling to spur you on to keep this a regular habit.

So, in summary, keep your goals realistic and achievable, get prepared, take some time for yourself, avoid keeping tempting foods in the house and find something you enjoy doing for physical activity.