OVER the years, nutritional advice has changed from 'eat little and often' to 'snack less often'. It is no wonder we can end up dazed and confused about what really constitutes a healthy, nourishing diet.
The thing to remember about the nutritional minefield is that each and every one of us is different, and although there are general rules about healthy eating that will apply to all of us - things like eating plenty of vegetables, getting healthy fats and enough protein into your diet and cutting back on sugar, sometimes what works for one person will be a diet disaster for another.
So whether you are a grazer, or prefer to stick to three meals a day, the important thing is to find a way of eating and a daily routine that helps you feel well.
Often we can stick to eating the same things at the same time simply because that is what we have always done. But is it the right thing for us, or is it worth shaking things up a bit?
How do you know if a different routine works for you if you have never tried it?
Now, I'm not suggesting putting yourself on a crazy fad diet, but why not make a couple of changes and see how you feel - a bit of an autumn reset to get you nourished and healthy for the coming months ahead.
You never know, it could be the change you need to turn your health from just feeling OK, to jumping out of bed feeling refreshed, revived and ready for anything.
Here are a few ideas to try for size:
1. Breakfast time
Recent research is in favour of extending our overnight fast to at least 12 hours. If you are a creature of habit when it comes to breakfast time, try shifting it back an hour and see how you feel. Change your morning routine and do something slightly different with the first hour of your day. Go for a walk around the block before you have breakfast, maybe have breakfast when you get back from the school run, or get to work 15 minutes earlier and eat your breakfast there.
2. Swap carbs for protein
While you are at it, think about what you eat at breakfast as well as when you eat it. Traditionally we start our day with higher carbohydrate meal like toast or cereal, but you are likely to feel a little more energised if you rebalance your breakfast bowl to reduce your portion size of carbohydrate and increase the protein portion. For example, have a little less porridge but add a tablespoonful of seeds and nuts, or take one slice of wholegrain toast or rye bread with two scrambled eggs instead of one boiled egg and two slices of toast. You get the picture. A slight rebalance, not a total overhaul.
3. Skip the snacks
Are you hungry or is it a habit? Are you munching biscuits at 10am because it is time for a tea break, do you graze in the afternoon out of boredom, or do you sofa surf with a snack on your lap after you've eaten dinner?
When I work with people to really think about why they eat what they eat, sometimes snacking is because they are hungry, but often it is because they are bored, fed up or comfort eating.
What about if you changed your habits slightly so that instead of mindless munching, you stop to consider whether it is hunger or habit making you munch.
If it is hunger, then a little nourishing snack is great, but if it is habit, think about what you could do instead. Change your habits slightly - maybe switch to herbal tea so you don't need a biscuit with it, change your afternoon routine or go for a walk after teatime and see if you still feel hungry when you get back. Listen to your hunger, rather than eating out of habit.
It can take a bit of adjustment to change the habits a lifetime, but it is worth a go. You might just feel amazing.
