Eating Healthy… ish
“So Connor if I am on a diet and my family is eating Tacos that means I have to have Taco salad right?”
”Like I gotta lose the tortilla?”
Uhh no. You don’t have to eat a shell-less taco, or sub ground beef for ground turkey or even lose the sour cream.
But also you could eat taco salad, try ground turkey, or sub plain Greek yogurt for sour cream for a bit of extra protein and less fat.
”SO WHAT IS THE ANSWER MAN!”
See this is why food is hard, but also this is why food is wonderful these days.
WE ARE LUCKY TO HAVE SO MANY OPTIONS.
It actually makes life so much easier. Once we understand how food works with our bodies we recognize that creating personalized structure is the key to a balanced diet and lifestyle, then we REGAIN our CONTROL and our HAPPINESS :)
So where do I normally start with my nutrition coaching clients?
🍕 First I teach them the why and the how. Why we need certain foods and how we burn calories and process those foods. Where the calories come from (protein, carbs, and fats), and I teach people how to read ingredient labels. Then we will calculate a general daily/weekly calorie number that reflects the client’s goals.
Do you have to track calories? No, not necessarily, but you have to be aware of what your body requires given your goals, and hover around it to learn what that looks and feels like.
🍪Then we develop a personalized weekly structure. We create a method to grocery shopping and planning food for the week, we will establish go-to meals for busy days that cover nutrient needs, and we will talk about planning for fun/ social outings so that clients can enjoy them to the fullest.
🍓and lastly we talk about the little things day to day. Mindful eating, walking after big meals, not eating before bed, hydrating and eating protein in the morning, etc. etc.
It’s not about bad and good foods, it’s about calories and nutrients. That cookie and that strawberry both contain sugar, carbs, and thus calories.
One just happens to have far more nutrients per calorie which is “good” while the other has far more unhealthy fat and thus overall calories which could be “bad”, but tastes friggin “good”
So the real question is…
What is the purpose of the food choice?
You could eat enough strawberries to equal the calories in one cookie. Also if you chose the cookie, you could burn off those fat calories too without concern if you considered your activity and other food choices for the day.
So maybe today would be a nice day for a cookie, and they are your Mother’s special recipe, or it’s a birthday. Or maybe today you have already eaten some higher calorie foods and you haven’t been exercising this week so the strawberries are a better choice.
The choice is not life or death either way. One cookie won’t throw off all your progress, and choosing strawberries over that cookie doesn’t make you a dietary hero lol.
These foods will always be available and you will always be able to take them or leave them. The choice will always be yours and when you make choices with the understanding and consideration of your day, week, and goals as a whole, you can reflect on what is the right choice for you and your body.
Anyway, I have a lot of info and goodies in my nutrition toolbox, so if you would like to talk more, reply to this email and let’s chat.
If this was helpful and I got you considering your food more as a starting point, then that is great too :)
My #1 goal is a just happier and healthier you, always.
