Jenny Craig Team 
The best way to start the process of change is to assess where you’re currently at. There are many factors influencing why and what you eat, and usually these habits have been with you for years, so be realistic, consider two or three areas where you have the most motivation to make different choices, and start there. When it comes to food, you might be totally aware of your habits, or perhaps your patterns have become so automatic that you don’t pay much attention. Awareness illuminates opportunities, so take the first step to understand what you’re currently doing, then you can identify some individual, realistic goals that are specific and relevant for you.
Keep A Food Diary
- Record everything you eat and drink for one week to identify your current eating habits and patterns.
- Begin to think about what drives you to eat. Is it hunger, your body’s need for fuel, or is it connected to habits, emotions or other triggers? Note your hunger before and after a meal, and any other reasons you might be eating such as boredom, habit, stress, worry, sadness, or time of day.
- You might choose to track your food intake and count the kilojoules you are consuming, for some people this provides a tangible opportunity for change.
- For others, an overall review of the foods you’re currently choosing might highlight the ones you need to eat more of and the ones you would like to reduce.
Another way to approach changing your eating habits is to simply identify ways of improving the nutritional quality of your food choices.
Identify Your Opportunities
- Improve the quality of the foods you are eating. Eat across the 5 core food groups – fruits, vegetables, breads and cereals or grain foods, meats and meat alternatives, dairy foods and alternatives. Often when you focus on getting back to the basics, the less nutritious, higher kilojoule foods you are currently eating will naturally begin to reduce.
- Really focus on vegetables – low in kilojoules, a great source of fibre and volume to fill you up, rich in phytonutrients and antioxidants for a variety of health benefits. Aim for four or five different types each day and eat across the rainbow of colours to get a wide range of nutrients.
- Think about portions. A great way to assemble your plate for main meals is to use your hand as a guide to serve sizes – a palm-sized portion of protein foods, a fist-sized portion for carbohydrates (this includes potato, sweet potato, corn and other starchy vegetables), and two large handfuls of non-starchy vegetables to fill half of your plate.
- Challenge non-hungry eating. If you identify that you eat when you’re not really hungry, make a good list of distractions to use at these times, and put them into action as often as you can.
Danielle Bowman, Dietitian
Jessica Percic, Dietitian