So You Want To Improve Your Nutrition, But No Idea Where To Start?

How about the lowest hanging fruit.

If improving your health was as easy as just clicking your fingers, we’d all there already.

If forming habits was as easy as just doing the thing, why aren’t we all just doing the things we KNOW we SHOULD be doing to move the needle in the right direction?

If it was all just as straight forward as some people online make it out to be, then those very people would be out of business 👀 because nobody would have any problems, goals or need any help.

Because let’s be honest….whilst things might seem easy on paper, when it comes down to the nitty-gritty of making real change, it’s just not that simple.

Health, fitness and lifestyle change can be very confusing, because there’s so much information out there. A lot of which, isn’t relatable or actually very useful. The things you say you need to improve on, might seem simple in theory, but can feel like a lot in practice.

So what I always encourage people to do, is look for the lowest hanging fruit. What is the most low effort, least energy demanding and achieved thing you can try today. For a lot of people, that’s making some small and realistic changes to their diet.

One of the biggest culprits is increasing our fruit and veggie count. Which, sounds straightforward…..

But can be quite overwhelming when you start listening to the noise online trying to sell you superfoods, spiralizers, greens powders and cookbooks. Or when you’re a busy parent who’s tackling these changes whilst caring for a little one who relies on you for their own food. Or if you’re neurodivergent and change itself is hard to get your head around.

So here are 🔟 tried and tested (and realistic) tips that I use with my own clients, when they’re looking to add more fruit & veg into meals.

Finding ways to make green work for you

1. Think of the things you already like & enjoy.

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel, fancy cooking methods or force yourself to like new things. Just have a selection of a few favs and pack out your meals with these.

2. Think of cooking methods you’re comfortable with & that don’t take up too much time!  The less mental energy something requires, the more likely you are to stick to it consistently.

3. Eat seasonally. These things tend to taste better & are more budget friendly because they’re more readily available!

4. If you’re struggling knowing portion sizes, try using the hand portion method OR go for pre packed snack packs. Things like raisins, apricots, dates or apple sauce.

5. Pulses, lentils and grains are a really easy way to bulk out meals but also add more nutrition to your meal! Sneaky because they’re all count towards to your fruit/veggie count, as well as packing fibre and protein in too.

6. Adults lunchboxes/bento boxes/snack packs. Think lunchables, but make it nutritious.

7. Frozen fruits and veggie count too! They’re possible even more nutritious as they’re frozen fresh meaning the quality of nutrition is locked in. Proper easy to throw into a smoothie or one pot meal too!

8. Outside of your meals, where can you sneak things in? Pack your work bag with fruit for snacks, have a mini fruit bowl at work, pre-cut crudités and dips to graze on. If you can get more over the day as a whole, you feel less pressure to ram every meal with 7,341 varieties.

9. Try not to see fruit or veggies as a chore; sure, they might never be as exciting as other foods to you…..but trying to see them as opportunity to add colour, texture, vibrancy, flavour or shapes to your plate. Sometimes, making a food fun, can make it more appealing.

10. New cookbooks can look the part. If they actually encourage you to cook, then great. But often they’re very expensive and will just stay sat on your shelf never opened. There are a lot of free recipes online. Or, look at meals you already enjoy and start by adding one more vegetable or fruit into it. Baby steps (that will cost you way less!)

The Bear on Disney+ may give inspo

Looking for some more nutritional support? Whether you’re in Salford or further afield, my inbox is open for an honest, no pressure chat 💬