4 Nutrition Habit Hacks
The key to weight loss, lifelong maintenance and nutritional health is to develop habits that you can do consistently.
When you have foundational habits, you don’t need to rely on motivation. Motivation is fleeting - it waxes and wanes - don’t depend on it. Motivation can be key to starting habits, but isn’t as needed to keep them up!
For example, if you always brush your teeth when you wake up, you don’t need to be motivated to brush your teeth. You just….do it. And maybe sometimes when there is a change in routine (on vacation, sick etc) you might forget. But 99% of the time - the habit remains.
Part of my work with clients is figuring out which habits they need to establish to have success in their weight loss goals! Below are a few common threads that I’ve noticed most people need for success.
Eat Your Vegetables!
I can’t tell you how often people think they eat lots of veggies until we write it all down, and they realize it’s only at dinner.
Make it a habit to always have a vegetable with a meal, and to eat it first.
By eating your veggie first, you do two things:
1) Make sure it gets done ✅ by having it first, it’s easier to establish as a habit.
2) Veggies make you feel more full, so by the time you are done with your meal your brain/stomach have already gotten the word.
To make this easier, always have frozen veggies ready on standby. Did you know that frozen is just as nutritious as fresh?? I like to have veggie medleys so that it’s a nice variety.
2. Eat Meals Instead of Snacks!
Here’s a very common method of eating that I see:
Breakfast: Coffee with creamer and a granola bar
Snack: Chips
Snack: Peanuts
Lunch: Energy drink, bagel with cream cheese, twizzlers and protein dessert
Snack: Chips
Snack: Peanuts
Snack: Cookie
Snack: Protein Shake
Dinner: Salmon with kale, rice
The problem here? You might think it’s the wine. But it's that there is one real meal here, and a bunch of snacks that don’t have much nutritional value.
If this person instead had 3 larger meals each day, they would get more nutrition ✅ more satiety ✅ more weight loss ✅ more mental clarity and energy ✅ fewer fatigue and gut distress issues ✅
Eat meals instead of snacks. The easiest way to implement this habit is to prep meals. This can be making them yourself or purchasing ready made
For example, if the above person meal prepped breakfast for the week on Sunday (same breakfast each day makes it fast and easy to prep) and then purchased take and eat salads for the week it might look like this:
Breakfast: Coffee and homemade egg cups with fruit
Lunch: Trader Joe’s Salad
Dinner: Salmon with broccoli, rice, and a cookie
3. Be Comfortable With Hunger!
It’s okay to be hungry sometimes, especially right before a meal. I’ll often have clients say to me - I don’t think I’m eating enough, I was hungry before dinner last night!
It’s normal and natural to be hungry before a meal; that means that you’re ready for the meal!! Be comfortable with hunger and practice being hungry for about 30 minutes before you eat.
This will also help with having meals instead of snacks - if you are not comfortable with being hungry, it's hard to take the time to make or even heat up your meal when the snack is right there.
I’m not suggesting you should always be hungry, not in the least! But if you are hungry right before a meal, that’s actually a good thing!
4. Drink Water!
In the 30 minutes before you have a meal, snack, or even your morning coffee, drink a full glass of water.
By focusing on your water, you do three things:
Increase your daily hydration (something most people need)
Decrease the urge to snack while you prep
Naturally eat fewer calories during your meal. There have been multiple studies that have shown that water before a meal can greatly aid in weight loss!
If you aren’t a water fan, try changing the temp (hot or cold) or adding lemon, cucumber etc. True lemon is a fun product that’s simply freeze dried and powdered lemon! Find it at your local store near the crystal light and other water enhancers.
I look forward to connecting with you and helping you lose weight and keep it off - for life! There are so many more habits, and strategies that will work specifically for you.
Start with these habits - and know that we have your back when it comes to the next level.
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