Nutrition sometimes can seem very difficult and cumbersome to get dialed in. And to be fair, it isn’t that easy, as everybody is different and reacts differently to a certain diet. That is why an individual and balanced approach are so important, with adjustments as you go along. But there are a few little hacks that can give you and immediate benefit, without making life too complicated.
1 – Wake and drink
Being hydrated is the secret to good performance and health in many ways. Unfortunately, our lifestyle which gets more sedentary and office-based, doesn’t always make it more natural or easy to drink lots of water. That’s why you should start your day off with the right mindset and get the first glass of water in immediately. Add in a bit of lemon juice and a dash of salt and you will have even bigger benefits.
Hydration, electrolytes and a kickstart to your digestive system are only a few of the things you can enable with that. And then you can still start your busy day, have a coffee and proper breakfast, but all with one step ahead already.
2 – Design your plate
Measurements and weighing food can sometimes get annoying, as they are not really intuitive and make eating more complicated. So, you want a principle to go by and get better at nutrition? Try to design your plate roughly with the following formula – ¼ of the plate for a source of protein (meat, fish, eggs, etc.), ¼ of the plate for a source of carbs (rice, potatoes, etc) and ½ of the plate for vegetables. Now, the only thing that you need to add in are healthy fats in form of oil when cooking, avocados or a dash of olive oil on the veggies and you are set for a good meal.
You can apply this hack really to all your meals, including breakfast. A sample day by this could look like this:
Breakfast: scrambled eggs, slice of bread, sauteed vegetables
Lunch: salmon, potatoes and a fresh salad
Dinner: chicken breast, rice and steamed broccoli
All these are super easy to prepare, you don’t need to weigh a lot of food and will have a balanced and healthy diet at your hands.
3 – Take the slightly healthier version
Sometimes we all have cravings and it is not realistic to always resist and take the super-healthy and restrictive path (let alone, that isn’t healthy, too). But you don’t have to go overboard when these cravings hit. Take one step back in those situations and assess your options for a slightly healthier option:
- Instead of a full-sugar coke, have a diet one
- Instead of a fast-food menu, go for a local fresh-made burger with a non-fried side
Easy swaps like this can allow you to still eat tasty food but stay with your overall diet without weighing and calculating again. This doesn’t mean you just have the possibility to eat unhealthy more often, keep yourself in check here. But you can easily get away with a few soul-food options without running off-track in your goals.
4 – five ingredients only
This rule was first introduced to me by Marcus Filly, who runs a fitness homepage and who you should definitely check out! He challenges you to only have five ingredients per meal, which automatically will make it much easier to cook healthy. Fancy, sugar-loaded sauces and processed ingredients are much less likely to make the cut if you are down to five options per meal.
Let’s say you want to make breakfast burrito, you would go with: Tortilla, eggs, tomatoes, cheese and avocado. There simply isn’t room for a processed salsa, high-fat addition or something you don’t want to have in your food. So try it out and get going with 5 ingredient meals!
