4 Steps to Making Eating Well a Priority

Here you are.

Monday again and the big plans that THIS TIME it's it!

THIS TIME you're going to stick to this awesome new diet!

And you're finally going to lose that weight you've been trying to lose for years!

You get through Monday with a bit of willpower and are quietly happy with yourself. Grinning on the inside that you've got this!

Tuesday comes and goes and you managed to stick to the plan. Nailing it!

Wednesday comes knocking. A big meeting at work didn't go well and now you're feeling tense. The kids after school sport dragged on 20 minutes too long. Traffic was diabolical on the way home. And now it's dinner time and you're scrambling! Feeling completely overwhelmed from your day, you whip up the family favourite. Which of course does not bode with with your new diet. And as you sit and console yourself on the couch that evening with your bowl of jelly-tip ice-cream, you can't help feel like a failure. Again.

Back up, back up....

Have you ever stopped to think about where eating well fits in your list of priorities for the day?

Is it the first thing you plan for each day?

What you're having for breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner?

When you're going to have time for each meal in the day?

Do you make sure you always have what you need in the house?

Or know where you're going to buy your food from if you need to eat out for lunch?

Do you ensure you only buy that ice-cream for times when you REALLY want it?

Or do you run on auto-pilot, eating the same-ish things for breakfast, lunch and dinner each day?

Grabbing what's close at hand and seems most appealing in the given moment?

Realising too late that you're so ravenous you could smash back an entire packet of oreos? And then do exactly that!

Keeping the ice-cream in the house just because.

And herein lies a key difference between those that manage to lose weight and keep it off (or maintain a healthy weight), and those that are constantly battling against their waistlines.

Your food priority!

So what can you do to change this?

Step 1: Consciously choose to bump what you eat, right up your list of priorities and values.

Turning off the 'auto-pilot' switch and flipping on 'manual drive' instead.

This means actively thinking about 90% of your food choices before you make them each day. Questioning yourself about what you're going to eat and why, before putting that bite into your mouth.

Step 2: Plan, plan, plan!

If you're now making eating healthy food a priority, you need to plan what you're going to eat and when. This doesn't mean having to map out each and every calorie. It can be as simple as knowing how to balance out your plate. Choosing a healthy protein at each meal. Pairing that up with some veges/fruit/carbohydrate and a dose of healthy fats. Then filling in the blanks of what specific nutritious food goes where.

Banana, two eggs and walnuts cooked into pancakes for breakfast? Perfect!

Canned tuna on a bed of greens, tomato, capsicum, olives and drizzled in a little olive oil for lunch? Ideal!

Thai chicken curry packed with loads of stir-fried veges over brown rice for dinner? Delicious AND nutritious!

Step 3: Stock up!

Got the planning roughly mapped out?

Now to make it a PRIORITY to get to the shops and have it all in the house every, single, day.

If all the fresh good stuff is not available in your fridge and cupboard, how can you possibly expect yourself to eat well most of the time?

Likewise, if you always have ice-cream in the freezer, it's there to be eaten right? So eaten it will be! If it's not bought in the first place (because eating well is now a priority), it won't be eaten out of old habits.

Step 4: Reflect on WHY you want to make eating well a priority.

Take time to dig into your own mind.

Ask yourself these questions;

What is the cost of NOT prioritising eating well for the rest of my life?

Where will I be a year from now if food is in the top 3 priorites?

Where will I be a year from now if food stays in the bottom 3?

What do I need to let go of in my life, in order to keep eating well as a top priority?

Now it's time to TAKE ACTION.

We can read and learn all day long.

But if we don't take action and make any changes, we will SEE no change in our life...

So, what is one small step you can do today to start making good food a priority?

Need help shifting the way you look at food?

Let's chat!

Book in a time for your free coaching call here and let me help get you unstuck with your health priorities!