Overcoming nutritional challenges.
What is your biggest nutritional challenge?
Here are a few challenges that get brought up a lot, with the clients we work with.
Emotional / Stress Eating
This is one that we hear a lot. Most of us can relate with this and have done this at times in our life.
Quick Tip:
If you feel stressed, try using a gratitude exercise to calm your feeling down, instead of reaching for food. The food might satisfy your stress temporarily, but you most always feel worse after.
2. Lack Of Planning
This is a big one for many people. We get busy living life, next thing we know, we are starving and don’t have anything to eat. So, we grab whatever is fastest and most convenient. Usually fast and convenient, means, not so healthy.
Quick Tip:
Take 15 minutes on Sunday and Wednesday, to plan out some meals and a grocery list. Start with planning 2-3 meals/week. Once you get this down, add 2-3 more meals/ week. Build the habit slowly. Remember, you don’t need to change everything overnight.
3. Cravings
If you have a sweet tooth, you may resonate with this one. It seems the more sugar you eat, the more you crave it. One treat turns into 2, turns into week long indulgences. Sweetness appeals to the taste buds, stomach, and brain. Foods that combine sugar, salt, and fat are very palatable. This means once you start eating, the switch in your brain that says stop eating, gets blunted.
Quick Tip:
If you dont have the food at hand, you can’t eat it. Also, try not to eat your carbs, fat, and salt, all in the same food item. Eat sugar and carbs separate from each other. Think about a baked potato, popcorn, and ice cream. Take the fat out of these, and they just aren’t that appealing. Try to over eat a huge bowl of plain popcorn or plain baked potato. Not that amazing. haha.
4. Eating Out
This is a pretty challenge for tons of people, and it can be tricky to navigate. Especially if you travel, work away from home, have a lot of social and work gatherings/events.
Quick Tip:
There are many ways to reduce how much you eat out. Plan ahead and look at the menu before you get there. That way you won’t be tempted to order the wrong thing. Buddy up with a friend or co-worker, before the event and decide to order healthy together. It’s amazing how having an accountability partner can do for you. Also, sometimes it’s ok to say NO, to going out to eat. Suggest an healthy alternative or pack your own food to eat before you go out. At the event, choose something lite, like fruit or salad.
Eating Too Fast
Eating too fast means you run the risk of eating too much. When you wait too long to eat a meal, you run the risk of being so ravenous, that you may inhale your meal.
Quick Tip:
Take breaks while you are eating. Chew your food 10 times before you swallow. Take a drink of water every few bites. Stop and breath for a few minutes when you are half way done with meal. Slowing down will give your digestive system time to register how much you have eaten, and in return send the full signal.
We all have or do, struggle with these things outlined above.
But are they solvable problems? Absolutely.
To get the best results, try not to tackle all of the solutions at once.
Take them one or two at a time. After a few weeks, if you feel like you have mastered the challenge, move on to a new one.
Another solution to your nutritional challenges, is to seek out support and accountability.
We would love to help you navigate these challenges and have more tips and strategies to tackle these issues. Its all about creating new habits, one at a time.
There is no, “One size fits all program” We are all unique and require a different approach and tools to create a healthy lifestyle. Let us help you create a sustainable, long lasting, unique method to help you succeed.
Jeff and Kara Millet