Developing healthy eating habits will help you reach your goals, while ensuring you feel energised and able to enjoy life.

Here are a few eating habits which, once you've made them part of your routine, will have you set up for life.

1. Eat Healthy Unprocessed Food

Many of the packaged foods we buy today are aimed at convenience and involve the minimum of preparation time on our part - but they're not that healthy.
They often contain high amounts of preservatives, man-made colourings and other added chemicals, and as 12WBT dietitian Georgie Moore explains, there are other downsides.
"Packaged foods tend to be higher in fat, salt and sugar than food cooked from scratch, while lacking nutrients and fibre," she says.

Get into the habit of preparing meals from unprocessed foods and you will reap the health benefits.
This means cooking with fresh vegetables, lean meat, eggs and milk and eating plenty of fruit, nuts and legumes.

2. Switch to Healthy Whole Grains

Whole grains offer far more nutrients and fibre than their refined "white" varieties.And in a 2012 study at the University of Copenhagen, researchers found that overweight people who ate wholegrain wheat products lost more weight than those who ate refined wheat, and they also came out with lower cholesterol."Whole grains tend to have a lower GI (glycaemic index), so they help keep you feeling fuller for longer and maintain your energy levels and concentration," Georgie says.On the taste side, whole grains have more texture, flavour and nuttiness than refined ones.Adding whole grains such as quinoa and buckwheat to salads and other meals will add a heap of nutrients.

3. Change to Healthy Cooking Methods

The more you "do" to your food, the less it does for you.
So avoid things like deep-frying, which drenches your food in unnecessary calories, and boiling vegetables until they're drained of colour, as this will sap them of nutrients.

So avoid things like deep-frying, which drenches your food in unnecessary calories, and boiling vegetables until they're drained of colour, as this will sap them of nutrients.

4. Eat Healthy Portion Sizes

In today's supersized world, it can be hard to know what a healthy portion looks like.
All the advertising we see seems to be aimed at encouraging us to eat and drink a lot.
Plate sizes in restaurants get bigger and bigger, as do the servings themselves.

So it's little wonder that many of us consume more than we need on a daily basis, as our eating habits have changed without us even realising it.

5. Understand Healthy Eating-Out Options

Restaurants and cafes can seem like a minefield, not least because their portions are often much bigger than we need.

It's also tempting to go for the less healthy menu options. But that doesn't mean you can't put healthy eating habits in place when you're out with friends. Georgie suggests using the plate-portioning guide (see above) to help you when eating out. And you don't have to eat everything on your plate!

6. A Food Diary Will Help Your Healthy 

Eating Habits

Keeping a diary of everything you eat and drink throughout the day will give you a clear picture of how much you're consuming and how healthy it is.
It's not until we write everything down that we can see where to improve.

7.Water: Nature's Healthy Drink

Water is essential for life - it's required for digestion, absorption and transportation of nutrients, for elimination of waste and to regulate body temperature.
According to the Australian Dietary Guidelines a healthy amount for men to drink is 2.6 litres per day and women should have 2.1 litres (or 8 to 10 cups per day).