Want Better Eating Habits?

Have you ever wanted to change all your eating habits at once?

Cut sugar. Drink more water. Prep meals. Eat more veg. Stop snacking…

It sounds great, but if you’ve ever tried, you’ll know how overwhelming it feels, and how quickly motivation runs out.

That’s because lasting change isn’t built on willpower alone. It’s built on small, consistent habits that take root over time.

One of my favourite ways to explain this is through something I call the bucket chain method.

Here’s how it works:

Imagine your eating habits as a line of buckets, each one representing how automatic a habit is:

Bucket 1: Habits you do without thinking (e.g. drinking water first thing).

Bucket 2: Habits you remember with a little nudge (e.g. choosing fruit over biscuits).

Bucket 3: Habits you’re actively working on (e.g. planning balanced lunches).

Bucket 4: Habits you’d like to do one day, but haven’t started yet (e.g. reducing processed foods).

The mistake many people make is trying to jump straight into Bucket 4 before their habits in Bucket 3 are solid. That’s when it feels heavy, and things fall away.

The key is to let each habit “tip forward.” Once a Bucket 3 habit becomes a Bucket 2 habit, then you’ve got room to add a new one from Bucket 4.

And here’s the good news: not everything in Bucket 4 has to happen. Some things may not matter enough to you, and that’s perfectly okay.

Your action step this week:

Take a look at your Bucket 3 habits. Which one could you practise more consistently so it starts to tip into Bucket 2?

Over time, those Bucket 2 habits spill into Bucket 1, and that’s when healthy living feels natural, not forced.

It’s like Paul reminds us in Galatians: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9)

Small steps, faithfully repeated, lead to transformation.