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6 Eating Habits that Help Me Keep Nutrition SIMPLE

by | Mar 28, 2022 | Food, Nutrition, Personal

I’m a mom, a business owner, and expecting another baby – not to mention undergoing a big home renovation. The decision fatigue is REAL! And I know the same is true for many of the busy women reading this. I want to share with you some of the things I do on a daily basis to simplify my nutrition and help me save time and mental energy that I can put toward the things I really care about, like reading and spending time with Mia. 

A lot of the women I work with are active, and looking to eat in a way that supports their workouts and their goals. It can often feel easier to bust out a workout in an hour or less than to pay attention to what you’re eating ALL DAY.

I hope that these six habits will help you to provide some structure for your nutrition without feeling too rigid or requiring you to think too much about what you are eating. You don’t need brand new strategies or complicated recipes to make nutrition and fitness fit into your life. 

 

You don’t need brand new strategies or complicated recipes to make nutrition and fitness fit seamlessly into your life.

1. I use daily definites

Daily definites are simple things that are your non-negotiables for every day. My personal two nutrition-related daily definites are drinking a ton of water before coffee and having one #veggievolume meal. These might not be exactly what you need, and that’s the point! Choose two to three things that will make YOU feel like yourself every day, and focus on those.

2. I #GoPro

That means I focus on PROtein and PROduce when I can. This doesn’t mean I do it perfectly all the time, or that I only eat protein and produce. But if I’m at a barbeque or potluck, I try to take a quick scan of my plate and see if I should grab some extra protein and produce to round out my meal.

3. I don’t eat at a specific time of day

This is something I see often with women who are just starting to move away from diet culture ideas and have an #EmpoweredEating mindset. Just because Instagram coaches tell you that you should eat breakfast first thing when you wake up, or your family always sat down for dinner at exactly 6:00 pm, that doesn’t need to be how YOU fuel your body! Instead, I encourage you to focus on your hunger cues. I work with my clients to slow down and recognize hunger cues, and these can change day to day! Eating in line with when I’m hungry is one of my favorite nutrition hacks!

4. I have a #MinimizedMenu

Pre-business and pre-baby, I LOVED trying new recipes and having a lot of variety in the kitchen. But now, that is no longer a priority! I don’t try new recipes every day, or even every week. I have enough decisions to make during the day, so instead, I work from a #MinimizedMenu of balanced meals and snacks that I enjoy and that keep me satisfied. 99% of the time, I’m eating either eggs and veggies or a smoothie for breakfast and a salad or sandwich with veggies for lunch. That doesn’t mean that I can’t have a yogurt bowl or pancakes if I want them, but I know my go-tos. This also makes grocery shopping easier, and I save time by not wandering around the grocery store or scrolling through endless Pinterest recipes.

If you’re reading this and thinking, gosh, that sounds so boring, I get it. But my #MinimizedMenu allows me a lot of opportunity for variety! For instance, I can switch up which veggies I have with my eggs in the morning, or how the eggs are cooked. This allows me some room for flexibility and new flavors without feeling overwhelming. 

5. I meal prep – in a way that SERVES me

I used to spend all day every Sunday meal prepping, and stressing when I didn’t get it in. But now, I just don’t have the time! My meal prep involves roasting sweet potatoes (and other veggies if I have time), washing and prepping greens, and cooking a protein and grain option that I can mix and match for lunch. Again, your meal prep priorities may be different from mine, but this is something that you can tweak to make your weekends MUCH easier!

6. I enjoy empowered indulgences

I strategically give myself opportunities to indulge, so that I don’t feel too restricted (which will inevitably lead to that weekend or late-night bingeing). My empowered indulgence might be adding tortilla chips to my lunchtime taco salad, or having a piece of chocolate at night. I’m not having the chips, and the chocolate, and the pizza, and the wine all at once, but I AM choosing indulgences that make me feel good and keep me from feeling like my diet is rigid or restricted.

If you are an active woman who wants to reinvigorate and automate your eating habits so that you can increase your energy and feel your best for all the other demands on your daily life – without overhauling everything – my revamped Ambition Nutrition program is currently open for applications and could be a great fit! Apply right here.

Let me know in the comments which of these six habits resonated most with you and which you’d like to try. And if you do feel inspired, I recommend choosing ONE habit to focus on for the next week or two, rather than overdoing it and aiming for all six!