10 Easy Ways to Make Healthy Eating a Habit as a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP)
Work’s over. And now you’re in a mental tug of war with the bag of Sweet Tarts in the cupboard.
As a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), the deep focus demanded by work leaves you tired and with less energy to fight the urge for comfort foods.
The siren song of that candy bag has you salivating.
Eating one turns into half the bag. Then you move onto the chips, which isn’t a surprise because eating sugar makes you want something salty.
And once you have a bowl of those, any plans for a vegetable and quinoa dinner go out the window.
The more you eat processed food and sugar, the more you lose your taste for vegetables.
I have been there. I lived off of bread, pasta, cheese, snacks and sweets. With maybe a little green salad on the corner of my plate at dinner.
When I ate like this, I always ended the day sluggish, moody and unmotivated and vowing to eat better the next day.
If you want to eat healthier, ditching the processed foods and sweets and eating more vegetables and whole grains is where you need to focus.
For Highly Sensitive People (HSPs), eating healthy supports solid energy, focus and emotional resilience. It’s been the backbone of my holistic self-care on and off for over 10 years.
Here are 10 simple habits to make healthy eating stick.
Eat less processed foods and sweets
Choose high quality substitutions. Find satisfying healthy alternatives that you can reach for instead of junk food and sweets. Swap out a bag of chips for homemade organic popcorn. Eat a wedge of high-quality dark chocolate rather than a bag of M & M’s.
Pick alternatives you won’t binge on. My alternative to sweets is high-quality dark chocolate, but there are certain dark chocolates that I will overeat. Usually it’s bars with a higher sugar and milk content. So I don’t buy my favorites. I buy the ones I won’t overeat.
Avoid impulse purchases. I used to wander the candy aisle as entertainment a few times a week. Minimize the number of times you go to the store in a week and you’re less likely to come home with unhealthy food. Go shopping when you’re not hungry or tired and you’ll put fewer sweets in your cart. If it’s not in the house, you won’t eat it.
Hide it up and out of sight. If someone else brings junk food in the house, make sure they hide it up and out of your sight and reach. I’ll eat anything that comes across my path when my new healthy eating habits haven’t been established yet. I’ve been known to ask my husband, Adam, to hide food out of my sight so I’m not tempted by it.
Don’t eat junk food two days in a row. If you let yourself have a cheat meal, make sure it doesn’t become the norm rather than the exception. Make it a rule that if you falter and start eating processed food, you won’t eat it two days in a row. A habit forms when you eat an item repeatedly, so nip the pattern in the bud before it takes hold.
When you stop filling up on junk food, you’ll be hungrier and vegetables and whole grains will be more appealing.
Vegetables give you the nutrition, fiber and prebiotics that your gut microbiome loves and helps to stabilize your mood.
Whole grains like quinoa and whole oats fill you up and burn slowly, preventing a drop in blood sugar that will make you cranky, tired and craving sweets.
How to eat more vegetables and whole grains
Set veggie goals. Get clear on what you’re aiming for with eating healthier and write it down so you’re more likely to follow through. For example, I knew I wanted to eat 8 cups of vegetables a day. That meant I needed to eat veggies at 3 meals, aiming for 2 cups at breakfast, and 3 cups at lunch and dinner. Set a realistic goal. I didn’t start with 8 cups a day; I started by just trying to eat veggies with every meal.
Make healthy options the easy choice. Cook once and eat multiple times. Make a big pot of grains and then eat off it for days. Freeze them in individual portion sizes so you can grab a bag from the freezer when you need it. Prep salad toppings like homemade dressing and chopped vegetables like carrots, radishes and cucumbers so it’s easy to throw together a salad.
Have healthy dishes on rotation. Sit down and look at recipes and decide on a few healthy meal options for breakfast, lunch and dinner. For breakfast on weekdays I have a smoothie. Lunch is a giant salad with a side of avocado toast and dinner is a grain bowl with roasted veggies. Develop a routine and you’re more likely to succeed because you have a plan you don’t have to think about.
Notice when boredom could sabotage your healthy eating. Having an eating routine helps you stay consistent. But watch out for boredom, which for me is a trigger for eating junk. Boredom is a sign that it’s time to visit your favorite healthy eating blogs for new recipes. Your gut microbiome will be happy with more variety too.
Choose restaurants that give you good vegetable options. Eating out can be one of the biggest challenges to staying on track. Choose health-conscious restaurants. Look for big delicious salads, whole grains and grilled vegetables on the menu so your only option isn’t salty fried food or pizza that will leave you craving a brownie sundae when it’s over.
You can eat healthy
I know it’s hard to imagine you can be successful when you’re fresh off a junk food or cookie binge.
I am proof it’s possible. I never would have imagined I’d be eating 8 cups of vegetables a day.
But as an HSP, my commitment to healthy eating has been a stabilizing force in my life on and off for over 10 years.
Make a plan. Set a goal. Look at recipes, make a list, purge your cupboards, shop for what you need and get started.
You’ve got this.
A few healthy eating blogs to inspire you to get started:
Oh She Glows- Vegan bloggers know how to make a plant-based diet taste great. Written by cookbook author, Angela Liddon, try her Happy Digestion Smoothie, The Big Salad, Meal Prep Week Long Power Bowls and her Big Vegan Bowls.
Sweet Potato Soul- Another vegan blogger and cookbook author who happens to be a grad of my nutrition school, Jenné Claiborne has me drooling over the Vegan Nicoise salad she shared on Instagram. Check out her Fast & Easy Buddha Bowl-Inspired Vegan Meal Plan and this Hibiscus Elderberry Ginger Tea to boost your immunity.
Pinch of Yum- Lindsey Ostrom’s blog has tons of veg-based recipes. Try her 19 Sauces that Make Everything Better, Chopped Thai Salad with Sesame Garlic Dressing and Brussels & Kale Caesar Salad.