Six Hacks for Healthy Eating in 2024

We all know it’s important to eat a ‘healthy, balanced diet’, but making the right food decisions can be difficult when you’re managing busy schedules, dealing with rising costs, and sorting through a sea of information (and misinformation!).

Sophie Houghton is an Accredited Practicing Dietitian - the highest-trained professional in providing advice about food and nutrition in Australia. She works with the Sandy Zebras VFL team and with St Kilda Football Clubs Next Generation Academy, as their sports dietetics specialist. You might also recognise her as one of our amazing group fitness instructors!

We were lucky to sit down with Sophie to discuss some easy healthy eating hacks she wishes more people knew.

1. Plan Your Plate with the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating

The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating is a simple visual guide outlining the types and proportions of the five food groups you should aim to eat every day for a healthy, balanced diet.

Compiling your meals according to the portions indicated in the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating will go a long way towards helping you make sure your meals include adequate nutritional value.

The guide is also a great reference for ingredient inspiration in each of the five food groups. Maximising variety in your diet is the best way to maximise nutritional content.

If you’re looking for somewhere to start, the two most common areas for improvement in the Australian diet are reducing grain (cereal) foods intake and increasing vegetables and legumes/beans.

Print the guide and keep it handy in the kitchen so you can refer to it when you’re cooking.

2. Make Life Easy with Meal-Prepping

Planning and preparing your meals ahead of time is not just a weeknight time-saver.  

Deciding what to cook for dinner after a long day of making decisions can feel like mental overload.

Especially when you’re already hungry and faced with learning a new recipe, the temptation to reach for the most convenient option is hard to resist.

Having pre-made healthy meals ready to go saves time, relieves cognitive load, AND makes it easier to make healthy decisions. There are a lot of great freezer-friendly recipes available online. Spend one of your days off preparing a few different meals and you could have ready-to-be-reheated healthy dinners on hand for weeks! 

Some great freezer-friendly meals include:

• lasagne
• homemade burger patties
• soups
• casseroles
• zucchini slice

3. Fuel Your Day with Smart Snacks

Fueling yourself properly and eating when you’re hungry can help you make healthy decisions in the long term.

Holding out for mealtime to relieve hunger can lead to making poor food choices and consuming larger portions than intended. If you’re feeling peckish between meals, the best thing you can do is reach for a snack which is a good source of protein and fibre.

A Smart Snack (high in protein and fibre) will leave you satisfied and keep you feeling fuller for longer. It will also maximise your energy and concentration levels, support a healthy metabolism, and put you in a better mindset for making healthy decisions at your next meal.

Some examples of Smart Snacks include:

• Yogurt (protein) with berries (fibre)
• Tuna (protein) with wholegrain crackers (fibre)
• Hummus (protein) with veggie sticks (fibre)
• Nut bar (protein) and a banana (fibre)
• Cheese (protein) and crackers with cherry tomatoes (fibre)

4. Honour Your Cravings with Individually Packaged Portions

One of the keys to maintaining a healthy, balanced diet is making sure it’s sustainable in the long term.

Being restrictive with ‘treats’ and ignoring your food cravings can lead to negative feelings around food, which can ultimately undermine your efforts to establish a positive and sustainable relationship with healthy eating.

Buying individually packaged portions of your favourite ‘treats’ is an easy way to enjoy your cravings in moderation and set yourself up for success in maintaining a healthy, balanced diet in the long term.

If you’re finding that the individually portioned snacks aren’t quite satisfying your craving, pair it with a handful of berries to combat the craving and feel fuller and more satisfied.

5. Save Time with Ready-Made Meals

In a hurry, don’t have any easy dinner options on hand and looking for a quick-fix?

A ready-made meal from the supermarket is a surprisingly good solution – especially if the alternative is takeaway, which can be expensive and lack valuable nutrients.

Supermarket ready-made meals can be a great source of protein, and by adding some frozen vegetables, you can boost their fibre content and elevate their nutritional profile with essential micro-nutrients.

To pick a healthy ready-made meal at the supermarket, check the Nutrition Information Panels for:

• Less than 2500kJ (600cal), or less than 1700kJ (400cal) if you’re trying to lose weight
• More than 20g protein
• Less than 20g total fat
• Less than 5g saturated fat
• More than 6g fibre
• Less than 500mg sodium

6. Embrace Frozen and Tinned Veggies

The idea that fresh vegetables are healthier than frozen and tinned vegetables is a common misconception.

Frozen and tinned vegetables are often just as nutritious, and sometimes even more nutritious, than the fresh produce available at the supermarket.

Vegetables are most nutrient-rich when freshly harvested, and 'Snap Freezing' preserves them at this peak, locking in essential nutrients. In contrast, fresh supermarket produce may have been harvested several days before reaching the store.

In addition to being nutritionally equal to their fresh counterparts, frozen and tinned vegetables (and fruit!) free you from having to worry about spoilage or expiration dates. This not only makes them a cost-effective choice but also ensures you always have healthy options at your fingertips without the need for last-minute trips to the store!

Eating healthy doesn’t have to be complicated.

Small, sustainable changes are the best approach to achieving and maintaining a healthy, balanced diet.

Remember, everyone’s dietary needs are different, and the information provided here should not replace the advice of your healthcare professionals.

Got a question for Sophie?

If you have any questions for Sophie, submit a question below and we might include it in a future post!