4 Habits to Develop Now That You'll Thank Yourself for Later

A great quote about habits I like to often refer to is this;

This often reminds me to not just set attainable and realistic goals, but to also look deeply into the systems, routines, or methods I have set in play for reaching them. There's no doubt that creating good and breaking bad habits is difficult. Shit, just head to James Clear's website and read all about that in intensive detail. But I'm not here to share how great of a resource that is. I'm here to tell you what I've read can be boiled down to simple, practical, actions you can do daily, right now to better your health and fitness.

So, what are three habits that you can develop now that you'll thank yourself for? In my experience when working with clients, there seem to be three things people have the most trouble with. As you know, this is completely anecdotal and is just in what I have experienced with who I've worked with and in the time I've been coaching. I will add that my clients are mostly people who are in their 20's-70's and just want to look, feel, and move better and of course be stronger. Now that that's out of the way, back to our habits!

The four habits most see as an obstacle are the following;

1. Eating lean protein sources at every meal

2. Staying hydrated daily

3. Getting a variety of fruits and vegetables in their daily intake

4. Eating Slowly and Mindfully

You might ask, “well that can’t be that hard!”, but when it comes to it unless you truly practice these habits daily, you will have a difficult time developing them. So, why these habits?

Lean Protein at Every Meal

Why is it so important that we need it in every meal and every day? Why do I always hear "Amino acids are the building blocks of protein" Let me explain...

Protein helps make you feel more full! Yup, protein provides the most satiety among the macronutrients. This is one reason it's important to incorporate it into your meals. Protein spread throughout the day can have you feeling more full even when trying to lose fat and eating less calories (meaning you're in a calorie deficit and bound to feel more hungry). From a fat loss perspective, you want to be able to lose fat and feel more full, right? I would. Having protein throughout your day can be a task for some of us, but it might only be due to lack of available protein sources. If you like things like...

poultry

low-fat or fat-free cottage cheese

low-fat or fat-free Greek yogurt

beans & legumes (Vegetarian & Vegan protein source)

firm Tofu (Vegetarian & Vegan protein source)

fish like salmon, tuna, etc.

you have a good idea of protein-rich foods that are considered lean as well. Lean protein sources are the topic because they allow you to get whole fat sources from things that aren't protein. If your protein source has 25 grams of fat in it and you want to have 60 or less in a day, thats almost half! You wouldn't be able to have a variety of standalone fat sources like olives, EVOO, fresh coconut, or peanut butter! Simply, the more fat in your protein, the less fats you can get from true fat sources. Now, not only does protein keep you full, but it helps build and repair tissues in the body. This is important especially after training when you're finished breaking down muscle tissue and in need of repairing. Protein is even an important part of the production of enzymes, hormone, and chemicals, and an important part of key components in your body like bones, cartilage, blood, and even your hair! You can see how important protein is for our body. From a general perspective having protein throughout the day is helpful because it will keep you full throughout the day and it helps you focus on having balanced meals whenever you eat! Yes, there may be some muscle growth benefits as well, but they may require a deeper focus on grams per meal, meals per day, meals how often daily, and so on. Lets focus on the basics first.

Staying Hydrated Daily

This is something most people struggle with. Heck, even myself! You've all heard it... "the body is 60% water", well how true is that? Quoting a Precision Nutrition article on dehydration;

This also changes from infant to the elderly where infants are generally more water because they're less developed and the elderly are a bit less than your average adult (1). There are SO MANY things in the body that need water --theres no debate there.

But how do I get enough? And how much do I drink, anyway? Remember the acronym KISS? Let's follow that. Keep it stupid simple.

How much water daily?

Using urine color as an indicator can work well. The more yellow the less water you've drank. The more clear the more water you've drank. Try to keep your urine a clear color which will indicate adequate hydration. Another excerpt from Precision Nutritions dehydration article on how much water is adequate daily;

If you use your thirst as a guide for hydration thats usually a pretty good start for regular day activities. However, if you're active and exercising, your needs may change leaning towards more water/fluids. I don’'t like plain water too much, so sometimes I go with zero or low calorie mixers or BCAA's/EAA's for added flavor and electrolytes.

How do I make sure I get enough water daily?

While working with my clients a habit we practice is having at least 2 cups of water with our meals. This not only helps us eat slower and enjoy our food, but it helps us feel more full and gives us time to recognize our hunger cues like if we are eating till we're 80% full or stuffed and maybe a little sick. I personally drink 2 cups upon waking, drink 2-3 cups with each meal, and have water throughout my day and around my training sessions.

Getting a variety of fruits and vegetables in their daily intake

What makes fruit and vegetable variety so important? Aside from the fact that SO many people don't eat enough fruits and veggies, I found that so many people only had green veggies available in their homes! Yes, this is only in my experience working with clients and I have no scientific data to beck this, but go into your fridge or freezer right now and tally up the colors. I bet you have much more green veggies available than any other color. Incorporating lots of different varieties of fruits and veggies into your diet allows you to reap the benefits of adding different phytonutrients into your diet. Phytonutrients are plant chemicals we get from well, plants! Eating or drinking phytonutrients can have an impact on several things like the medications you take, disease risk factors, and your hormones.

Want a 10 minute read for the details solely on Phytochemical's? Click here.

Want a Fruit and Vegetable resource for ease of use? Click here.

Getting in different sources of fruits and veggies may ultimately help you discover a new favorite food source. I hear "i just hate vegetables" all the time and most of the time it's because those same people are restricting themselves to broccoli, kale, spinach, and string beans. But I totally understand, I was doing the same until I started really taking a dive into the produce section and finding delicious gems like Okra, Red Cabbage, Multicolored carrots, Sweet peppers, and MUCH more.

The best piece of advice I have for anyone looking to add more color to their diet is to be adventurous and explore the colors of fruits and veggies.

Eating Slowly and Mindfully

Eating slowly. Eating slowly actually allows you to be more mindful during your meal because it gives you more time to focus on things like cooking quality, taste, texture, aroma, and more. This has been quite a game changer for me and my clients! I first used this habit with a client of mine who was eating over their calories at night. I asked them what their last meal looked like to see if it was filling enough and it seemed to be. A few serving of oats, fruit --blueberries, protein powder, and PB. However, when I asked them to time how long it took them to eat (eating at a normal pace for them) it only took 1:54 seconds!! Thats a really short amount of time to eat a giant bowl of oats. Moving forward I asked them if they felt confident making that meal last as close to 10 minutes as possible. Some ways we planned for a longer meal was that they could put down their utensil while eating, drink water during the meal, time themselves to make sure they're on target for 10 minutes, and focus on the flavors of the meal to help promote eating slower and chewing more. We tested this out for a week and low-and-behold the night eating stopped! We managed to make that meal last ~11 minutes during the first 2 weeks, then we got it up to about 20-25 minutes on average in the following 2 weeks and the night eating was no longer an issue for them! I would touch base on this topic periodically and repeatedly this didn't come up as an issue any more because they felt they had a "tool" to deal with it.

The beauty of habits! That's just one habit, too! Eating slowly has become a staple in my coaching and personal practice. Eating slowly allows your stomach and brain to see if you're satisfied or eating till you're stuffed and too full.

Where would you even start?

Well, if you've never practiced eating slowly, try having a normal meal and eat at your normal pace, but put on a stopwatch and see how long that meal lasts. Try adding 5, or maybe 10 minutes to each meal if you're finishing meals in under 10-15 minutes. Think of the flavors, how it was cooked, where the food came from, and so on. If thats cake for you, try eating without distractions. Try limiting or even cutting out TV, social media, etc. to have you really sit down and enjoy your meal without external distractions. A key method I found was that when eating with others around I would focus on enjoying my time and conversing with them and that would help me eat slow throughout the meal.

These are four key habits that can truly change the game for getting results and trying to master your nutrition. Not to mention these habits are ones that may help you lose weight easier and maintain your results long-term. Collectively developing these habits or skills can help improve the systems behind your goals. Understanding hunger cues from eating slowly and mindfully, staying well hydrated daily, eating lean protein sources daily, and eating an adequate amount of fruits and veggies along with some other good habits are quite literally what creates the foundation for results in and outside of the gym that can help you no matter the point in your life. Since these have made a big difference in how I go about and practice my eating habits and help my clients get and keep results (click here to see) I hope this inspires some of you to take a deeper look into what your nutrition habits are and ways you can improve them. Start with the easiest step possible then, take progressive steps towards your goal!

Thanks for reading and as always, if you have any questions, please leave them in the comments below I will try to reply as soon as I can!

--Tom

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Citations:

1 & 2. https://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-dehydration