I know we’ve all had experiences with dieting.

Maybe you’ve tried cutting out all carbs…or all processed foods…or cutting calories so drastically you’re just constantly hungry.

And we’ve probably all failed pretty quickly doing this!

And it’s easy to imagine why

Think of your “default” nutrition habits. Maybe cereal for breakfast as you rush out the door. Muffins and coffee for morning tea. A quick sandwich for lunch. Takeaways for dinner that you pick up after a long day at work.

And then you go on a diet. And suddenly you’re supposed to start eating freshly cooked omelettes with a side of vegetables for breakfast. Cut out coffee and sugar. A fresh salad for lunch. A beautifully cooked salmon with steamed vegetables for dinner.

It’s completely unrealistic to drastically change all your nutrition habits overnight. As soon as you’re stressed out, low on time, or just feeling tired, the LAST thing you want to do is think about what to have for lunch, or cook a meal from scratch, or drink green tea instead of coffee…

Take it slowly

It’s been estimated that when people focus on changing ONE habit at a time, the likelihood of retaining that habit for a year or more is 80%

When they focus on two habits at a time, the likelihood drops to 35%

And now imagine the likelihood of success if you’re trying to change ALL THE HABITS at once!

So let’s talk about a way to completely transform your nutrition – choosing one meal at a time, and making one small change at a time, until having delicious, nutritious meals is simply a part of your lifestyle!

Plus, it’s a game so it’s going to be fun!

The Meal Transformation Game

The meal transformation game (originally from Precision Nutrition) is a fun way to gradually transform your meals.

It doesn’t matter where you’re starting from, or how far away from the “perfect” meal you think you are.

Most people think of eating habits as either 100% healthy, or 100% unhealthy. And if you have even one “unhealthy” part to your meal, your meal is somehow 100% unhealthy.

The trick to changing your eating habits is to understand that healthy eating is not all-or-nothing. Healthy eating is on a long continuum, and you can make small (and large) changes to slide your meal up and down the “healthy eating” continuum.

Even just sliding your meal a little bit up the continuum towards more healthy, is going to help you achieve your health and fitness goals!

So instead of thinking “This breakfast is so unhealthy”, you can think “what’s one thing I could do to make this a bit more healthy?”

How to play the game

When playing the Meal Transformation Game, imagine your meal can be one of five stages:

• Stage One: Predominantly processed food. Little to no protein, fruit or veggies. Eaten on the run.
• Stage Two: Processed food. Some protein OR fruit/veggies. Eaten on the run.
• Stage Three: Minimal processed food. Protein AND fruit/veggies. Sit down to eat, but unfocused on meal.
• Stage Four: Fresh, whole, minimally-processed food. Protein AND fruits/veggies. Water. Sit down to relax and enjoy the meal.

For some meals, you might be starting at stage one. For other meals you might already be a stage two or three.

The aim of the game is to try to move your meals up through the stages.

You might never get to stage four. You might get to stage three and be happy there.

You might get to stage four for the weekends, but during the week hang out more on stage three.

You might be consistently at stage three, but sometimes drop down to stage two or even stage one.

It’s OK though. The aim is to lift your meal game consistently, but not to stress out if some days you don’t make it. That’s the beauty of realising that healthy eating is a continuum, not an all-or-nothing.

Real life example

Remember Grace from an earlier article on transforming your environment to support your goals? Let’s look at the way Grace transformed her meals, over the course of a few months.

1. Choose one meal to transform

Remember not to make too many changes at once. Choose just one meal.

Grace started by choosing breakfast to transform.

2. What level is this meal currently?

Have a look through the stages above, and choose which stage your meal is currently.

Grace’s normal breakfast consisted of a large takeaway mocha and a muffin from her local cafe, that she ate in the car on the way to work.

This meal was stage one. Predominantly processed food, a large sugary drink, very little protein or fresh fruit or veggies. And she ate it on the run.

3. How can you move the meal along to stage two?

Stage two meals include either some protein or fruit/veggies.

Grace decided to add low-fat greek yoghurt to her breakfast.

She bought small pots of greek yoghurt and took one with her every morning to eat with her breakfast. She also decided to swap her large sugary mocha for a flat white.

She did this for about two weeks until it became a normal part of her life.

4. How can you move the meal along to stage three?

Stage three meals include protein AND fruit/veggies. Making the protein and fruits the star of the meal, makes your meal less processed. It also includes sitting down to eat, which helps you eat more mindfully.

Grace started to prepare overnight oats for her breakfast.

She would mix oats and milk together the night before and leave in her fridge. The next morning she would add some greek yoghurt, frozen berries and half a banana, and a drizzle of sugar-free maple syrup, and eat at the table while reading the news online. She stopped buying takeaway coffees, and instead made a Nespresso with a splash of milk.

At first it took a bit of effort for Grace to force herself to sit and eat breakfast, instead of rushing around madly and eating in the car. But after only a week it became her favourite part of the day. She now gets up early everyday to make sure she can properly enjoy her breakfast.

5. How can you move your meal along to stage four?

Stage four includes fresh, whole, minimally-processed food, with protein and fruits/veggies. it also includes being present and eating mindfully.

Grace manages to have stage four breakfasts every weekend.

She cooks omelettes for breakfast with eggs, fresh onion, red bell peppers, spinach and mushrooms. She also drinks water, green tea and has a side of protein yoghurt and berries. She manages to sit down and fully switch off on the weekends, and it all starts with her breakfast.

Even though during the week she sticks with her stage three breakfasts, her weekends are stage four, and overall she’s light years away from where she started. It took about three months to get here and make this a part of her lifestyle, but we laugh when we think about those mocha-and-muffin breakfasts she started with!

Next on the agenda is transforming her lunches.

Your turn!

Now it’s your turn to go through these steps!

Take it slowly – choose just one meal and make just one small change at a time, and don’t stress out if you’re sometimes sliding down the scale.

Remember to think of healthy eating as a continuum, rather than all-or-nothing.