7 Life Hacks to Help You Eat Healthier

Committing time and attention to healthy eating can easily slip down on our priority lists. These seven simple life hacks can help you eat healthier, so you can become a little less acquainted with your local pizza delivery guy…

1. Make Triple Batches Of Dinner

If you’re in the kitchen at night chopping, frying, baking and simmering up a storm for dinner, it makes sense to make enough to pack leftovers of your healthy concoction for work the following day. Having a healthy meal on hand helps quell the temptation to race out for a quick burger or kebab on your break.

But why not take your meal prep one step further and consider making a triple batch of your evening meal? You’ve already gone to all the trouble of planning what to make, sourcing the ingredients, cooking and cleaning, so you’re onto a winner if you can make enough to freeze a meal or two while you’re at it.

Having healthy options stacked in the freezer (or defrosting in the fridge if you’re super organised in the morning!) can be a lifesaver when you get home from work and calling for takeout feels like the only thing you have the energy left to do.

2. Bring Healthy Snacks Into Work

How tempting is that office biscuit stash when the notorious 3pm slump hits? Or an extra sneaky slice of your colleague’s triple-layer birthday cake as pre-lunch hunger sets in?

Food is an easy, and often welcome, distraction from work. So, if you find yourself constantly thinking about food or snacking on unhealthy yet convenient choices, it’s time to stock your desk drawers with healthier options to help avoid temptation.

Think nuts and seeds, dried fruit, protein balls or bars for your drawers, and perhaps keep fruit, hummus and baby carrots in the fridge to whip out when the hunger (or boredom) strikes.

3. Use Pinterest To Plan Meals

Planning meals can seem like an arduous task when you’ve got a million other things to organise. However, when you add up the time you spend each night wondering what to make, a little meal planning on a Sunday evening can save a lot of stress during the week.

Pinterest is a fantastic place to save meal ideas and organise recipes in one easy-to-access space.

4. Eat Before Parties Or Events

If you arrive at a party or dinner starving, you’re far more likely to fill up on greasy hors d’oeuvres or starchy fillers.

Deep-fried spring rolls at a party or the bread basket before dinner at a restaurant can disappear in seconds, so consider having a healthy snack before you arrive to help take the edge off your hunger. You’ll probably find you’re much better company too if you’re not tracking the waiter around the room.

5. Grocery Shop On A Full Stomach

We’ve all been there. You’re ravenous after work and race into the supermarket to do a quick shop for dinner, but somehow end up walking out with double what was on your list.

Chicken, lettuce and tomatoes may have been the targets, but chips, ice cream and chocolate mysteriously made their way into your trolley too.

If we shop when hungry, temptation can get the better of our best intentions, and we’re much more inclined to throw treats into the basket. Aim to hit the supermarket with a full tummy and you’ll be far more likely to stick to your shopping list and stay on track with your healthy eating goals.

6. Buy Some Pre-Chopped Vegetables

If time just isn’t your friend when it comes to making healthy meals, consider buying pre-chopped vegetables.

A lot of the time spent cooking is in the preparation, and if you can give yourself a head start (because really, who actually enjoys peeling pumpkin or crying into a chopping board full of onion?) you’ll hopefully be less inclined to reach for convenience options or heavily processed food.

7. Don’t Keep Junk Food In Your Pantry

It sounds like simple advice, and it is. The not-so-simple part is sticking to it! The aim here is to reduce your access to unhealthy foods by stocking your pantry and fridge with healthier choices and leaving junk food and treats for special occasions when you’re out.

It’s pretty easy to make better snack choices during your post-dinner Netflix binge if there isn’t fudge lurking behind the pantry doors.

Healthy eating doesn’t have to mean perfection, strict rules or spending hours in the kitchen every night. Often, it’s the small habits and little bits of preparation that make the biggest difference over time. A few simple tweaks to your routine can help healthy choices become the easier choices and make takeaway nights feel more like the exception rather than the norm.