5 dietary micro-habits. Introduce them using the 3xR method

To improve the quality of your diet and your life, you don’t need to make a revolution. A few small steps that you can add to your everyday routine are enough. Introduce 5 micro-habits and you will feel an improvement in your wellbeing and a boost of energy. To do this, you can use the 3xR method, and you will notice positive effects both in your private and professional life.

Building micro-habits – use the 3xR method

Although we know the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, the pace of everyday life and the growing number of responsibilities often make us forget one of the key elements of wellbeing – a healthy diet. Meanwhile, proper nutrition has a huge impact on our physical health, mood and resilienceto stress. That is why it is worth taking care of this aspect by introducing healthy micro-habits.

The concept of micro-habits is based on introducing small but meaningful changes that are easy to incorporate into your daily routine. This approach, popularised among others by James Clear in the book “Atomic Habits”, is supported by research in psychology and neuroscience. Small actions, repeated regularly, strengthen neuronal connections and create the so-called habit loop (the cue-routine-reward model made popular by Charles Duhigg), which leads to the consolidation of changes.

According to research published in the European Journal of Social Psychology in 2010, developing a new habit takes on average 66 days, and its consolidation depends on regularity and context. Habits linked to daily routines form most effectively, e.g. a glass of water before brushing your teeth or a walk at lunchtime.

You can apply the 3xR method (Reflect, Replace, Reinforce) to build healthy micro-habits:

· Stage1 – Reflect. Consider which behaviours make it harder for you to achieve your goal and what causes them. Notice the moments in which you act automatically, e.g. reaching for sweets with your coffee. Awareness of your own patterns is the first step towards change.

· Stage 2 – Replace. Instead of trying to eliminate the old habit entirely, replace it with a more valuable one. If you reach for sweets, keep fruit at hand, and swap your coffee for a herbal tea or infusion.

· Stage3 – Reinforce. Repeat the new behaviour in the same context untilit becomes automatic. Each repetition strengthens the neuronal pathways responsible for the habit, which is why consistency is more important than perfection.

Beneficial dietary micro-habits

Here are 5 dietary micro-habits whose introduction can significantly improve your life.

1. Createmeal plans

Meal planning is a simple yet important strategy that supports health. Researchers from the University of Paris decided to examine the eating habits of 40,000 adult French people. It turned out that those who planned their meals in advance (even only roughly):

· Had a diet more consistent with national nutritional guidelines,

· Ate more varied meals,

· Had a lower risk of being overweight (women).

Build the habit of planning your main meals during the day. You do not need to create a detailed menu. It is enough to plan in generala few options for a balanced breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper. You do not have to assign a particular meal to a specific day – act as you go, choosing from the ideas you have prepared.

Choose a fixed day and time (e.g. Sunday evening) to quickly create a rough plan for the coming week. Consider what you want to eat and write down a few options. Make a shopping list and, if you wish, prepare a simple meal prep – chop vegetables, prepare a sauce, a one-pot dish or portion ingredients for a smoothie.

2. Add a fruit or vegetable to every meal

An appropriate amount of vegetables and fruit is one of the best-documented elements of a healthy diet. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends eating a minimum of 400 g per day, which corresponds to approx. 5 portions of fruit and vegetable. Increasing the amount to approx. 800 g brings additional health benefits.

Research shows that a diet rich in vegetables and fruit (already from 400 g per day) reduces the risk of heart disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes and also certain cancers. Scientists from Imperial College London estimated that increasing fruit and vegetable portions globally to at least 800 g could prevent approx. 7.8 million deaths annually.

This is also confirmed by one of the largest international observational scientific projects – the EPIC study (EuropeanProspective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition). Observations were carriedout for over 8 years on a group of more than 300,000 participants from 10 European countries. It was shown that people consuming a minimum of 800 g of fruit and vegetables daily had approx. 22% lower risk of death from heart disease compared to those consuming approx. 240 g per day.

Scientists estimate that 800 g of fruit and vegetables per day means:

· 33% lower risk of stroke,

· 31% lower risk of heart attack,

· 25% lower risk of premature death,

· 14% lower risk of cancer.

Fruit and vegetables are rich in fibre, minerals, vitamins and antioxidants – ingredients essential for health and wellbeing. This is the most important dietary habit. If you have not introduced it yet, it is worth starting with this, rather than experimenting with other dietary solutions such as supplements or restrictive diets.

Here are some simple tips to practically adopt this micro-habit:

· If you cannot include at least 80 g of fruit or vegetables in the dish, eat them separately – before or after the meal.

· Waiting for the pasta to cook? Slice a cucumber, tomato or carrot and eat it as a snack.

· Add a fruit or vegetable to a lunch bought at work – do not limit yourself to a slice of tomato or a lettuce leaf in a ready meal.

· Start with the fruit and vegetables you like the most. Do not be guided by vitamin content – all products in this group are very healthy!

3. Ensureyou include protein in your main meals

This is another very simple yet significant micro-habit. Before eating your main meal, ask yourself: “Is there a source of protein in this meal?”. If not, add a protein product.

Here are a fewpractical tips:

· For sweet dishes, good options include: ricotta, skyr, natural yoghurt, cottage cheese, natural tofu.

· For savoury dishes, reach for legumes, meat, fish,seafood, eggs, dairy, tofu.

· Nuts, seeds and wholegrain cereals are also sources of protein.

· If you find it difficult to reach your daily protein requirement, you can use protein powders or high-protein products.

Protein is one of the most important macronutrients inthe diet, not only for active people and athletes. It supports muscle building, stabilises blood sugar levels, speeds up regeneration and helps control appetite.

Adults should consume at least 1 g of protein per 1 kg of body weight, but this value increases in many cases – with higher physical activity, a reduction diet, in seniors, pregnant women or during enhanced recovery.

It is not only the total amount of protein consumed per day that matters. Scientific studies show that evenly distributing protein across meals during the day supports maintaining a healthy body weight and achieving stable energy levels throughout the day.

4. Remember to drink water

Proper hydration is the foundation of health. Unfortunately, many people still function in a state of mild, chronic dehydration. This affects reduced concentration, increases fatigue, disrupts appetite control and many metabolic processes.

Amid the rush of responsibilities, it is easy toforget to consume enough fluids. To effectively build the habit of drinking water, it is worth anchoring it next to another habit that is already well-established. The most effective results come from “attaching” a new micro-habit to one that is already part of your routine. James Clear in “Atomic Habits” describes this as the strategy of “habit stacking” – combining new behaviours with those you already perform automatically.

In the case of drinking water, this can look very simple:

· Drinka glass of water immediately after waking up.

· Take a few sips during online meetings.

· Drink water after and before every meal.

Practical tips to drink more water:

· Always keep a bottle of water with you.

· Establish non-negotiable rituals, e.g. a glass ofwater after waking up or during every break at work.

· Add a slice of lemon, cucumber or mint leaves to your water to enrich its flavour.

· Remember that besides water, fluids also include coffee, tea, herbal infusions and drinking dairy.

5. Use healthy toppings

A simple idea to enrich your diet is the “topping method”. It is nothing more than adding small portions of superfoods to meals, which increase their nutritional and healthvalue.

“Topping” here is metaphorical – it can be half a teaspoon of nuts, seeds, grains, a handful of herbs, spices such as turmeric or cinnamon, or even drizzling the dish with a healthy oil. Such small additions do not fundamentally change the caloric content of the dish, but they significantly increase the nutritional and health value of the meal.

This is also an excellent strategy to support the gut microbiome. Although research on the microbiome is complex, one thing is certain – greater diversity of plants in the diet helps maintain its condition.

As part of the “American Gut Project”, 34,000 samplesand dietary questionnaires were analysed. It was shown that consuming a varietyof plant foods – at least 30 or more different plants per week – is one of the simplest ways to increase the diversity of gut bacteria. This is associated with better digestion, stronger immunity and a lower risk of metabolic diseases.

Adding superfoods to different dishes is easy and does not require major changes. You can add them while cooking or keep them in avisible place, e.g. on the table, so you can sprinkle them onto your meal before eating. It is worth having fresh herbs, nutritional yeast flakes and turmeric in your kitchen.

Recommended superfoods list:

· Seeds and grains – black cumin, chia seeds, Thai basil seeds, flaxseed, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, fenugreek, sesame.

· Nuts –almonds, cashews, Brazil nuts, walnuts.

· Spices – ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, cardamom, paprika.

· Freshherbs – coriander, basil, mint, thyme, oregano, rosemary.

· Healthy oils – olive oil, evening primrose oil, black cumin oil, borage oil.

· Other additives – nutritional yeast flakes, freeze-dried fruit, goji berries, cocoa, seaweed, powdered inulin, popped amaranth, camu camu, spirulina.

Universal and individual ideas for micro-habits

The habits described above are universal for most Polish people. They relate to the most urgent elements of healthy eating which allow you to quickly improve your quality of life. Do not wait for the right moment to implement them – start today!

Important: Although the small-steps method effectively helps to build lasting habits, it is not a comprehensive plan for weight reduction. It supports maintaining weight and preventing weight gain, but for significant BMI reduction, more decisive actions are usually required. This is confirmed by a 2022 meta-analysis, which showed that the method of small changes (e.g. 1,000 steps more per day, a calorie deficit of 100 kcal) helps prevent weight gain but not its significant reduction.

References:

1. Smith K. S., Graybiel A. M., Habit formation, Dialogues Clin Neurosci, 2016, Mar;18(1):33-43, doi: 10.31887/DCNS.2016.18.1/ksmith. PMID: 27069378; PMCID: PMC4826769.

2. Lally P., Jaarsveld C., Potts H., Wardle J., How are habits formed: Modeling habitformation in the real world, European Journal of Social Psychology, 2010,40. 10.1002/ejsp.674.

3. Clear J., AtomicHabits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones,New York: Avery, 2018.

4. Graham H. E., Madigan C. D., Daley A. J., Is a small change approach for weightmanagement effective? A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomizedcontrolled trials, Obes Rev., 2022, Feb;23(2):e13357, doi:10.1111/obr.13357, Epub 2021 Sep 28, PMID: 34580993.

5. Ducrot P., Méjean C., Aroumougame V., Ibanez G., AllèsB., Kesse-Guyot E., Hercberg S., Péneau S., Mealplanning is associated with food variety, diet quality and body weight statusin a large sample of French adults, Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act., 2017, Feb2;14(1):12, doi: 10.1186/s12966-017-0461-7, PMID: 28153017; PMCID: PMC5288891.

6. McDonald D., Hyde E., Debelius J. W., Morton J. T.,Gonzalez A., Ackermann G., Aksenov A. A., Behsaz B., Brennan C., Chen Y.,Goldasich L. D., et al., AmericanGut: an open platform for citizen science microbiome research, mSystems, 2018,3(3):e00031-18. doi:10.1128/mSystems.00031-18.

7. Aune D., Giovannucci E., Boffetta P., Fadnes L. T., Keum N., Norat T., Greenwood D. C., Riboli E., Vatten L. J., Tonstad S., Fruit and vegetable intake and the risk ofcardiovascular disease, total cancer and all-cause mortality-a systematicreview and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies, Int JEpidemiol., 2017, Jun 1;46(3):1029-1056, doi: 10.1093/ije/dyw319. PMID:28338764; PMCID: PMC5837313.

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