I like to think of eating well as an ever evolving thing – life changes and the challenges to cooking, shopping and eating move with those changes.

The things we want to do more of and less of stay the same but the motivation waxes and wanes. Pressures on time and money change, who likes what and our health focus can shift depending on where we are in life. The New Year can be a good time for a bit of reflection.

There is often a sense that we need to renew everything – make huge changes. In reality, small effective changes within our regular habits done over and over, that can be stacked slowly over time, edging us towards more of those things that give us most benefit is truly the way forward.

No food rules. A bit more intention and mindfulness. More plants. More variety. No banned foods. In ways that fit in with you. Using SMART goals to structure our improvements.

And we have to respect our unique “Food Story”. We like what we like, we have personalities and talents that affect how we cook and eat. We have culture and food history that are important to us. Food should bring us joy and should sit comfortably within our lives – with reflection we can overlay better eating habits to what is very personal to us.

If you would like to review your eating habits for the year alone or with some friends then get in touch. I always come at the challenge of eating better with no judgement and starting where you are. I like to keep it real.

I see so many nutrition coaches and gurus with aspirational and trendy ideas that don’t match my lifestyle or kitchen and I am a nutritionist! I am sure that they make many folk feel quite intimidated or overwhelmed.

If you want to simply add some more plants to your menu then take a look at the Eat More Plants Journal. It is such an easy way to eat better – more plants means more phytochemicals, more fibre, more colour and crunch whilst helping us eat less of the things that most of us know we should eat a bit less of.

I don’t believe in good foods and bad foods. I don’t believe in telling people to cut things out – rather making the foods that are often lacking seem attractive and easy to include. Small shifts accumulating is the best way to start to feel that the food you eat is nourishing you better.

Happy New Year!!