Tag Archive for: small changes

Intuitive Eating and National Nutrition Month Collide

It’s interesting when people hear that I’m a registered dietitian nutritionist, yet I don’t promote diets. This is something many people don’t understand since most people are influenced by society’s message that to “manage” their weight, they have to diet and “control” their food intake.

No, it’s not about control, it’s about “taking charge”. By saying NO to diets, you are saying YES to putting yourself back in the driver’s seat and making your own food choices. Because you know what? You know how to do that. I realize that maybe you think you don’t, since you’ve been dieting for so long. But given the chance, you will step up to the plate.

I’ve said it may times – intuitive eating is not “see it, want it, eat it”. With intuitive eating, we pause to determine if we are hungry or not, to think about how eating that food made you feel last time you ate it (sluggish, tired, energized, blood sugar spike/crash etc) and then use that information to make an informed food and eating decision.

Is nutrition important? Yes, of course it is. But choosing foods that are nutrient-rich or nutrient-poor does not make you a better or worse person.

There is a way to balance both, and to have full satisfaction when doing so.

National Nutrition Month – Eat Right, Bite by Bite

This year’s theme has the following message: “Good nutrition doesn’t have to be restrictive or overwhelming. Small goals and changes can have a cumulative healthful effect, and every little bit (or bite!) of nutrition is a step in the right direction.”

When working with clients, I stress one small change at a time.

Here’s a road map to guide you this National Nutrition Month:

Week One: Just focus on eating a variety of foods every day. Now that you’re not dieting any longer, there’s no more eliminating major food groups or particular foods. Consider what you’d like to eat from each food group as you build a satisfying meal. Then, sit and savor every bite.

Week Two: Plan meals ahead if you are a busy person (like me!) and you want to be sure you have food in the house to prepare meals for the week. Meal planning is not dieting as long as you keep it flexible. I like to say that “planning is smart living”. Without planning ahead what I will make for dinner, my family likely wouldn’t sit down to a balanced meal each evening.

Week Three: Experiment with new tastes, textures and flavors of foods. Look for new recipes and get the family involved. Plan to enjoy a few family meals together each week. It doesn’t have to be dinner if schedules don’t match. Think out of the box and enjoy breakfast together. For lots of delicious recipes and Intuitive Eating Wisdom, check out my new book – Enjoying Food Peace: Recipes and Intuitive Eating Wisdom to Nourish Your Body and Mind. Enjoying Food Peace Book

Week Four: Need more support? Have specific medical nutrition needs such as diabetes, prediabetes, high cholesterol and GI issues? Contact me to learn how we can intertwine intuitive eating with nutrition therapy in a weight-neutral way.

Happy National Nutrition Month to you!!

Drown Out the Miracle Diet Noise – Create Healthy Habits from Healthy Thoughts Instead

healthy-thoughts-quotes w textHave you ever had a day where you saw something that inspired you?  Or maybe you read something that immediately caused you to say “yes, I’m in”! Something about it caught your attention and made you want to be better, or do better.  So, you jump on board without too much thought.  But then what happens.  A hectic day full of work, carpools, food shopping, homework, cleaning, and preparing food for the family often pushes those noble thoughts out of your head and into space.

There is so much propaganda out there right now trying to get into your head to encourage you to create these grandiose plans to take dieting action.  While any healthy thought is admirable, a grandiose thought like, “I’m never going to eat bread again” can get you into trouble.  These declarations are usually too difficult to execute forever.

I’ve seen this myself.  Without calling out any particular person or company, there is one “celebrity health guru” that comes to mind.  Not a day goes by that I don’t get an email or video from her encouraging her readers to eliminate certain foods to drop the weight.  Now don’t get me wrong.  There is definitely a time and place when you might need to eliminate certain foods that are GI triggers for you, or that you are allergic to or have a food sensitivity too.  I actually work with clients who have food triggers/sensitivities and we do an elimination diet followed by food challenges to identify those triggers.

That’s not what I am referring to here.  To tell the general public to absolutely avoid certain foods (like dairy, gluten, eggs…) in order to drop the weight, well that to me will yield short term success.  Yes, when you eliminate entire food categories and the “junk food” that usually falls within that category (think cakes, cookies, white bread when eliminating gluten, and fruited high sugar yogurt when eliminating dairy), you will most definitely lose weight.  But is there a reason you should be off these food categories for life if you choose healthier options within those categories (think whole grains, whole wheat, and plain Greek yogurt)?

I think not!

What you can do when you are faced with these grandiose thoughts is to use them as a springboard for coming up with more realistic and sound thoughts that you can truly turn into action.  Do you really want to never eat bread again?  Do you think that is what is going to make you into the healthier person you want to be?

Instead, make a commitment to not denying yourself but to give yourself unconditional permission to eat what you truly want when you are hungry and stop when you are comfortably full.  Choose healthier versions of these foods for good health and you will find that you won’t even desire them that often.  Key words here…healthier versions!

As an intuitive eater, you learn what your true food preferences are.  Oftentimes, something that you thought was a trigger food for you that you could not stop eating (overeating/bingeing) may actually be a food that you realize you never really liked.

Small changes add up to big changes and instead of having a “flash in the pan” healthy moment, you will end up with a healthy lifestyle full of healthy habits that has built up over time.

I encourage you to honor every healthy thought you have.  Think about how you can turn it into a healthy habit instead of it being a passing thought that disappears because it is too big to stick.  You can turn any thought into a healthy action, just be mindful about the ones you choose.

Your turn to take action:  Turn one of your healthy thoughts into a healthy habit this week.  Please share how you did this and how you feel.