Five simple food changes that will make a big difference to your health in 2024

As a new year arrives, so too does much interest in all things diet and health – and undoing the overindulgence of the previous six weeks. While you may feel compelled to invest in an expensive detox program or juice cleanse, the reality is that it is our daily food habits that have the greatest effect on our weight and metabolism.

For this reason, if you would like to feel a little better, and even drop a couple of kilos, the best thing you can do is consider the daily changes you can make that will significantly impact your overall calorie and macronutrient intake, minus the diets, deprivation and feelings of guilt.

Swap your coffee order

If your morning brew is a piccolo or shot of espresso or two, enjoy. But if your go-to order is multiple milk-based coffees consumed in place of a balanced breakfast, there may be a better way to get your caffeine. While coffee itself does not contain many calories, large serves of milk significantly increase our sugar intake. While the sugars in milk are naturally occurring, they do add up, especially if you enjoy a large latte a couple of times every day. For plant-milk fans, barista-made coffee tends to be higher in fats and sugars than unsweetened “milk” varieties you may find in supermarkets.

Solution: Stick to espresso or small milk-based coffees, and enjoy one or two each day with a meal, not as a meal replacement.

Shift your meal times

Long gone are the days when everyone ate breakfast at home first thing, before taking a break at 12pm for lunch, followed by dinner at 6pm sharp. Nowadays, breakfast is often skipped or replaced with coffee, lunch is pushed back until mid-afternoon, and dinner may not be enjoyed until 8pm or even 9pm, after long work days, going to the gym and running kids to activities. The issue with consuming more calories in the second half of the day is that we are not only more vulnerable to digestive discomfort at night, but we also regularly fail to wake up hungry the next morning. Over time this can leave us in a weight-gain cycle, as the body is programmed according to circadian rhythm and more likely to store fuel at night.

Solution: Aim for at least 12 hours overnight without food by consuming breakfast by 8am and lunch by 1pm. If you tend to have dinner later in the evening, try to have a lighter meal.

Swap your plate portions

When was the last time your plate was half filled with salad or vegetables? For many people, probably quite a while. Most of the space on our plate is usually taken up with meat and carbs such as rice or pasta, alongside a token vegetable or two. The easiest and most powerful way you can improve your overall nutrient intake and support weight control is to load up any meal with two to three cups of salad or vegetables. Not only will you eat fewer calories overall, but you will consume significantly more fibre and vitamins, which support digestive health and help you feel better every day.

Solution: Add dressings, roasted vegies and flavoursome sauces to your salads and vegetable dishes to make them more delicious and appealing.

Build each meal around protein

While it’s important to bump up your intake of vegetables and salad, don’t ditch the protein altogether. For those of us moving into our 40s and 50s, research increasingly shows that an adequate intake of protein is extremely important. Eating enough protein not only helps prevent muscle mass losses and reductions in metabolic rate, it also helps optimise the intake of key nutrients including iron and calcium, and buffers the need for fuel from carbohydrates. Ideally, adults need at least one gram of protein per kilo of body weight each day, which many of us fall far short of thanks to our carbohydrate-heavy meals and snacks. To tick the box on your daily protein intake, make it a priority to include a protein-rich food such as meat, chicken, fish, eggs or dairy at each of your meals and snacks, and notice how much more satisfied you feel in between meals.

Solution: Focus on protein-rich snack foods such as yoghurt, nuts, tuna, salmon and protein-based bars.

Factor in a light day

There are plenty of fasting regimens that encourage low-calorie days or reducing the number of meals consumed each day, and while these may work for some, there is just as much benefit in proactively including a lighter, lower-calorie day each week to help buffer the higher calorie days most of us frequently enjoy. Here, eating lower-calorie foods such as salads, vegetable-based meals and even a shake is an easy way to reduce your overall calorie intake to help counter overindulgence, without skipping meals or being overly restrictive.

Solution: Get into the habit of eating lightly one day each week, with a focus on soups, salads, white fish and fruit to load up key nutrients and get back in touch with your natural hunger after periods of overeating.