Improved Nutrition

I'm going to make this real simple. No matter what your dietary intentions or plans, there are 4 steps to healthy eating:

1.) Eat veggies and/or fruits at every meal
and every snack.

Sure there are libraries filled with nutritional information. One study says this, the next study says the opposite. Different people benefit from different dietary composition. However, one thing that all the science agrees upon is that everybody will benefit from eating more fresh veggies and fruits. The proportion of veggies to fruits is an individual choice.

2.) Eat more healthy foods, and notice when you are satisfied.

The number one reason for eating foods that you regret or that make you feel lousy is that you did not eat enough of the healthful foods already that day. Yes, restricting your breakfast and lunch and eliminating your snacks is the number one reason for the "munchies" in the evening.

The number one reason for eating to the point of discomfort is "tuning out" and not noticing when you are satisfied. When you scarf down your food without even tasting it, you do not give your body's signals of satiety a chance to be heard. Savor your food and note when the next bite does not taste as good as the last. Note when you feel satisfied. Then, why keep eating?

3.) Meet your emotional needs without using food.

In this high stress world, we human beings sometimes use the self-soothing of eating as a stress reducer. Indeed, by eating certain foods, the brain chemistry can be changed to give a calming effect. Often we have learned to use eating to meet many emotional needs. If this happens in your life, overeating is not the worst consequence of this habit. Missing the opportunity to meet your emotional needs in more effective ways is the big problem.

4.) Solve the problems that get in the way of doing the first three.

Use problem solving to develop more effective choices. Then not only will your nutrition improve, but so will your life!

Clear Science on Dieting

During Coaching sessions I encourage people to make choices to feel better and improve health - while enjoying themselves!  I promote "Intuitive Eating" and teach people HOW to get in touch with their own hunger and satiety.  This is the opposite of dieting and results in healthy eating for a lifetime!

This is often called the Non-Diet approach.  We all know dieting does not work.  But the media and public policy sometimes forgets the facts, engaging in a cognitive disconnect.  Below see links to an article that will motivate you toward your own Intuitive Eating and remind you of the harm of traditional dieting.

Click Here to "Cognitive Disconnect"
by Sandy Scwarc, RN, BSN, CCP

"Only information which maintains the accepted orthodoxy makes the news, so few Americans will learn that over half a century ago he conducted some of the soundest clinical studies ever done on the adverse effects of dieting. His findings, which have been replicated hundreds of millions of times since, proved that dieting can cause severe physiological and psychological harm and can result in people being fatter, lead to eating disorders, increase the risk for heart disease and shorten lives."

 

Please contact me with your questions and suggestions.
Just email me (email address below).
I will be happy to resopnd.