1. Consider your physical environment – Is it supporting you to make healthy or unhealthy choices? The types of food in our homes and workplaces can influence our decisions to eat healthily. Remove the temptations by not buying foods you know you won’t be able to resist after a hard day! If they’re not in the house you have to go to more effort to get them when you are craving them. If they are there, chances are you WILL eat them! If your workplace is full of unhealthy options such as biscuits or lollies, pack a healthy lunch and snacks, such as fruit, vegetable sticks, yoghurt, plain air-popped popcorn, roasted chickpeas, and nuts that will help keep your hunger and cravings under control.

2. Social influences and events – Social influences can hinder efforts to eat healthily if you’re surrounded by people that choose unhealthy foods, large portions and eat quickly. Social situations may present another challenge if they involve frequent opportunities to indulge. The key is to create strategies to manage social influences and plan for upcoming events. Decide how much to eat prior to a meal by reviewing the online restaurant menu in advance and/or setting rules such as don’t eat the bread roll or dessert, and stick to a healthy main meal only. To help with portion control, keep pace with the slowest eater at the table and aim to be the last person to start eating.

3. Thoughts and feelings – The way we think about a situation influences our choices. Thoughts can be unhelpful or helpful with regards to making decisions about our eating behaviours. Unhelpful thoughts such as ‘this one time won’t hurt’, ‘I’ll do better tomorrow’, ‘I’ll get healthy when I’m ready’ and ‘I’m too tired to bother eating healthily’ enable us to remain stationary in our quest for change. Instead try to focus on helpful thoughts such as ‘I like the feeling of being healthy’, ‘I enjoy lots of healthy food’, ‘I know I’ll regret it if I give in to my chocolate cravings’. These thoughts motivate us to stay on track with healthy eating.

Our moods and feelings can also lead to overeating or choosing unhealthy foods. We often seek out food when we are sad or stressed – this is commonly called ‘comfort eating’. Guard against this by recognising your emotional triggers and creating plans for non-food or drink activities to boost your mood. For example, instead of reaching for a ‘treat’, call a friend and meet for a walk.

4. Dietary preferences – ‘Taste’ is a major influence on our food choices. Evolution has equipped humans with strong taste preferences for fat, sugar and salt.^[1] In our present environment this type of appetite has contributed to our over consumption of discretionary foods and unhealthy eating habits. Experimenting with healthy foods such as seasonal fruits and vegetables, herbs, spices, nuts, a variety of wholegrains and lean meats can help our taste buds to appreciate the qualities of nutritious whole foods.

5. Organisation and planning – Lack of time is one of the biggest factors given for not being able to eat healthy foods. In fact, a cross-sectional European study of 1000 adults found one of the most frequently perceived barriers to healthy eating was lack of time. ^[2]

Thinking ahead and planning meals is key to gaining more time to eat healthily. It also helps to maximise foods that are high in nutrients but lower in kilojoules, and stick to a budget. The key to meal planning is to tailor meal and snacks for the week ahead – ie. if you have a super busy week, plan quick ready to go healthy options such as an omelette or frozen salmon with steamed vegetables. To gain more time back during the week, cook up a large batch of food, such as a healthy lasagne, bolognaise or soup on a Sunday to cover off upcoming weeknights.