Healthy eating life hacks

Using willpower to try and eat healthy just doesn’t work. When we are hungry, tired, stressed, craving something, or unprepared, willpower just won’t be enough to stop us reaching for the first thing we see. The trick to sustained healthy eating is to set aside a little bit of planning and prep time once to twice a week, so that the rest of the week we don’t actually have to exert any willpower, we just have to follow the plan! When healthy options are right there ready to go, that’s what you are going to choose effortlessly.

Vegetables

After a big day, cooking is going to feel like too big an ask. Plan to have the ingredients right there ready to go, and choose simple and quick recipes where prep time will be little more than driving to pick up takeaway. Fresh vegetables can be chopped ahead of time and frozen of stored in the fridge to snack on, or throw into meals, salads, or as sandwich toppers.

FRIDGE: With storage times

Canned beetroot (after opening): 3-4 days

Canned corn (after opening): 3-4 days

Canned legumes (after opening): 3-4 days

Chopped onion: 7-10 days

Grated/chopped carrot: up to 7 days

Celery: 1-2 weeks

Baby spinach leaves: 4-7 days

Snow peas: up to 7 days

Green beans: 3-5 days

Chopped mushrooms: 5-7 days

Chopped capsicum: 1-3 days

Fruit

Whole fruit is the perfect mid meal snack, fresh fruit chopped up can be added to cereals, made into a fruit salad, added to baking, or quickly stewed for warm desserts.

READY TO GO: Grab straight from the fruit bowl, or bring with you for a handy ready to eat snack.

Bananas

Apples

Mandarins

Passion fruit

Punnet of strawberries

Grapes

Kiwi fruit

FRIDGE: With storage times

Watermelon: 3-5 days

Rockmelon/honeydew melon: 3-5 days

Pineapple: 3-4 days

Tinned peaches (after opening): 5-7 days

FREEZER:

Most fruits freeze well, and frozen berries are a great source of antioxidants. Throw into smoothies for a nutrient dense breakfast or post workout snack.

Dairy

Portion large tubs of yoghurt into single serves in airtight small containers for the more budget aware, or buy single serve tubs. A glass of low fat milk with a piece of fruit is a great pre/post exercise  or mid meal snack with good amounts of carbohydrate and protein.

200g yoghurt (3/4 cup)

2 slices (40g) light cheese

1 cup milk

1/2 cup ricotta

200g light custard

Snacks

Home made low sugar muesli slice, fruit muffins, savoury muffins with hidden veggies, pastry free healthy quiche, boiled eggs, protein balls. All great quick meal replacements or snacks (just watch the calories, even healthy baked goods can be higher in energy than you would think). Most baked goodies freeze well, so cook up a big batch and then pull out a couple for the week and throw the rest in the freezer for weeks to come.