Written by Jennifer Jones, Pilates & Yoga Teacher
Jennifer Jones is a Pilates, Yoga, and Meditation teacher and founder of JenZen Wellness, a holistic health and wellness company. She specialises in supporting women over 40 to prioritise their health and embrace their true selves. Jennifer offers both online and in-person classes and coaching sessions.
In my last article, “5 Tips For Developing Healthy Eating Habits”, I shared my top five tips to determine whether your eating habits were good or in dire need of change. But you may be asking, “What is the point of having good eating habits if I’m still eating crap food?” Great question. Let’s look at how you can begin to make profound changes to your diet.
Mindset change and your diet
A wonderful thing happens when you become more aware of and begin to change your eating habits. You start to notice its positive impact on many aspects of your life. Your mood improves, energy levels rise, personal relationships with family and friends are more rewarding, your professional life excels, and most importantly, your relationship with yourself improves.
When you take the time to self-reflect and notice what makes you “tick,” there’s a natural desire to learn more about how to improve. I know this may not always be the case because sometimes you’re so stuck in your beliefs and mindset that you can’t see things ever getting better. But once you experience the benefits making small changes can have, you want more. That’s when the mindset shift occurs, and lasting change happens. Until you reach this point, nothing you do will last.
Let's explore how using the knowledge you gained about your eating habits can help you make better food choices and get even closer to being a happier and healthier you!
Become a happier, healthier you with these 5 tips
1. Eat more fruits and veggies
After keeping your food journal for a week, you may have discovered that you don’t eat nearly enough fruits or vegetables, and the idea of eating salads makes you cringe. I can relate. I’m not a fan of salads, but I’ve found a way to eat them daily and enjoy them, for the most part. Overall, I’ve made an effort to increase my daily intake of fruits and veggies, and below are three ways you can too.
Green Juices: Green juices are an easy way to get more fruits and veggies into your diet. For example, you can use kale, spinach, wheat grass, or celery and add fruits like kiwi, green apples, lemon juice, ginger, or pineapple to make green juice.
Fruit Smoothies: Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and açai are great for smoothies, but you can also use bananas, mango, and pineapple. Tip: Add more ice to make it extra thick, pour it into a bowl, and top with nuts, seeds, and granola!
Salads: Choose mixed greens such as romaine lettuce, arugula, baby spinach, and alfalfa sprouts. Add cucumbers, tomatoes, and red onion. For a crunch, include toasted almonds, pumpkin, or sunflower seeds. Level it up with avocado, dried cranberries, and a sprinkle of feta cheese, and toss with a homemade vinaigrette. Also, consider adding chickpeas for protein!
When it comes to eating vegetables, eat the rainbow. Include veggies of all colours, such as pumpkin, carrots, beets, eggplant, red peppers, cauliflower, etc.
2. Eat more lean proteins, carbs, healthy fats and whole foods
Getting protein into your diet is important for muscle building, hormones, and cell repair; essentially, it helps your body function well.
Aim to include fresh and lean cuts of beef and pork, chicken, salmon, eggs, lentils, beans, some nuts, and seeds. When it comes to carbohydrates, include sweet potatoes, black rice, quinoa, steel-cut and rolled oats, fresh fruits, whole grains, and sprouted bread. Lastly, fats. My “go-to” sources of healthy fats are avocado oil and avocado, extra virgin olive oil, almonds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, and flaxseed.
But what about whole foods? The first time I heard the term “whole foods,” I wondered, aren’t all foods whole? Foods that are in their original form or as close to the original form as possible are classified as whole foods. For example, apples, potatoes, black beans, whole chicken, fish, etc. Essentially, if you can recognise it as what it’s meant to be, then it’s a whole food. I understand that it’s not always possible to incorporate whole foods into your diet consistently, but when you can, do it!
Snacks tend to be more processed. Some ideas of healthier snacks are a handful of grapes, greek yogurt topped with berries, homemade popcorn with a sprinkle of sea salt, green apple slices with almond butter and a sprinkle of cinnamon, a handful of almonds, or a square of 70% dark chocolate.
3. Read your food labels
You can make healthier choices for yourself and your family by adopting the habit of reading food labels. Here are a few reasons why:
You learn to identify how foods are processed. For example, when choosing oils or fruit juices, look for “cold-pressed.” It means the oil or juice has been processed without using heat and retains all of its nutrients and wholesome goodness!
You begin to understand which foods are more processed than others. The fewer ingredients and preservatives a food has, the fewer processes it went through before it ended up on the shelf
You can avoid buying foods that may contain an ingredient you're allergic to, for example, I once bought tortilla chips that were baked in coconut oil. I’m allergic to coconut, and had I read the label, I could’ve avoided getting sick.
Reading food labels helps you learn how much sugar or salt is in each serving. This is especially important if you want to be conscious of your consumption.
4. Take control of your meals
Taking control of what you eat is important. Preparing your meals gives you the power to control what and how much you put into your body. When you rely on eating from fast food joints or restaurants, you’re limited to whatever ingredients they choose to use. I’m not knocking fast food or dining out; I enjoy fast food and dining out on occasion. But when dining out, ask to have any sauces or dressing on the side. Opt for grilled rather than fried, a salad instead of fries, or sweet potato fries instead of regular fries. The goal is not to not enjoy your food but to get the most nutritional benefits from your food. However, if your goal is to lose weight or monitor your salt, sugar, or fat intake, the best way to achieve this is to prepare your food.
The other aspect of taking control of your meals is portion size. The rule of thumb is that half of your plate is vegetables, one-quarter protein, and the other carbohydrates. You can also refer to Precision Nutrition’s Hand-Size Portion Guide. I’ve found it to be very helpful in understanding portion sizes when at home, especially if you’re not big on measuring anything or when you’re out to lunch at an all-you-can-eat buffet!
A serving of Protein: 1 palm
A serving of Carbs: 1 cupped hand
A serving of Veggies: 1 fist
A serving of Fats: 1 thumb
How do your portion sizes measure up?
5. Am I hungry or am I “eating” my feelings?
You may remember mindful eating means limiting, if not removing completely, distractions while having a meal, being present, and enjoying your food. It also means being aware of your hunger cues. Are you eating because you’re hungry or feel sad? Do you force yourself to empty your plate, even when you feel full? Do you avoid eating when you feel hungry? Being able to discern whether your hunger cues are true or driven by an emotional trigger is important. If you’re eating or not eating because of unclear hunger cues or an emotional state, it can lead to unnecessary weight gain or loss and perpetuate an already unhealthy relationship with food.
It’s important to understand the emotional aspect of mindful eating and hunger cues because when your food choices are driven solely by emotions, it usually leads to poor food choices. Sure, it provides comfort at the time, but what it also does is cultivate a dependency on potentially unhealthy foods. If you’re sad, are you more likely to eat a hearty green salad or double chocolate chip cookies? Now imagine if every time you felt sad, you chose cookies. Do you see where I’m going with this? The next time you decide to skip lunch or reach for a bag of Doritos, ask yourself, am I truly hungry, or am I about to eat my feelings?
Small steps make for lasting changes
When it comes to doing anything new, it’s best to start small because it improves your chances of being successful. You can start by looking at your current portion size. What’s an easy adjustment you can make there? Consider what food or foods could be swapped for a healthier option. For example, a green salad with the dressing on the side instead of coleslaw. Another is buying organic when you can.
The more aware you become, the better food choices you’ll make, the better you’ll feel, and the better your chances of lasting success.
Changing your mindset and habits is challenging, but it gets easier over time. It requires being consistent and showing up for yourself every day, especially on the days when you want to quit the most.
Don’t give up. Stay committed and true to yourself and your goals, and you will get there.
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Read more from Jennifer Jones
Jennifer Jones, Pilates & Yoga Teacher
Jennifer Jones is a certified Stott Pilates® Matwork Instructor, registered E-RYT 200HR, 500HR Rasa Yoga teacher, and a CNTRD Wellness Meditation teacher. For many years, health and fitness have been an important part of her life in helping manage frequent back pain. As a teacher, Jennifer's passion is to educate and empower her students and clients by providing them with useful tools to support their well-being. Her classes are inclusive, creative, fun, and educational. Jennifer is a highly experienced pilates and yoga instructor who holds multiple certifications including specialties in Group Matwork, Core®, Hot Yoga, and Yin Yoga.
