PRINCIPLES FOR HEALTHY EATING
Most of the time dieting and strict food tracking fails to work for a sustained period because they don’t factor in other life variables 👇
Going out for dinner
Socialising with friends
Spikes in life’s stress and demands
A busy work/life schedule
Family responsibilities
As a result, dieting can quite easily become unrealistic and excessively difficult to stick to.
When I approach the topic of nutrition with clients, I think about the habits and behaviours I want to encourage and less about strict food plans to allow for the flexibility of life.
Here are my 5 favourite principles when it comes to nutrition.
Principle 1 - HARA HACHI BU. This is the Japanese term for eating to 80% fullness. On average, it takes 20 minutes to truly register how full we are, so if you aim to fuel your body up to 80% fullness when eating you will likely avoid overeating.
Principle 2 - 80/20 rule. Aim to fuel your body with nutritious food for 80% of the time and allow yourself less healthy/more processed foods 20% of the time…without feeling bad about it!
Principle 3 - High protein diet. Protein is essential for repairing and building muscle as well as increasing our level of fullness. Compared to carbs and fats our metabolism is spiked higher when we eat protein. If you are considering altering your protein intake, aim for a minimum of 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight.
Principle 4 – No foods are bad. You are more likely to have a binge response on foods when you consider them bad. In reality, it is not the ingredients that are bad (sugar, preservatives etc) it’s how much of that food you are eating which can be harmful to your health. Enjoy all foods…just in moderation!
Principle 5 – Mindset is important. Are you eating to fuel health and performance or are you eating with constraint in mind? Do you have the mindset that health food is nourishing and beneficial or disgusting and depriving? Your mindset towards food has direct effects on your levels of fullness.
References
Dr. Layne Norton: The Science of Eating for Health, Fat Loss & Lean Muscle - Huberman Lab
Dr. Layne Norton: Tools for Nutrition & Fitness - Huberman Lab
Dr. Alia Crum: Science of Mindsets for Health & Performance - Huberman Lab