Increasing Food Variety When Giving Up Dieting

Most dieters widdle down their food variety when dieting to a handful of “safe foods”. With so many rules around what to eat and not eat, the fear of how a particular food will impact your health and body dramatically increases. And with this food fear, your choice of foods gets smaller and smaller.

How Limiting Your Food Impacts Your Health

When you limit the type and variety of food you eat, you run several risks:

• Risk for Nutritional Deficiencies such as:
• • Iron deficiency
  • Vitamin B12 deficiency
  • Calcium deficiency
  • Dietary fiber deficiency
  • And more!

• Increase risk for illness and disease
  • Deficit in brain function
  • Cancer
  • Heart disease
  • Type 2 diabetes
  • And more!
• Decreased overall energy intake
  • When you are limiting a certain food group or specific foods, you are more than likely limiting your total intake for the day, which means your energy needs are not being met.
  • When you avoid or limit your carb intake (the main and preferred energy source of the body), your body uses protein for energy. This means that protein is not being used for its intended function, including building and repair of tissues and cells.
• Decreased diversity in your gut microbiome.
  • This can lead to increased risk for illness, GI issues, etc.

What Can Variety Look Like While Transitioning to Intuitive Eating?

The beautiful thing about Intuitive Eating is that you are in the driver’s seat when it comes to making your food choices. There is no right or wrong way to experiment and explore different foods.

Here are 3 Steps to take:

Step 1: Commit to no longer dieting:

Are you ready to give up the restriction? This step must be first, otherwise you will hesitate when it comes to incorporating foods you’ve previously considered “forbidden”. If you need help with giving up dieting, please reach out to me here.

Step 2: Assess what you’re currently eating:

Take a look at your current eating routine and food choices. Consider which food group you can use more variety in. Then focus on that one food group for a few days, until you’ve added a few new foods. When you feel comfortable, move on to the next food group.

Step 3: Experimenting with new, unique flavor combinations

Put on your chef’s hat and have some fun. Combine different flavor combinations such as sweet + salty, spicy + sweet, or sweet + sour.

Try new recipes. My cookbook: Enjoying Food Peace is a great resource. There are over 150 recipes plus Intuitive Eating Wisdom before each chapter. Get your copy here.

Remember:

No one food or food group has all the nutrients you need for optimal health. Eating a variety of foods will help you get the vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants you need.

Want to dive deeper into this topic?

Join me today for a LIVE training, 12:15 pm EST right HERE!