Alternative to Dieting
A friend once told me they were starting one of those diets where you order a bunch of pre-made meals and are basically told exactly what you can eat each day. This friend liked the idea of this diet stating that it takes the thinking and guesswork out of things. The diet they referred to is probably counting macros for them and focused on caloric intake. While this may seem easier, this can be much more difficult as the number of calories can be very limited, and this friend complained of being hungry often. They liked the simplicity of it though and they were right about one thing, eating healthy shouldn't be a mathematical equation and it shouldn't be requiring an insane amount of thought.
We talked about diets a couple weeks ago in another blog post and while I do feel some diets can be a good jump start of motivation for some people, they just aren’t sustainable for the long term! There are some things you simply must do to have long term success. Let’s discuss them!
First, the key is nutrient dense foods! Start by choosing foods that you think will have a lot of nutrients! Hint…. it’s whole real foods not highly processed foods or take out. Start with the whole real foods you enjoy eating.
Second, find what works for you that is sustainable – meaning something you can grow in and be able to do the rest of your life. This may look like two meals per day instead of three, or maybe doubling the recipe for dinners so that you have leftovers, and the next day lunch is taken care of. Whatever makes it easier for you. One thing I can tell you that has to be present in this part of the plan is that you have to do some cooking and food preparation! You just can’t achieve optimal health without that. See the blog on Cooking and Meal Prep to understand more about that.
Third, and this is something a functional medicine physician and author I enjoy reading, Mark Hyman, M.D. says a lot; You must change your environment to make a healthy lifestyle the easier choice instead of the easy choice being an unhealthy lifestyle. In other words, willpower will play a role at times but should not be what you are relying on to live a healthy lifestyle. Some ideas for this concept include not bringing junk food into the house; finding healthy things you like to eat and keeping them on hand; getting an accountability partner for daily walks; asking the server at restaurants to not bring the bread or chips basket to the table; keeping a consistent routine; and planning ahead for meals and exercise each day.
It takes time to learn something new, time to learn why something is or is not good for you, time to understand what certain foods do to your body, time to learn what your favorite healthy foods are and how to prepare them, time to learn how the food you eat affects other areas of your health and time to develop new habits and routines. Getting healthier is a process that just takes time, and it truly is a process that is never fully finished. You should always be striving to learn more and improve your health in ways you haven't thought of before and as you learn and change, your body and overall health will as well. In the meantime, I am here to help you. Subscribe with your e-mail on my website (thehealthandwellnessnp.com) to receive updates and more information and follow along on social media! Together, we can reduce your risk for chronic disease and get you feeling better and looking healthier!