08 Jan 3 Healthy Eating Habits To Adopt in 2020

Your diet is an easy place to start to better your health because done correctly you can see results pretty quickly. Most weight loss programs or fitness goals its takes weeks and lots of hard work to achieve results, not to mention they can’t be achieved without addressing your diet. Same goes for your overall health. If health is important to you, you must adopt some healthy eating habits that last longer than 6-8 weeks. Its easy to want to be healthy but you need to think about what it means or feels like to be healthy. Think clear skin, mental clarity, consistent energy, good restorative sleep and healthy digestion… who doesn’t want that??

“Nothing changes if nothing changes” so its time to adopt some healthy eating habits that stick so you can make some changes instead of just thinking about it.

2020, another decade drifts by… I don’t know about you but each year I really like to assess where I’m at in life  (health, fitness, finances etc) at the beginning of each year. Diet, fitness + weight loss goals are THE number 1 new year resolutions that are made and mostly not kept. So why not? I think its because people always look for a short cut or a quick fix in their weight loss journey or a short 6-8 week challenge instead of a lifestyle change. 

I thought i would share with you 3 healthy eating habits you can adopt in 2020 that are NOT new years resolutions… they are habits. That means they become part of your lifestyle, not a quick fix or a crappy resolution you most likely won’t see through to Dec!!

Here at Welcoming Wellness we are all about looking at the gut because your gut health affects your entire body. Your mental health, your weight, your mood, your sleep, your metabolism, your hormones and much much more so its mighty important to eat for good gut health, nurture your gut bugs and help keep a strong and healthy gut lining. Looking after your gut health with nourishing foods will ensure you can welcome wellness into your life. 

1. Veg 1st and foremost: There are plenty of things that will damage your gut lining. Gluten, grains, dairy, sugar, food additives… it’s rare that vegetables themselves will damage the gut. So it’s a good place to start with every meal. What vegetables will you include? How can you add extra vegetables to this meal or the next? Bulking your diet with vegetables will mean you are adding extra nutrition, fiber, goodness and food for your beneficial bacteria. Most people think they will have pasta and chicken for dinner then add minimal vegetables… vegetables are often left last on the pecking order… so i want you to switch that way of thinking. Think about what vegetables you want to enjoy then add meat or protein source to that.
2. Forego the grains: In my household we very rarely have rice, we use cauliflower instead of actual rice or zucchini instead of pasta. These are great substitutes, they are more healthful, higher in fiber, lower in carbs and have more nutrition. Grains and filler foods like pasta, rice, lentils and quinoa can be harsh on the gut so I always use them as occasional foods not an everyday staple. So I guess this relates to the 1st habit because we want to bulk our meals with healthy vegetables and a way to sub grains and pasta is with veg. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy a nice slice of crusty restaurant bread every now and again i just make it occasional, not an everyday staple so I can enjoy it without guilt. When you limit your consumption you can enjoy it occasionally without the potential harmful effects it can have on your gut. The damage is caused when we over do things, when we have too much gluten daily unless you are very sensitive to it. 
3. Limit the sugar: This is a no brainer… and I’m no angel. I’m guilty of slipping into bad habits, so it’s good to severely limit your daily consumption to reduce the daily and compounding damage sugar can do. That way if you can enjoy the occasional treat. There is 4g’s of sugar per teaspoon, so as a tip I always like to look at packaged foods to see how many teaspoons of sugar i’m going to (or not) eat. It’s a good visual because i just can’t enjoy the vision of eating 10 teaspoons of sugar. Not all sugar is equal (natural vs table sugar) but it is still metabolised by the body in some way shape or form so you don’t want to overdo the sweetness per sitting. Keep it minimal and occasional.

So hopefully those 3 tips to bulk your diet with veg, reduce your grains and limit the sugar are going to be helpful lifestyle changes you can adopt this year and over a lifetime. Eating a more healthful diet is easy and doesn’t have to be super restrictive, adopting small changes can make a huge difference over a year. If you stop having 1 teaspoon of sugar in your coffee (twice a day) that’s a huge win for your health, that’s an easy 14 teaspoons of sugar per week you stop having. Think about the small changes you can make to adopt better healthy habits this year.