How to get back on track with healthy eating this spring
To get back on track with healthy eating, start small. Pick the one habit that's slipped the most, make it easy, link it to something you already do and plan for the days you miss. That's what makes a restart last.
If winter threw your eating off, you're not alone. Rushed breakfasts. More takeaway than you planned. A few "I'll start again Monday" moments that turned into weeks. None of that means you've failed. It just means it's time for a reset, and spring is a good time for one.
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Drop the guilt.
A bad week, or even a bad month, doesn't undo the healthy habits you built before it. Progress is rarely a straight line.
Guilt can feel like motivation, but it usually just makes starting again feel harder. You don't need to make up for lost time with anything extreme. You just need to start.
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Focus on one habit at a time.
Most restarts fall apart in the first week because they try to fix everything at once. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks is a lot of new decisions to make every day.
Choose the habit that's slipped the most. Leave the rest until that first habit feels automatic.
Not sure which one to pick? Breakfast is a good bet. CSIRO research found Australian women eat around 11g of protein at breakfast on average, and men around 15g. CSIRO recommends at least 25g of protein at each main meal to help control hunger. Eggs on wholegrain toast, a tub of high-protein yoghurt with berries, or leftover chicken in a wrap are easy ways to lift it.
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Make it smaller than you think it needs to be.
Once you've picked your habit, make it easier. If it still takes real effort, it's too big.
Aim for a step so easy it would feel strange to skip it. Instead of “eat a healthy breakfast every day”, start with “eat something with protein before I leave the house”.
You can build on it once it sticks. A small habit you keep will do more than a big one you give up in a fortnight.
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Link it to something you already do.
New habits last longer when they're tied to an existing routine, rather than relying on memory or motivation.
This is called habit stacking. CSIRO research into habit change shows new behaviours are more likely to stick when they're built into a routine you already have.
A few ideas:
- Make breakfast while the kettle boils.
- Decide tonight’s dinner when you sit down at your desk in the morning.
- Pack tomorrow’s lunch while you’re clearing up after dinner.
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Track the habit, not the scales.
In the first few weeks, measure success by whether you did the thing. Did you eat breakfast? Did you sit down for dinner instead of picking at food in the kitchen?
A tick on the calendar or in your phone for each day you hit your habit works well.
The scales usually take longer to catch up. If weighing in keeps you motivated, keep going. Just don’t let one number in week one convince you it isn’t working.
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Plan for slip-ups.
You'll miss a day. Everyone does. It's a normal part of building a habit.
Decide now what you'll do when it happens. Keep it simple: start again the next day. No making up for it and no starting from scratch. One missed day only becomes a missed month when you treat it as failure.
TWD member Sarah knows this better than most. She lost 83kg* on the program, and she’s honest that there were plenty of ups and downs along the way. "I learned that you can reset as many times as you need just as long as you never give up,” she says.
*Weight lost over 2 years. Individual results may vary.
Want a plan that does the thinking for you?
Starting again is easier when you don’t have to work everything out yourself. The CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet is a higher-protein, structured program built around small, sustainable changes. Your meal plan is ready to go, and you’ll have a community of Australians doing it alongside you.
CSIRO research found members who completed the first 12 weeks lost an average of 7.2% of their body weight, and 9% after six months. Individual results may vary.