Ah Nutrition. Everyone's favorite love-hate relationship. Well, it's my favorite love-hate relationship! The New Year brings about most people's desire to change their nutritional habits, but some choose to take extreme measures. As a nutritionist I follow trends and research in nutrition pretty closely. (I should note that I am NOT a Dietitian. I studied Nutritional Sciences in college but did not do my dietetic internship. I hope to soon, but for now, just a nutritionist!) I try to follow as much as I can myself, but sometimes it's hard. This is good, this is bad, never mind this is good again! I get it. It's important to remember though that there are no quick fixes in life. It takes time and commitment to get into a healthy routine.
Fad diets are rampant this time of year, Paleo, Atkins, Keto, etc. I HATE these. Yes, you can lose a ton of weight on these diets, but how long are you going to stick to them? The rest of your life? No. You lose the weight you want and go back to your old habits and gain it all back. You can't be restrictive forever. You need carbs, fat, and protein to function properly. 45-65% of calories should be from carbs, 25-35% from fat, and 10-30% of calories from protein. You can usually find an app or website to figure this out for you if you don't math! lol It also helps to figure out how many calories you actually need a day because everyone's needs are going to be different. Certain apps will have a calculation to figure it out for you or you can Google it. I'd be lying if I said I've never tried any of these. I did 21 Day Diet for a bit and a few juice cleanses, but nothing works quite like portion control and exercise. Yes it takes longer, but I promise it will all be worth it when you have healthier habits that will (hopefully) last you the rest of your life. Breakfast to me is the easiest meal to manage. Coffee, green tea, and I usually grab a piece of fruit and either some toast or eggs or even an oatmeal with berries. I can throw this in my bag at night or grab and go from the fridge in the morning. The only thing I don't pre-make are my drinks. My schedule right now only allows running and working out in the afternoon, so I'm usually going from work to workout to home to cook. It gets old and I get tired, but I recognize that it has to be done. The biggest thing that helped me was meal prepping lunches. Usually Sunday night I cook some type of whole grain (brown rice, quinoa, etc), a vegetable, and lean protein. My default is chicken breast or thin cut pork chops. I measure everything out (usually 1/2 c of vegetable and grain and 4 oz of protein) and put them in these awesome containers (https://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-cm-freshware-meal-prep-bento-lunch-box-food-storage-containers-30-piece-set). This way I don't have to worry about lunch at night and can grab and go in the morning. Dinner is another beast! This one sucks my energy sometimes lol. I started taking one day a month to plan an entire month of dinners. Pinterest and MyHappyPlates.com have been huge helps with this! I can pop on and search for almost anything. I plan all nights I know I'll be home and make my list each week based off of that. Sometimes it's a slow-cooker meal, sometimes it's a 30 minute meal, sometimes it's a soup and sandwich combo! I just try to stick to a well-balanced meal; more veggies, less grain, lean protein. It helps keep me from repeating meals so I don't get bored, and helps me manage time. If you can't commit to a whole month, try planning one week at a time. Even meal prep companies can be worth the money in some cases, but I'll talk more about that later! If you snack, which I encourage, keep the snacks simple. I do an apple and 10 almonds for my 1st snack and usually a Greek yogurt with chia seeds or granola for a pre-workout or afternoon snack. String cheese is always a good choice as is plain popcorn because it's a whole grain! I try to eat every 3 hours to keep from getting super hungry and keep energy up. My biggest struggle is sugar. I LOVE it! Dessert after dinner is my favorite. I know I have to break it, but I try and manage it as best as I can. I've cut out sodas almost completely (I'll admit it though, I have a Diet Coke once a month or so, or a sip of Dr Pepper); I try not to buy candy or sweets to keep in the house because I will be the only one eating them; King Cake is my cheat during Mardi Gras and I try not to eat too much. I am a sucker for it! I've learned that you can have your cake and eat it too, you just have to balance it. If I want a "bad" dessert, I make sure it's on a day where I've had a hard workout or haven't eaten enough calories for the day. I'm not going to replace dinner with cake, but if I've had 2 salads all day long, cake is my treat. I try to replace this with hot tea, Halo Top or Arctic Zero ice creams, or some fruit after dinner. I am totally open to more healthy dessert suggestions though if y'all have any! Fitness apps are a huge help in all this too. I use MyFitnessPal and a friend's app Eat2Win to log my meals. MyFitnessPal let's you log calories and nutritional information from almost every food imaginable. You can input recipes of your own and get the nutritional values for them. It's very easy to use too. Eat2Win though keeps me a little more on track. To log food you take a picture of your meal and dietitians look at it an evaluate. Take about nerve racking! I can log anything and any amount I want in MyFitnessPal, but it's harder to fake a picture in my opinion. This app is still in it's beginning phases, so I'm excited to see what it's full potential will be. I encourage you to check it out. Nutrition is a constant battle. You don't want to be that person who is at a party sighing in a corner because you can't eat anything. You've got to find your balance; find what works for you. I know everyone is different and has different needs or diets, but I encourage you to seek out an ACTUAL Registered Dietitian and talk with them if you are struggling. Trust me, they know what they are talking about!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorRachael Archives
October 2018
Categories
All
|