Optimizing your diet can be a challenging task. And that’s not only because we’ve become so accustomed, as a society, to the Western diet and the abundance of fast food options. It’s also very much because cooking healthy, nutritious meals takes time, effort, skill, and patience.
But that shouldn’t mean that making your meals balanced and healthy is something you should give up on. Instead, it means that we should all look for hacks to get high-quality nutrients from the foods we eat daily so that our bodies and minds are fueled and ready to tackle all of life’s challenges.
So, if you’re ready to step up your food-prep game, here are the best ways to make your meals more nutritious.
Figure Out Your Caloric Needs and Get Your Macros Right
The first step towards embracing healthier eating habits is to figure out how much fuel your body needs to function optimally and maintain your current weight.
You can use several tactics to do this. If you feel comfortable counting calories, use a calorie calculator and track how eating the recommended number of calories affects your body and mood.
However, if you prefer not to do such a thing, you can embrace a mindful approach to eating. This means that, when having your meals, you should be concentrating solely on that activity (no multitasking like watching Netflix while having dinner). Furthermore, you should check in with your body multiple times per day to see whether it needs fuel. And, if you’re trying to maintain your body weight, you can use some form of measurement strategy to ensure that you’re not under or over-fuelling.
Once you know how much energy you need to get from your diet, tackle the task of optimizing your macronutrient intake.
According to official dietary guidelines, a good rule of thumb is to have your meals consist of the following:
- 45-65% carbs
- 10-35% protein
- 20-35% fats
Of course, you can modify this to your personal preferences and your fitness goals (ideally by consulting with your doctor beforehand). But always keep in mind that less is not better. Moreover, healthy and sustainable results aren’t something that you can achieve with a restrictive approach to eating.
Strive for Balance
Making your meals more nutritious is not something you’ll achieve by only eating green, raw, protein-dense, or sugar-free foods. Yes, you can gain benefits from doing your best to eat clean. However, denying yourself the opportunity to enjoy food will only lead to a rebound.
So, if you’re looking for the best strategy to eat more healthily, strive for balance.
Adhere to your macronutrient and calorie intake recommendations. But not at the expense of making your meals feel like an exercise in self-denial.
Moreover, permit yourself to indulge — that delicious slice of chocolate cake, a scoop of gelato, or even an entire pizza Margherita can be a great addition to your diet. And it doesn’t mean that you should starve yourself to “earn” it.
Instead, explore ways to make these treats a part of a nutritious meal by preceding them with alkaline foods. They are nutrient-dense, rich in vitamins, have antioxidant properties, and contribute to your daily fiber intake.
Don’t Shy Away from Fats and Carbs
When trying to make your meals more nutritious, one of the worst things you can do is cut out ingredients because they contain fats, carbs, gluten, or anything else currently considered a no-no by the fitness industry.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that eating deep-fried everything is a healthy choice. However, if your goal is to be healthy, you must embrace a balanced and diverse diet that includes all types of food.
So, as you embark on your journey of using food to boost your health, focus less on cutting out items and more on adding healthy components to your diet.
For example, if you’re worried about the caloric density of simple carbs like bread, pasta, and white rice, don’t make yourself cut them out of your diet — especially if you enjoy them. Instead, find ways to transform these ingredients into a better source of all-day energy by pairing them with the right foods like veggies, proteins, and healthy fats.
Follow the Five-a-Day Rule
One of the easiest ways to supercharge your diet is to aim for five to nine servings of fruits and veggies every day (excluding starchy potatoes and tubers).
This simple hack will allow you to ingest sufficient fiber (which is essential for protecting your gut microbiome). That way, it will help stave off diabetes and heart disease and help you maintain a healthy weight. On top of that, the five-a-day rule will help you improve your intake of health-promoting micronutrients like vitamins and minerals that you would otherwise have to take supplements for.
And remember, this doesn’t mean you should eat the same salad day in and day out (unless that’s something you enjoy). Instead, try to experiment with adding different fruits and veggies to your diet. This will keep your meals diverse and exciting and will allow you to discover new flavors you might not have experienced before.
Moreover, if your body requires frequent snacks throughout the day, use this habit to supplement your diet with nutritious fruits and vegetables. Whether you choose apples, berries, kale chips, or carrot sticks with store-bought hummus is entirely up to you. What matters is that you give your body the nutrients and energy it needs throughout the day.
Consider Meal Prepping
Lastly, don’t underestimate the benefits of doing some planning.
By having a clear idea of what foods you will eat in a day, you can ensure that you fuel your body with filling, nutrient-dense ingredients that will keep you healthy and happy.
Moreover, not having to think about what to have for dinner after a grueling day at work will make it easier to say no to junk food, automatically helping you adhere to a healthy and balanced diet.
Embrace the fact that there are different ways to meal prep.
If you have the time and energy, you can do the entire process by yourself, choosing a day to prepare all your meals for the days ahead. However, if cooking is not something you enjoy (or can fit into your schedule), set yourself up for success by learning to make smarter choices when shopping.
For example, you can sign up for a meal delivery subscription service to make healthy and balanced eating as low-friction as possible. You can pick up some time-saving staples, like those chopped salad mixes at your local supermarket. Or increase the amount of food you cook and embrace the idea of having leftovers for lunch at least once or twice a week.
Final Thoughts
For many, eating healthy is a chore and a nuisance. Especially when you think about nutrition as black vs. white — a tasteless salad vs. a big bowl of cheesy pasta.
But the thing is, developing better eating habits is about more than choosing between delicious and healthy. It’s about finding ways to make your meals more nutritious.
So, if you want to supercharge your diet and invest in your health, implement the strategies outlined in this article.
Ultimately, you’ll find that enriching your diet with the right ingredients (instead of restricting) will lead to more sustainable positive changes. And sure, slowly improving your eating habits over time won’t deliver the same results as a crash diet. But it will make the results more sustainable and minimize the effort you need to put in to ensure your body is happy, healthy, and fuelled to tackle any challenge.
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