Improve Your Diet with This One Key Question
Think about how vastly individual we all are with our eating habits. And how different our goals are.
We’re in all kinds of various places with what, when, why, how and how much we eat.
Factors like taste preferences, work/life schedules, finances, cooking abilities, etc all come into play when it comes to eating.
It’s not helpful for me to simply say, ‘Hey you guys– eat this for breakfast.’
Someone’s not going to like it, someone else won’t have the time to make it and someone else will have no clue how to make it in their kitchen.
So, when someone asks, “What can I do to eat better?” the answer isn’t as easy as giving the same recommendation to everybody.
In order to help you I have to know about you, your life and your eating behaviors. Making dietary changes is a personalized endeavor.
What I do is I meet you where you are.
Some of you want brand new ideas of what to eat and we can do that.
But a lot of you aren’t ready to make huge changes with lots of new foods and that is OK!
And for you, my advice is:
Let’s make what you’re currently doing just a little bit better. 👍
I use this approach in nutrition counseling sessions to help you form new, long-term, sustainable healthier eating habits.
You can apply this to your personal eating habits to improve your diet on your own without my help (although having a dietitian’s input can be helpful!)
Think about a habit you have that you’d like to change and ask yourself this question:
Here is the above question applied to 3 examples of random scenarios:
1. Old habit: Every morning you order a fast food egg and cheese sandwich plus a large frozen butter pecan coffee. You are not ready to completely give these up yet.
New habit: Pack along some blueberries, strawberries, melon, kiwi, oranges, etc to eat with your sandwich. Order a smaller version of the frozen coffee drink and drink 16oz water.
✔ You’re making breakfast just a little bit better by adding fiber, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. You’re decreasing the quantity of added sugar and hydrating with pure water. 😊
2. Old habit: You eat chips and salsa for your afternoon snack. You really enjoy this but you eat chips straight from the bag, quickly devour them and always eat more than you intended.
New habit: Plate an amount of chips that you feel comfortable with rather than eat from the the bag. Add carrots, celery, peppers, broccoli, etc to your plate and add guacamole.
✔ You’re making snack time just a little bit better by incorporating satiating fat and fiber from the avocado. You’re avoiding overeating chips by having a visual on your plate. You’re increasing nutrients as well as slowing down your pace by adding veggies to the mix. 😊
3. Old habit: Friday night is take-out pizza night. You eat 4 pieces and feel uncomfortable after.
New habit: Either make or order a salad to eat along with the pizza. Enjoy 2 or 3 pieces of pizza and notice how that makes your body feel before reaching for more.
✔ You’re making pizza night just a little bit better by displacing some of the highly refined grains in the crust with more nutrient dense salad greens and vegetables and learning to pay attention to satiety signals during a meal. 😊
💫 You can apply the question “How can I make this just a little bit better?” to any eating situation you find yourself in. Like when you are putting food on your plate at a cookout or when you’re ordering at a restaurant. It’s a gentle way of practicing nutrition. There’s no right or wrong way to do this.
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