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It is my belief that the morning is a pivotal time of the day; if we can have a good start, we are far more likely to make good choices throughout the rest of the day, too.

Although at first it may seem as if a little extra effort is required, establishing a consistent morning routine means that it will soon become second nature for you to implement your healthy habits, such as preparing your overnight oats and enjoying them when you wake up, instead of starting every day with that morning panic that means you begin your day stressed.

For the first few weeks of making a lifestyle change, it’s incredibly useful to set an alarm and get up at the same time every morning – this will allow plenty of time to prepare breakfast. To implement more structure into your mornings, try writing yourself a timeline for the first few weeks, and pop it on the fridge or by your bed. Mine would look a little like the list below, but it’s important to make it personal to you, ensuring that you allow enough time to complete each task without running around like a headless chicken.

1. Wake up, drink a glass of water.

2. Read a few pages of a book (10 mins).

3. Get up, prepare breakfast (15 mins).

4. Shower, dress, make-up (30 mins).

5. Leave the house.

When I speak to people who want to instigate a change in their physique, I always find that their focus rests solely on their exterior. Very few acknowledge that the biggest change to occur is often in the mind, which will in turn help to create physical change.

As I’m sure many of you can relate to, developing a healthy relationship with food and with your body isn’t the easiest of tasks, but I feel that incorporating both mind and body goals into your lifestyle change ensures that you’re constantly striving to achieve the balanced pyramid approach, as discussed previously, and you aren’t neglecting one aspect of what is a much bigger picture.

There are so many ways to set goals, but I often find that writing them down in a journal is a really nice and personal way of remembering them.

I also find that being organised with your food often increases motivation, and establishes a consistent routine that you are able to follow with very little effort. Planning your meals for the week ahead on a Sunday, for example, will help you to avoid those days where you search the cupboards for random ingredients to throw together when you get in late from work. It is then that you can often find yourself making the wrong choices.

Creating a shopping list and a food planner for the week is the perfect way to get into a habit of organising your meals for the week ahead, budgeting to ensure you don’t spend a fortune on food each week, and keeping your motivation high, as you have delicious planned meals to look forward to cooking and eating.