Balanced nutrition is about eating a regular, well rounded diet that gives your body the nutrients it needs to function correctly. The food you eat supplies your body with necessary nutrients. These nutrients maintain your brain, muscle, bone, nerves, skin, blood circulation, and immune system.

Balanced nutrition offers many benefits, including the following:

Improved Mental Health
Proper Growth (especially important for children & adolescents)
Better Skin & Hair
Strong Teeth & Bones
Improved Memory
Managing Diabetes
Improved Gut Health
Healthy Weight Maintenance
Reduced Risk of Certain Cancers
Increased Energy

Balanced Nutrition:
It's Time We Stop Diet Culture

Diet culture has become pervasive in American society. It is rare to go on social media or to watch television without seeing pictures or advertisements about fad diets or supplements for "easy" or "fast" weight loss. This diet culture is problematic as it promotes restriction, encourages obsession with food and exercise, it stigmatizes fatness, and often results in low self-esteem and high anxiety about the social, physical, and romantic consequences of failing to follow diet culture and to lose weight. It's time we say NO to diet culture and shift the way we view food and our bodies.

Nutrition Challenges

Under-eating

Reasons under-eating may occur:

social and societal pressures, such as the societal desire for women to be thin.
unmanaged stress
a desire to feel “in control”
excessive preoccupation with “health”
rigid restriction/elimination of specific foods labeled as "bad"

Over-eating

Reasons over-eating may occur:

social pressures, such as wanting to fit in at social events
high levels of unmanaged stress
feeling “out of control”
seeking out feelings of comfort or self-soothing
inconsistent or disrupted biological routines, such as poor sleep or a different shift work
highly palatable tasting foods, such as foods that are sweet and/or fatty
excess availability of food--if the food is visible, you are more likely to eat it.

Mindful/Intuitive Eating As a Solution?

When you hear mindful eating what comes to your mind? You may think of the phrase "be mindful of what you eat". This phrase is often used in a way to tell others to be aware of how much they are eating--keep it in mind so you can limit or restrict it. I think it is time we get rid of the mentality of limit your food and rather shift to the mentality of increased awareness of your body's needs to allow you to enjoy your food.

As a Precision Nutrition Certified Nutrition Coach, I subscribe to the mindful and intuitive eating approach. Mindful eating is a long-term and sustainable approach, without restrictions, which encourages individuals to slow down when eating (which is no longer the norm in our busy lives) and to activate our senses to focus on our individual experience with the food. The intention of mindful eating is to help individuals savor the moment and the food and encourage their full presence for the eating experience. There are no rigid or specific calorie or macronutrient (carbs, fats, protein) restrictions. Instead, the emphasis is truly your enjoyment of the food and how it makes your body feel. This means mindful eating is what we call a process-oriented approach because it is focused on the process (AKA your individual experience every time you buy, prepare, serve, and eat food). Diets on the other hand, tend to have stringent rules and focus on measuring specific outcomes, such as weight loss, making it an outcome-driven approach. Unlike most diets, the purpose of mindful eating is not to lose weight. However, it is often likely that individuals who practice mindful eating will lose weight even without focusing on this outcome. This is often because practicing mindful eating results in slower eating as you savor the food which often prevents overeating. Additionally, because mindful eating also encourages individuals to pay attention to their body and how food makes them feel, individuals often choose to eat more nutrient dense foods that make them feel energized, rather than calorie-dense and low-nutrient foods that may leave them feeling bloated or bogged down.

Why should you consider practicing mindful eating rather than a diet? First, years of mindless eating, restrictive dieting, and following the “good” versus “bad” food mentality can negatively impact the way we respond to internal body signals. This often results in disregulated nutrition that leaves us feeling physically bogged down, as well as mentally down due to feelings of guilt and shame associated with eating foods labeled as "bad". However, when the concept of “bad” food is removed and shifted to mindful eating, it often stops the cycle of restricting and binging. Why does mindful eating stop this cycle? This cycle is often broken acknowledging that a food is available to us whenever we want, we can select a variety of foods we enjoy and become the expert of our own body.

Unconditional permission to eat
Eating primarily for physical rather than emotional or environmental reasons
Relying on internal hunger and satiety cues

3 Key Components of Mindful Eating

How to Meal Prep for the Week

Discover how meal prepping can simplify your life and support your health goals.

Meal prepping is a fantastic way to eat healthy while maintaining a busy lifestyle. By preparing your meals in advance, you can save time, money, and effort. Plus, it's a great way to ensure you're getting the nutrients your body needs to fuel your active lifestyle.

Benefits of Meal Prepping:

Save time: Spend less time cooking and more time doing what you love.
Eat healthier: Make healthier food choices and avoid unhealthy options.
Save money: Reduce food waste and save money on groceries.
Stay organized: Plan your meals and snacks ahead of time to avoid last-minute stress.

How to Start Meal Prepping:

Plan your meals: Choose recipes that are easy to prepare and fit into your dietary goals.
Make a grocery list: Purchase all the ingredients you need for your meals.
Prep your ingredients: Chop vegetables, cook grains, and prepare other ingredients in advance.
Assemble your meals: Combine ingredients to create your meals or snacks.
Store properly: Store your meals in containers or bags and refrigerate or freeze as needed.

Tips for Successful Meal Prepping:

Start small: Begin by prepping a few meals or snacks at a time.
Get creative: Experiment with different recipes and ingredients to keep things interesting.
Make it enjoyable: Listen to music or a podcast while you meal prep to make it more enjoyable.
Involve others: Ask family or friends to help you with meal prep.
Don't be afraid to make changes: If something doesn't work out, don't be afraid to adjust your plan.