I often work with people who are in transition. This could be:
- Someone entering an “empty nest” phase in their life.
- Someone whose relationship status has changed due to a variety of reasons.
- Someone who wants to reconsider their employment opportunities.
Transitions can be anything, to helping your child navigate high school to college, or being the caregiver for aging parents. We are pretty much always in some form of transition. What I often find is when people are focused on their most pressing “issues” their priority rank for their nutrition becomes 0. As we focus on Mindset, I would like you to consider nutrition. I feel that people with a growth mindset (I can implement some tweaks into what I put in my body) vs those with a fixed mindset (I can’t live without XY & Z and my children will starve if I don’t serve ketchup with a side of chicken nuggets 7 nights a week) are able to embrace change and IMPLEMENT it, and feel significantly better. For more on understanding your mindset have a look at this post, Mindset: Let’s Talk About It. To begin, why is nutrition important:
Eating a balanced diet is vital for good health and wellbeing. Food provides our bodies with the energy, protein, essential fats, vitamins and minerals to live, grow and function properly. We need a wide variety of different foods to provide the right amounts of nutrients for good health.
In the short term, poor nutrition can contribute to stress, tiredness, and our capacity to work, and over time, it can contribute to the risk of developing some illnesses and other health problems.
You have heard this before, but I have to stress it: Your body is a temple and what you put in reflects what you give out. Mindset and mindfulness are very important to me, so I liken food intake to thoughts:
If a thought comes into your head, pause- if it is a crappy thought, do you need to give that thought space/time/energy? Of course NOT! It’s just a thought, let it float away and create a new thought. If you say, hey how about a candy bar, change the thought, let me nourish myself with something that is going to make me stronger, more balanced and healthier.
I really don’t care what the scale says when you get on it. But what I do care about is your day to day ability to function, make decisions, interact with your networks and be happy. For the sake of conversation, let’s assume there are some things going on in your life which require you to interact with people or make decisions. Let’s agree that having a clear mind will help you keep your emotions in check, your decision making strategic and thoughtful and your ability to communicate in a positive and respectful way. You can’t bring any of those attributes into the situation if your sugar levels spike and crash, are tired or your memory is poor.
The Biggest food offenders:
- Sugar
- Causes blood glucose to spike and plummet.
- Interferes with immune function.
- Causes premature aging.
- Increases stress.
- Alcohol
- Shrinks the brain.
- Risks of dependency.
- Causes fatigue.
- Fast Food / Packaged
- The calories are empty, there is little to no nutritional value.
- Memory and cognitive function decline.
- Could actually be a cause for depression. (To see all 20 reasons to skip fast food you may read this article).
The BEST thing you can do for yourself:
- Hydrate. Water regulates your body temperature and lubricates your joints. It helps transport nutrients to give you energy and keep you healthy. If you’re not hydrated, your body can’t perform at its highest level. You may feel tired, have muscle cramps, dizziness, or other serious symptoms. Here is a hydration calculator which will help guide you towards how much water you should intake. Please note, the calculator doesn’t account for how much / little water is in the food you consume or about the other beverages you drink. If you have caffeinated beverages, you need more water than what is shown on the calculator.
Here are three strategies for keeping your nutrition a priority:
- Food is neither “good” or “bad” and it isn’t a reward or punishment. Before you put something into your grocery cart or order it off the menu, ask yourself, is this choice aligned with my personal core values?
- What are your patterns? Identify them – I can’t go to bed until I have had a sweet treat. I drink a soda at 3 pm each day. Dinner isn’t a complete meal if red meat isn’t on the plate. Are these habits serving you? Can you make minor modifications to lean into change? I refuse to eat anything that is delivered to me through a window, or instead of an afternoon sugar treat, I am going to have a glass of ice water and piece of fruit.
- Is your mindset fixed or growth? Fixed mindset doesn’t think that you can change your eating habits. An open mindset says let’s try Meatless Monday, or I am not buying ice cream for a month and see how I feel.
What should I eat?
I can’t answer that – and you know why I can’t answer that – because I have no idea of what works for you! You may be older and need more fiber in your diet, you may be pregnant, you may be an athlete in training, you may need to lose weight, you may be allergic to something. As much as I wish I could give you the perfect handout for YOU, I can’t. And don’t fret if you friend cut out sugar and lost 25 pounds in 6 months, and you cut out sugar and your weight stayed the same. We are all different, and you may need to tweak or modify over time. Diet is an ongoing process, nourishing your body through various phases.
I have tried a variety of programs, and I have found that when I follow a Ketogenic eating plan, my energy levels are better, I am less hungry, sleep better, and overall just feel good. Basically Ketogenitc is:
- Low carbs (mainly through vegetables and salads)
- Consume healthy fats- a higher ratio than other eating plans,
- moderate protein (organic and grass feed)
- Clean eating (no packaged foods, preservatives, or processed anything).
Here are some tips for healthy grocery shopping:
- Produce: I find if I buy it and then chop it up immediately, it is more likely to be consumed. I don’t have the energy to deal with a cantaloupe at 6:30 in the morning. But puttering in the kitchen while children do homework is a great time to prep fruit and veggies. I also find making breakfast as part of our dinner clean up is a great way to set the tone for the next days healthy eating.
- Fish caught in the wild
- Frozen Fruit or Veggies. Perfect for smoothies or homemade soups. Frozen makes sense if you have a small household or you find meal time to be unpredictable. Nothing annoys people more or puts them off healthy eating that throwing away lots of unused produce.
- Shop the perimeter of the grocery store. This is where the fresh foods are typically found.
- Avoid processed foods! Anything with more than 5 ingredients is not serving you well.
- Grass-fed beef
- Just don’t buy it. If you don’t have ice cream in the freezer you can’t eat it. If you don’t have Frosted Flakes in the pantry you can’t fight with your children about eating it.
A few tips:
- You may find that you need to lean into some of these things and others you may decide are no longer serving you (by that I mean giving you energy, a clear mind, and stable moods) and just have to eliminate them completely. You may be able to say that you can cut drinking down to 3 glasses a week. It may simply work better for you to just not drink altogether. Check out this book, A Happier Hour, one woman’s journey through 100 days of abstinence and the surprising effects on her life.
- You are still FUN if you don’t order or serve dessert. Your sugar intake when out with people should have zero impact on their enjoyment. Say No Thanks to treats unless they are really bringing you joy and are in line with your personal goals.
- Pay attention to subtle differences. How do you feel? Has your concentration improved? Are your mood swings less frequent – are you sleeping better? The line forms behind me for those who stop the nightly glass of wine while making dinner and are totally annoyed that the next morning you don’t look like Giselle. But give yourself two weeks of tiny modification and see if you can’t notice some shifts. We are all different, so just because your friend cut out soda and lost 12 pounds and sleeps like a brick doesn’t mean that you will. You need to start someplace.
- Starting small is better than not starting at all.
- ENJOY your food. Seriously, look at your plate, admire the colors, express gratitude that you have this abundance of healthy options, take time to really chew (which is so important for digestion) and eat slowly. Eating on the move, or at your desk, or while you are doing some other activity will not bring you joy or good health.
Any strategies for good nutrition? I really would love to learn, please share below.
If you would like a coach to help you understand why you are not making YOU a priority, or how to say no to things that you know aren’t the best choices for you, please be in touch. I meet with clients in person, via Skype or the phone, feel free to contact me.
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