How to adopt a healthier lifestyle and stick to it
If you want to look after yourself a little better or focus more on maintaining healthier food and lifestyle choices read on as I am sharing my top 8 tips for adopting healthier lifestyle and sticking to it:
Mindset – having a positive mindset around food can be a really important component. Rather than focusing on what we can’t have or removing foods, we need to focus on what we can add in and look at any food choices in a positive way – for example, it can be something as simple as adding in a portion of vegetables with your supper, including fruit in snacks, trying out new foods, or experimenting with new recipes, textures and flavours.
Build a balanced plate – building a balanced plate of the nutrients helps to give us everything our bodies need to thrive – I have created a handy infographic to help with this that you can find here. A rough guide is around half our plate being a variety of different colours of vegetables, a quarter of quality protein (fish, eggs, poultry, meat, dairy, beans, pulses lentils etc.), around a quarter of the plate complex carbohydrates (potatoes, sweet potatoes, wholegrains – brown rice, wholemeal bread, wholemeal pasta etc.), quinoa etc.), and some healthy fats (olive oil, nuts, seeds, avocado, etc).
Include more plant foods - we know that including a diverse range of plant foods in our diet is good for us and helps to feed our gut microbes that help to keep us healthy. Research has shown us that people with the most diverse microbiomes include 30 or more plant foods a week in their diets, like fruit, vegetables, wholegrains, nuts, seeds and legumes (e.g. lentils, chickpeas and beans). This does not mean we have to be completely plant based though it just means adding in more of these foods where we can. There are simple ways we can all increase our diversity of plant foods – including some plant based meals during the week, using different wholegrains like brown rice or quinoa, ordering a side of vegetables with a main meal when eating out, adding in 1-2 more vegetables than a recipe suggests, if cooking a stew or shepherds pie type dish half the amount of meat and make up the weight with legumes, or include fruit or vegetables as snacks.
Get breakfast right – what we eat for breakfast can either set us up well for the day ahead or may negatively impact our energy levels and food choices for the rest of the day. Including some protein, fibre and healthy fats at breakfast can really help to balance our energy levels during the day, helping to keep us full until lunch and preventing the classic mid-morning slump. Opting for lower sugar cereals or granolas, if like me you like sweet breakfasts, can help lower free sugar intake, and adding berries or whole fruit in instead can provide sweetness and fibre. Also try experimenting with savoury breakfasts like eggs on wholemeal toast with spinach or mushrooms, or I’m often encouraging clients to just add in nutrients to their existing breakfasts – for example, topping porridge with berries and some nuts, seeds, nut butter or natural yoghurt, or stirring in ground almonds whilst cooking.
Fluids – keep hydrated throughout the day. There are lots of schools of thought about how much we should be drinking each day, but it is quite individual and depends on many factors like exercise and food choices. A good way to monitor how hydrated you are is to look at the colour of your wee! It should be a very pale straw colour, if it is darker then this is an indication you should probably drink some more water. Starting our day with a big glass of water can help start the day on the right foot – have a glass by your alarm clock that you drink first thing can be a helpful reminder. Opt for water as much as possible, if you struggle with plain water try flavouring it with lemon or other fruit or try sparkling, herbal teas are great too. Despite the myths that they are dehydrating, black tea and coffee are also hydrating and count too, but if you are watching your caffeine intake or its after midday then opting for water or herbal teas may be a better option.
Don’t try to be perfect – there is no such thing as the perfect diet – we are all completely unique and have different nutritional requirements, genes, likes and dislikes. So experiment and find out what works for YOU and your body. It’s the little things that we do consistently that make the biggest impact on our health long term. Its also important to remember that as well as nourishing us food is about much more than just nutrients; its pleasure, its taste, its texture, its part of social connection and so many other important things.
Small steps – if you want to make positive changes then do these in easily achievable steps rather than trying to overhaul everything in one go. We form habits over many months and years so changing these and building new habits can take time. If you want to make positive changes start with just one or two per week and build from there.
Be prepared and keep it simple - Stock your cupboards with essentials and have your go to recipes that you know you can cook quickly and easily when you are short of time. If you can, plan what you’re going to eat for the week and do a weekly shop. Not only is it cheaper but it also means you know you have something in the fridge when you get home from a long day. When you do cook, cook multiple portions and save leftovers for lunch the next day or freeze them. My favourite go to quick and easy meal is lentil pasta, pesto, with loads of veggies and some prawns – made with ingredients I either have in the fridge or can get easily on my way home and it only takes 15 mins to throw together. Another go to is a simple stir fry. You don’t have to be a culinary expert or reinvent the wheel to eat a healthy balanced diet. Often simple is best.
I have written a free e-book to help you find a way forward for your everyday life with Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Whether you are right at the beginning of your journey with IBD or have been living with your condition for years and feel like you have tried almost everything, there are things you can do everyday, beyond the medication you are taking, to help you take back control.