Making changes to your eating habits and lifestyle takes time. Some days will feel easy, while other days may feel more challenging. That’s completely normal.

Many of us have routines, habits and situations that can make healthy choices feel harder at times. The good news is that once you recognise these patterns, you can start planning for them and practising new habits that better support your liver health.

1. Emotional eating

We eat for many different reasons, not just because we’re physically hungry. Stress, boredom, frustration, loneliness, tiredness and difficult emotions can all influence what and how we eat.

Food can sometimes feel comforting in the moment, especially when life feels overwhelming.

TIP: Start by noticing why you’re eating. Are you physically hungry, or are you responding to an emotion, habit or situation?

Our Food Diary can help you recognise these patterns.

You might also try:

• going for a walk
• taking a few slow breaths
• calling or messaging someone
• having a drink of water
• pausing for 10 minutes before deciding what to eat

If you’re still hungry afterwards, try cooking something from the Fatty Liver Diet recipe library.

Read our Be Kind to Yourself blog for more tips on dealing with emotions

2. Eating out of habit

Sometimes we eat simply because it’s a certain time of day, because food is nearby, or because we associate certain activities with eating (like watching TV or driving home from work).

These habits are very common and often happen automatically.

TIP: Try paying attention to your body’s hunger and fullness cues.

Before eating, pause and ask yourself:

• Am I physically hungry?
• Or am I eating because of routine, boredom or convenience?

See our Forming new habits blog for more tips.

3. Relying on willpower not planning

Everybody’s motivation changes from time to time — especially when we’re stressed, emotional, tired or overwhelmed.

There are many days when we wake up and simply don’t feel like cooking, exercising or thinking too hard about food choices. When this happens, it’s completely normal to reach for whatever feels quickest or easiest.

That’s why healthy habits are much easier to maintain when we rely on planning and routines, rather than motivation alone. When your easiest or most convenient option is also a liver-friendly one, it becomes much easier to stay on track.

TIP: Planning ahead can make healthy choices feel much easier:

• prepare meals or snacks ahead of time
• keep simple ingredients ready to use
• freeze leftovers for busy days
• keep healthy foods easy to see and reach

Small amounts of planning can make healthy habits feel much more manageable over time.

4. Mistaking processed foods for healthy choices

How many times have we chosen a muffin over a donut, or a muesli bar over chocolate, thinking we were making the healthier choice?

The reality is that many of these snack foods are still heavily processed and can contain large amounts of sugar. It can sometimes be difficult to know which foods genuinely support your health.

Even with nutritious foods like nuts, fruit or yoghurt, portion size still matters. These foods are healthy choices, but large portions can still add up over time.

TIP: Try choosing simple whole foods for snacks more often, like fruit, vegetables or natural yoghurt. Using the serving sizes suggested in the Fatty Liver Diet recipes can also help you understand balanced portions.

5. Eating too much on special occasions and weekends

Family gatherings, work dinners, birthdays, anniversaries and weekends can all make healthy habits harder to stick to.

Everyone deserves to enjoy special occasions, but it’s easy to eat larger portions or choose foods we wouldn’t normally eat as often. Over time, these habits can make it harder to reach your health goals.

TIP: Planning ahead can help. Think about how you can stick to the Fatty Liver Diet as closely as possible — for example, by choosing baked or grilled options, choosing smaller portions, filling your plate with veggies first, or deciding on one special treat you’ll really enjoy.

See our Simple swaps and How to adapt your favourite meals for more ideas.

6. Forgetting about drinks

A lot of people don’t realise that juices, smoothies and soft drinks can contain large amounts of sugar. Drinks that seem healthy are often missing the fibre that helps keep us full and supports our liver health.

Alcohol is also not recommended for people with liver disease. As well as putting extra strain on the liver, drinking alcohol can make it harder to stick to healthy habits around food.

TIP: Water is the best choice for staying hydrated. Sparkling water, herbal teas and fruit-infused water can also be good alternatives.

See our Cutting out alcohol page to understand how much you can safely drink.

7. Treating ourselves after exercise

It’s very common to feel hungrier after exercise or to feel like you’ve “earned” a treat after being active.

The important thing is to make sure the food you choose after exercise still supports your overall health goals. Otherwise, it can become easy to undo some of the benefits of the healthy habits you’re building.

TIP: If you feel hungry after exercise, try planning some balanced snacks ahead of time, like yoghurt and berries, nuts, fruit or hummus with veggies.

8. Not getting enough sleep

Sleep plays an important role in our appetite, energy levels and eating habits. When we’re tired, we’re more likely to crave convenient, high-sugar or high-fat foods and less likely to feel motivated to cook or prepare meals.

Poor sleep can also affect hunger hormones and stress levels, which may lead to increased snacking or eating larger portions.

TIP: Aim for around 7–9 hours of sleep each night where possible. Small habits like reducing screen time before bed or keeping a regular bedtime can help improve sleep over time.

back to plan for success Next in the Series: Resetting After Difficult Days