By Victoria Cox, MSc, Registered Dietitian
It’s a new year, full of fresh starts, resolutions and new goals – including health goals – which can sometimes feel overwhelming, as it seems to be human nature that we set quite grand goals for ourselves, often in the form of restrictive diets. We may decide to cut out entire food groups, or set the goal of entirely giving up our favourite treats. This may work for a week, a month, maybe even two, but oftentimes these extreme diet goals fizzle out, as it is difficult to make big changes in a short period of time and expect them to be sustainable.
With that being said, it is still worthwhile deciding that you are going to make this a healthier year and have a healthier pattern of eating. Let’s dive into how you can achieve healthy eating in a more manageable, step-by-step manner – rather than jumping onto (and falling off of) a fad diet.
Situational or Meal-Specific Improvements
Let’s explore the idea of making situational improvements to our meals. There is nothing wrong with setting traditional, realistic goals — for example, adding at least one cup of vegetables to at least one meal every day, or reducing your fast-food intake to a maximum of once a month for the year 2026.
Even so, you may find that you are still struggling with your day-to-day eating, recognising that your habits could be healthier, but because of time constraints or other factors, you are unable to commit fully to these kinds of statements. This is where the idea of making situation-specific adjustments to your meals comes into play. The concept applies to meals you may be eating on busy days, when you know you could be eating slightly healthier, but you do not have the time or ability to make big changes in the moment. Instead, before eating, ask yourself the following questions:
- Is there anything that I can add to this meal to make it more nutrient-dense?
- Can I prepare something for this meal in a healthier way?
- Is there a simple ingredient swap that I can use to improve this meal’s overall quality?
- “Is there anything that I can add to this meal to make it more nutrient-dense?”
We start by embodying the concept of “nutrition by addition”. Instead of always associating healthy eating with what you should be eating less of, start by thinking about what you could be adding to your typical quick and easy meals to make them healthier. Consider the following:
- Can I add some fibre and vitamins to this meal by way of fruits and/or vegetables?
- Can I increase the fibre in this meal with ingredients such as chia seeds or flaxseeds?
- Can I balance this meal with a source of lean protein?
- Can I add some healthy fats to this meal with ingredients such as avocado or olive oil?
Here are some examples of typical quick-and-easy meals, and how they can be improved upon in the moment with the “nutrition by addition” mindset:
| To this meal… | Add this. |
| A bowl of cereal and milk | Some diced fresh fruit, a spoonful of chia seeds and a few chopped nuts; for vitamins, fibre & healthy fats |
| Tuna & biscuits | Lettuce, cucumber, tomato and some avocado for vitamins, fibre & healthy fats |
| Instant noodles | A boiled egg or two and some mixed vegetables, for protein and some fibre and vitamins |
| Toast with butter | A Greek yoghurt and fresh fruit, for protein and some fibre and vitamins |
| A fast-food “snack box” | A tossed salad, for fibre and vitamins |
The point of this approach is not to encourage meals such as a snack box or instant noodles. However, we acknowledge that sometimes, this may be our reality, and while adding in healthy components to the meal will not “make up for” an unhealthy meal, it is still a positive step in the right direction.
- “Can I prepare something for this meal in a healthier way?”
This concept refers to the preparation method of your meal, which will generally focus on whether a food is being fried or prepared with a lot of added fat or not. Avoiding fried food is a relatively simple way to reduce the saturated fat content of meals, reducing your risk for cardiovascular disease. Here are some examples of alterations in the preparation manner of different quick and easy meals:
- Instead of adding chicken tenders or nuggets to a skillet with oil, pop them into a toaster oven or air-fryer
- Instead of scrambling or frying eggs in a substantial amount of oil or butter/margarine, try boiling them
- Instead of shallow frying your fish in an inch or two of oil, use only enough oil to barely cover the pan and pan-sear your fish instead.
Again, the idea here is not to actively encourage eating processed foods such as chicken nuggets or tenders, but if this should happen, at least you can avoid frying and further negatively impacting the overall quality of the meal. Make use of ovens, toaster ovens, air-fryers, grills, steaming pots, etc., to actively reduce the amount of oil/butter/margarine used in cooking.
- “Is there a simple ingredient swap that I can use to improve this meal’s overall quality?”
Lastly, we move on to the idea of simple food/ingredient swaps that can be made with minimal effort to make your easy meals a bit healthier. This concept rests upon the convenience of using ingredients that you may already have at home or can easily purchase to replace their less healthy counterparts. Here are some examples:
| Swap this… | For this. |
| Mayonnaise | Plain Greek yoghurt or low-fat mayonnaise |
| Commercial salad dressing | Olive oil & lemon juice |
| Bouillon cubes | Sodium-free dried herbs/spices |
| Ketchup | Tomato paste (when cooking) |
| Butter/margarine (on bread/biscuits) | Avocado |
| Full-fat evaporated milk | Low-fat evaporated or 2% milk /skim milk |
| White rice | Brown rice |
| White bread/biscuits | Whole-wheat bread/biscuits |
Taking this approach could help turn a meal around: a sandwich usually made with buttered white bread and tuna mixed with mayonnaise can turn into a sandwich made with whole-wheat bread, mashed/sliced avocado instead of butter and tuna mixed up with plain yoghurt. The preparation time of the meal stays basically the same, as does the effort to make it, but with a few simple swaps, the meal is higher in fibre, lower in saturated fat and higher in healthy fats.
Small Improvements = Better than Nothing
To conclude, do not take this as a sign to avoid setting yourself long-term, over-arching health and nutrition goals; instead, take this as a reminder that even on days when your meals are not going according to plan, we can often still make small adjustments to improve our health. On those less-than-perfect days, remember that small improvements are still worthwhile.
