7 Healthy Eating Habits

Today we are going to break down 7 healthy eating habits to help you stay on track for your health goals. Eating healthy doesn’t have to be a chore; it should be something you look forward to in order to give your body the fuel it needs to perform at its best. 

We will be going over these 7 healthy eating habits:

1. Fuel snack cravings with protein

2. Watch your portions

3. The 80/20 rule

4. Log what you are eating

5. Don’t skip breakfast

6. Plan your meals

7. Choose mocktails instead of cocktails

Incorporating these 7 tips into your daily eating regime will help you build healthier habits in eating right. Let’s take a deep dive into each one of these healthy eating habits below. 

1. Fuel snack cravings with protein

Protein is going to be your best friend throughout this blog but also with your eating journey. Snacking is an important rule when creating healthier eating habits because eating every few hours even between meals helps you not overeat during the larger meals. 

Snacking is important, but it is also important what you snack on. You want to be fueling your body correctly and with something that will allow you to feel satisfied for hours. This is where protein comes in. 

Some of my favorite go-to snack options are Oikos Pro brand yogurt, a protein bar like Papa Steve’s, or some tuna and cottage cheese. There are many more options like jerky sticks or other protein bars, but make sure you are reading the nutrition labels, as some may be heavier carb based than protein.

2. Watch your portions

Portion control is essential when you are building good eating habits. Having 3 main meals with 2-3 snacks throughout the day will help with your portioning. Making sure that there is at least 30 grams of protein in each meal will ensure that you feel fuller longer and should be the majority of each meal.  

Protein is the only macronutrient that can’t be stored as fat and it aids in muscle recovery and growth as well as blood sugar stabilization. Think “double protein” and you won’t even feel hungry enough to pound carbs.

3. The 80/20 rule 

Better eating habits don’t mean that you have to be on a strict diet 24/7. Being on a strict diet is what makes most people start to binge eat afterward and is not a realistic eating habit. 

The 80/20 rule allows you to slightly indulge in some specialty snacks. When we think about eating we should think about it as 3 meals a day + 2 snacks a day = 5 eating opportunities per day.

Now let’s do some math, 5x7 = 35 eating opportunities over the week. Now if we think 20% of 35 is 7, that gives us 7 opportunities to treat ourselves throughout the week, basically once a day you can snack on something you want. This helps keep all of the sweet tooth gremlins at bay so you don’t overindulge and keeps you on track.

4. Log what you are eating 

Logging what you eat can create healthier eating habits, by seeing what you actually consume day after day. This will take all the guesswork out of eating and trying to remember if you have eaten enough or if you have already snacked. 

Things you should note in your journal or food log are what you are eating, how much you are eating, and at what times you are eating. Jotting down all of these will help see what your current habits are and what you would like to fix about them to make them healthier for you. 

Remembering that it is recommended that individuals consume 1 g of protein per pound of ideal body weight each day. Ie: a 200lb person desiring to weigh 160 lbs should consume 160 g of protein daily. A person weighing 140 lbs who wants to shed fat and build muscle should eat 140g of protein daily. 

5. Don’t skip breakfast 

Breakfast is arguably the most important meal of the day and can be backed by science. This 2021 study found that those skipping breakfast consumed less folate, calcium, iron, and other vitamins throughout the day. This study also showed that those who skipped breakfast had poor diet quality for the day. 

Food is energy and breakfast tells your body that the day has begun by fueling it. In a 2019 review, they found that skipping breakfast is associated with being overweight/obese and could increase the risk of being overweight/obese. 

Eating some protein yogurt, prepped egg bites, or making overnight oats could help you remember to eat breakfast as they are easy on-the-go options. 

6. Plan your meals 

Planning your meals may sound like a task but it makes your days and weeks so much easier. Whether you meal prep them or just write out what you are going to eat for the day/week it will help to stay on track much easier.  

This will also help you save time in the grocery store and stay on track with what you need versus what you want at the moment. 

Get more guides here —> Magnify meal planning

7. Choose mocktails instead of cocktails 

Creating healthy eating habits also include healthier habits all around, so choosing mocktails over cocktails will create healthy habits for your goals with food. Not only is this going to create healthier habits overall it is going to help you cut back on your caloric intake and be able to spend it in a much more nutritious way. 

Check out our —>  Holiday Mocktails Blog

Final thoughts

Hopefully, these 7 healthy eating habits will help make eating right easier for you. Remember protein is the biggest source of micronutrients that you need first and foremost so try planning your meals around it. Also eating 3-5 meals a day will keep cravings away, this includes breakfast so make something easy around 300 calories to fuel your body.