Improving Eating Habits (without Dieting)

Improving Eating Habits in the New Year (without Dieting)

Improving your eating habits in the new year sounds like a cliche goal – and sometimes they are, when people follow drastic and unsustainable diets like Whole30. But my theory on healthy eating is that there is no better time than now to make small, sustainable, and effective improvements to how you eat.

If you are looking to improve your eating habits, don’t make huge overhauls and completely change your diet in a week. Eating habits are different from a diet in that they are meant to be a permanent change to how you eat – and therefore most be sustainable. Eliminating all sugar, all bread, or all alcohol (unless for medical reasons) is not sustainable – more often than not, completing eliminating these foods will only make you crave them more.

Instead of restricting, focus on ways in which you can improve your eating habits in the new year. These three habits are ones you can foster throughout the year – without cutting out food groups, restricting calories, or spending hours in the kitchen. Each of these improvements is one that I am implementing (or continuing) in the new year – making more foods from scratch, eating more nutritious and satisfying lunches, and continuing to indulge in my favorite foods a little bit each day. 

Improving Eating Habits in the New Year (without Dieting)

Prepare more food from scratch.

Preparing food from scratch gives you complete control over what goes into your food. I would argue that homemade food fosters a better connection to your food – and therefore a more intuitive, balanced approach to eating. 

Homemade foods taste better and are healthier, thanks to a lack of preservatives. When nutritionists disparage bread, it’s the bleached white bread filled with preservatives and sugars from the shelf of the grocery store – not homemade bread made with high-quality flours, water, salt, and yeast (whether dry or from a sourdough starter).

I’m not saying you have to prepare everything from scratch, every time. I probably bake 80% of our bread at home and purchase 20% of it from the store. As with many goals and resolutions, you set yourself up for failure if you demand complete perfection and a total change of habit. 

Start small: if you aren’t making anything from scratch, try something simple such as homemade soup or homemade nut butter. From there, try bread, chicken stock, hummus, and more. Feeling ambitious? Try home pickling or your own sourdough starter! (These are some of my favorite foods to make from scratch.)

This doesn’t have to be time-consuming. My approach is if I’m already in the kitchen, I should make multiple things. So I’ll whip up nut butter and soups for lunch while cooking dinner one night. Many foods – like homemade bread or stock – are relatively hands-off (especially if you use the crockpot for stock). 

Eat better lunches.

Lunch is an awkward meal sometimes. Whether for lack of planning or lack of time, this meal can be lackluster – both in terms of taste and nutrition. Sure, a PB&J may be quick and tasty (and it is a good lunch from time to time), but is it really satisfying your appetite and giving your body the nutrients you need?

Lunch provides time to add plenty of nutrition to your day, especially protein and vegetables (which most people, including runners, don’t eat enough of). A good lunch will also increase your productivity at work, prevent the 3 pm hunger and poor snacking choices, and set evening runners up for a strong workout. 

Complex carbohydrates (including both starches and vegetables), lean protein, and some healthy fats are the building blocks of every meal – including lunch. The options are endless – soup and salad, sandwich, quinoa or rice bowls, etc. – and most lunches are easy to prepare in batches at the start of the week. 

Treat yourself.

Food is meant to be enjoyed as much as it is meant to nourish our bodies. The mentality of many New Year’s diets is elimination and restriction – no sugar, no alcohol, no bread, no meat, etc. You want to eat a nutritious diet, which means certain foods should be consumed in moderation. But moderation is exactly that – in the happy medium between restriction and overindulgence. 

Here’s the not-so-secret truth: many treat type foods can be good for your overall health. Red wine contains antioxidants, beer contains bone-boosting silicon, and dark chocolate is rich in iron and magnesium. So treat yourself to some chocolate, a glass of wine, or even a cookie every day – it will do good for your mind and body. 

[Tweet “3 ways to improve your eating habits – without dieting! via @thisrunrecipes #healthyeating #newyear #goals”]

How are you changing your eating habits in 2017?
What else would you add to this list?

 

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25 Responses

  1. I think the one thing I want to improve is eating a wider range of veggies. I keep saying Ill do this, and then do well for a few weeks, but I always fall back to eating the same meals. Its not necessarily a bad thing, because the meals I eat are pretty balanced, but I know more of a variety would be good. Its just easier to fall back on what Im comfortable with!

    1. It is easy – I get in veggie ruts each season! I think trying one new veggie per week is good. You should give parsnips a try if you aren’t eating them already! They are so flavorful right now and easy to cook, just like carrots.

  2. I fully agree with you about lunch. I usually eat leftovers for lunch no matter if I’m home or at work. Or I’ll toss leftovers on top of greens. It’s way more filing than a sandwich and gives a ton more nutrients. I’m doing a 7 day sugar detox starting next week (no added sugars but fruit is allowed). After indulging a little too much over the holiday’s, it’s time to get back on track!

    1. Leftovers on top of green is such a smart idea for lunch! I’ve done short no-added-sugar detoxes before and they help so much in resetting cravings. I think a full month would be too long, but one week is doable!

  3. You know how I feel about the whole Whole 30 business. If you have an actual problem, sure, but you still aren’t going to be able to figure out what is actually wrong because you are eliminating EVERYTHING.

  4. Eating better is one of my new year’s goals!! While I don’t think I’ll ever get to the point of making my bread from scratch (sorry), I think these are great tips. And yes, lunch can be an awkward meal. It’s espcially hard in an office setting sometimes – it’s hard to get excited about that salad you brought when the scent of your coworkers’ take out and leftover pizza is wafting through the office, ya know? It was interesting when I spent time in Guatemala early last year – lunch is actually the most important meal of the day in their culture, like dinner is to us. Anyway, I’m rambling.

    I think another important tip is to be better about post-workout refueling. I’ve always slacked on this, and then had a total “um DUHHH” moment when I realized that on the days I refueled properly, I felt better overall and was more likely to make better food choices later. Common sense isn’t so common I guess 😉

    1. Making bread from scratch is a type of minimalism: minimal waste (from it not being transported), minimal preservatives/artificial ingredients, and keeping the means of production at the lowest level possible and thus minimizing consumption and dependence upon a large corporate food industry. If minimalism refers to removing excess and relying on only essentials, home cooking, including baking bread from scratch, achieves that in many ways.

        1. Cooking more is a great goal to begin with! I do get a bit intense about bread baking since it’s one of my favorite non-running hobbies, so please excuse if I get a bit intense about it sometimes.

  5. I am so proud of myself for making that veggie change last year! I’ve added another serving of fruit/veggies each day with a green smoothie. I still eat crap for the rest of the day but I feel so much better knowing that it’s not 100% crap (anymore!!!)

    1. The veggie change did you so much good which is awesome! My theory is start with the veggies – even if the rest is crap (which I’m sure it’s not as bad as you say), then the vitamins and minerals are there.

  6. We got a “real” food processor (as opposed to the tiny pulse-only one) for Christmas, so I’m excited to make more things from scratch – nut butters are definitely on the list!

  7. You comment about sustainability is the key. I have already seen so many facebook posts about “giving up sugar”. Seriously, I roll my eyes and scroll past. While people may have felt they overindulged through the holiday season, but that does not mean cut things out…just moderate. Our society seems to have become so focused on the “quick fix”. Anyway, not answering your questions….that just hit a sore spot in my mind. 🙂

    As to changes for myself, keep going with something I already started which is monthly (yes, monthly) meal planning. This helps make grocery shopping easier and definitely means eating out less during the week (still working on the weekends). My body feels so much better with home cooked food, even if it is just scrambled eggs and toast.

    1. Sustainability is so important! Resolutions should be about forming habits and absolutely no sugar ever is not a sustainable habit – nor should it be a habit unless for medical reasons. I think restricting is what then leads again to the overindulging! And I agree about homecooked meals – it doesn’t have to be fancy but it always does feel so much better.

  8. I love this. Making changes to your eating habits is so much better than dieting (and usually, if you make one change at a time, easier to sustain). I am planning to try more new recipes since we get in a rut of eating the same meals over and over.

  9. I’ve found that because I don’t restrict anything, I don’t really overindulge. Food is just food and I enjoy treats when I want them, and have exactly as much as I want. I hate all the hype about eliminating food groups because it’s the number one way to get crazy cravings!!! I want to start eating more whole foods this year and making more homemade goodies. I love baking bread, I find it quite soothing, actually 🙂 Yeast used to really scare me but it’s not so scary anymore!

    1. That’s an awesome mentality to have! I really think restriction – especially anticipating restriction – leads to overindulging. I’m pretty sure if I did Whole30 all I would think about is bread! And I agree, yeast becomes much less intimidating once you bake with it for a while.

  10. I am making a conscious effort to add in more vegetables and / or fruits to each meal. I didn’t realize how lacking I was before!!

    Just a quick plug for the Whole30, yes, you give up everything, but you are also supposed to add it in back slowly so you can tell what your body is reacting to. I did a round in the fall and it was VERY eye opening. It’s not meant to be a long term thing, just 30 days.

    1. Adding more fruits and vegetables is a great goal! I know that Whole30 may have value for those with food allergies (although testing may be more accurate), but many people do it for dieting in January, which has a different end goal – and that’s why I don’t recommend it.

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