March is National Nutrition Month
By now you’ve probably heard all the tips about adding a variety of fruits and vegetables to your diet, avoiding excessive salt, sugar or alcohol and drinking plenty of water. Registered Dietitian, Evelyn Tribole who developed the concept of Intuitive Eating, also encourages gentle nutrition. Gentle nutrition is a way to form a connection to how food feels in your body and use that information to make more informed and reasoned choices about food. You can use these concepts to apply the information you’ve learned about nutrition and see how different foods impact your unique body. She suggests listening to your body’s cues and using that information to decide what is most healthy for you. Food should taste good, satiate your hunger and also make you feel well. You do not have to follow a diet plan perfectly to be healthy, but you do want to make choices that help you to feel energized.
Gentle Nutrition Practice:
Explore how foods make you feel physically when you eat them. If you have that extra piece of cake, do you feel satisfied or do you feel overfull and uncomfortable? Paying attention to this information can help make eating choices easier. If you know ice cream will make you feel bloated, you might have an easier time choosing not to eat it. This awareness can help us to override our cravings and choose foods that actually make us feel healthy and strong.
What is your favorite everyday meal? Does it leave you feeling sustained and satisfied?
Why do you make certain food choices? Is it motivated by what might be healthiest for your body? Are your choices motivated by emotion? Understanding your motivations can help you make informed rather than impulse choices.
