How to Create a Healthy Eating Routine

If there is ever a time to create a healthy eating routine, January and February would be at the top of my list! I always struggle the most during these months with the temptation to comfort eat. Something about those bottomless gray days that take the urge to bake muffins and brownies and cook up grilled cheese and quesadillas to a whole new level. Whether you struggle most during the winter or the summer months, a healthy eating routine can be an absolute lifesaver when it comes to navigating these seasons.

I used to be a total grazer when it came to food. I would snack and nibble, crunch and munch my way through the day (I still have to fight that habit!). Back in my 20’s, it totally worked for me. At that time, I was really into fitness and was taking a class at the gym most days of the week or doing Tae Bo at home (yep, good ol’ Billy Blanks). In fact, I Tae Bo’d my way into pre-term labor–to my pregnant sisters out there, I would not recommend this as a prenatal workout! But when I reached my 30’s, my priorities shifted.  

While I still want to be fit, my definition of success in this area has changed. I don’t need to be 6-pack fit, just feel-good-in-my-jeans and confident-at-the-beach-with-my-kids fit. One of the best tools I’ve found that has made healthy eating so much easier is creating a routine.  

Healthy Eating Routine

Now, before I share what has worked for me when it comes to creating a healthy eating routine, there are many variations to a healthy lifestyle! With allergies, food restrictions, and preferences, there is really no one-size-fits-all approach to eating, so what works for me might not work for you and if you’ve already found what works for you, then girl, stick with it!!  

I share because I know it’s helped me to take pieces of what has worked for others, try them out and incorporate parts of them into a healthy eating routine that fits into my life. Once you figure out what works for you, you can block out all the food noise and move on with your life!  

The Benefits

• A routine includes light structure—guardrails to prevent mindless snacking when you’re not hungry.  
• It eliminates decision fatigue and takes the guesswork out of when and what to eat (hallelujah).  
• Reduces cravings. 
• Allows me to plan my meals around my family. 
• Helps me be more mindful about what nutrients I’m putting in my body. 

So here are 3 principles that create a beautiful and simple eating routine that can work for so many schedules and lifestyles.

Principle 1 | The Framework 

The framework I use when I plan out my meals for the day is super simple. 

Here is a visual.

• Breakfast – when I get hungry, usually 8. 
• Lunch – 11:30 or 12 
• Snack – 2:30ish 
• Dinner – 5 

Within this structure, I eat when I’m hungry and stop when I’m just satisfied (never overly full). If I’m hungry between breakfast and lunch, I’ll have a snack then too, but a lot of the time I’ll eat a later breakfast and an earlier lunch, so I don’t need one. It depends on the day. If I add a second snack, this is what the day looks like.

Stay Between the Lines

Pretty basic right? So the trick here is to actually only eat within this structure. That means you’re not munching on chocolate chips on a Tuesday night while watching This is Us, or swiping handfuls of chips from the bag on the counter after your 3pm snack every day. This lays down the law on nibbling the edges of the brownies for the school party, grabbing bits of your kids’ peanut butter graham cracker sandwich, or snagging pepperonis from the package while you make a mini pizza for your kids….I could go on and on, but I think you know the drill. 

It’s a clean, full stop when your meal or snack is over. 

Choose Water or Tea

If you are really needing a little something, drink a full glass of water, because it’s easy to mistaken thirst for hunger, especially in the winter when it’s so dry out! Making a hot mug of tea with cinnamon, a dash of milk, and drizzle of honey can also be a great cold-weather option or grabbing a seltzer (la Croix, Bubly..). But allow yourself to get hungry for the next meal.

Hunger is good because it actually increases the enjoyment and satisfaction you’ll get out of your next meal. And remember, you get to eat again…in just a couple of hours! 

Principle 2 | Meal Rotation 

So once you have established your general framework, it’s time to create a healthy eating routine…basically a mini rotation of meals that will be your go-to’s on a daily basis.   

You can create variety within those meals, but will have default staples that you eat most of the time. This helps reduce the guesswork around breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It also ensures you are easily building important nutrients into your day. 

This plan will only work if you choose healthy foods you enjoy. You can always sneak the ones you don’t like into smoothies or sauces. I despise zucchini as a vegetable, but I drink a 1/2 cup of it every day in my chocolate berry smoothie. Same with spinach–don’t love a spinach salad, but I fit a cup of it into my smoothie each morning. I enjoy raw broccoli, carrots and spring greens, so I throw those in my salad. Find things you love and make those staples and sneak in the things you don’t, but whatever you do, enjoy your food!!

I like to keep a short snack list in my planner or on the fridge to remind me of healthy options. I try to steer clear of processed or packaged carbs for my snacks, because that helps me make smarter choices. I usually pick a protein with a fruit or veggie, or just straight up protein.

Sample Meal Routine:

Breakfast 

• Smoothie (packed with veggies + protein) 
• Oatmeal (will share how to upgrade your oatmeal in a future post)
• Scrambled eggs with veggies and sausage

Snack 

• Apple + Nut Butter 
• Orange + handful of nuts 
• Oatmilk latte + collagen 
• Berries + Coconut milk yogurt 
• Grapes + string cheese 
• Carrots, cucumber, broccoli + dip (homemade hummus, or Tazhiki) 

Lunch 

• Big Salad with ½ cup of cooked quinoa, grilled chicken, turkey, or seasoned ground beef, veggies, and avocado 
• Whole Wheat Pita Wrap with turkey, cucumber, bell pepper, pickle, lettuce, tomato, avocado. 
• Bowl of chili, lentil soup, or chicken veggie soup 

Dinner 

A serving of whatever my family is having + a veggie + salad 

Principle 3 | Plan to Treat Yourself! 

I loooove sweets and always have, but I used to be addicted to sugar and thankfully am not anymore (that could be its own post!). I plan for about 3-4 fun splurges during the weekend. 

We normally do a healthy(ish) pizza on Friday night and I love to bake, so often I’ll bake a small portion of a favorite treat for our family to enjoy on a Friday or Saturday night, but an amount that we can eat that night so that we aren’t feasting on donuts or cookies or whatnot all weekend long. I’ll often half a cookie recipe to make just one sheet. If I make a huge batch and put the dough in the freezer, I will straight up eat it raw, so it’s best for me to just make the amount we want for the night and be done.

On the weekends I loosen up a little and enjoy whatever events are going on—burger and fries after a basketball game, coffee cake at a baby shower…but I pick 3-4 meals or treats to enjoy, so it’s not a weekend-long indulgence. 

I find creating balance and joy with a simple eating routine allows me to put food in its place and free up precious time and brain space for the things that matter most! No week looks perfect and some weeks I strike the balance better than others, but that’s okay. Making progress towards consistency and not striving for perfection is the aim.

Next in the series we’ll be talking about how to design an environment that supports your lifestyle (and removes obstacles that undermine it!). If you missed Day 3, you can find it here.