When it comes to consistently eating a nutritious diet there is more to think about than just macronutrients and counting calories. I have found that practical tips and insights are fundamental to improving eating behaviour and maintaining good eating habits. The aim is to make the process of eating good food an enjoyable experience so that people can achieve their health or fitness goals.

Today Daniel Davey of Food Flicker shares with us his 5 top tips for improving your eating habits!

• Food preparation at its best
  Food preparation comes in many forms. It doesn’t just mean batch cooking or pre-chopping vegetables and freezing them, although you can do that too. Food prep can focus on the areas that you find the most challenging in your diet to try and create solutions. For example, breakfast was something I was not consistent with but when I focused on preparing breakfast options like overnight oats or homemade oat bars my consistency with breakfast improved dramatically
• The 5 essential cooking utensils
  Make life easier for yourself and invest in the cooking utensils that you can use daily to prepare nutritious meals. 1. A sharp knife 2. A solid wooden chopping board 3. A peeler 4. A powerful blender 5. A food waste bowl
• Your personal shopping list
  We all have recipes and meals we like to make so be prepared for them. At the beginning of the week write down the ingredients you need to make your favourite recipes. The simple act of doing this well help you stay on track and reduce the time you spend thinking of what you want to prepare.
• What to buy in bulk
  You should never run out of the dry ingredients you use every day. Have large glass or plastic air tight containers that you can store your dry grains, seeds and nuts. For convenience and efficiency cost saving buy non-perishable ingredients in bulk such as oats, rice, mixed nuts, mixed seeds, lentils, milled flaxseeds, dark chocolate, and your main spices. All you have to do is add some fresh ingredients like vegetables, fruits, meat, fish and dairy and you have the ingredients to make snacks or main meals.
• Using music/podcast
  Music is very personal and I find it fantastic to listen to some Jazz or Latin music while I cook. Some people might also like to turn on an interesting podcast while cooking. The reason for this is that the music or podcast can create a positive vibe and feeling while you cook so you relax and enjoy the process and experience. Give it a go, put a cooking playlist together and stick it on the next time you are cooking and see how it feels for you.

Find Food Flicker’s Daniel Davey at Thrive this March on the THRIVE Cookery stage. See more here!