A perfect plan that is not followed is not nearly as good as an imperfect plan that is followed consistently. Now say that again. And again. And again. On repeat!
To start your journey toward better overall nutrition, several aspects are to be considered: physical, environmental, and your overall mental health (stress). The first thing to build a healthy future would be to start actionable steps as habits that build into a routine that ultimately leads to a lifestyle. Here are three simple, actionable steps to improve your overall nutrition.
- Adopt The Plate Method
Yup, I mean veggies! Your mom was right. There is no way around it; you DO need your vegetables. Incorporating vegetables into your diet is the number one step toward improving your health. Have your plate follow the half, quarter, quarter rule. Ensure that half your plate is composed of greens or other veggies, and each quarter protein and carbs. If you don’t feel like having half of your plate dedicated to veg, it’s not the end of the world just yet. You can pack it up and bring it with you throughout the day as you snack on it. Easy!
- Meal Prep
All it would take is an hour to prepare a few staple meals for the week. It may be boring, but it works: have some of your go-to dishes in a routine. Making extras of your supper meals for lunches is also an easy and great way to be time efficient with your prep! No matter how you look at it, prepping is key. Having a day in the week dedicated to meal prepping for the next few days is a GAME CHANGER. Schedule your meal prep time just like you would any other appointment. Pencil it in, and get at it!
- Plan your Protein
Protein is an area everyone can improve on since it is the most challenging thing to grab on the go, or prep last minute. That might mean something as simple as remembering to take a slice of meat out of the freezer before the day starts or even prepping a hundred meatballs on your scheduled meal prep day to ensure you don’t miss your daily protein intake.
An honorable mention would be to drink more water! Women ideally need to consume two to three liters a day while men three to four. Boring, consistent, and so so important 😉
The main takeaway? Once you start with one actionable step, you’ll already be halfway to completing all three. Try figuring out whatever is most compatible with your lifestyle and environment first, then build habits and routines around these simple steps. Most importantly, be consistent. Always. Consistency always wins.