HOW THIS ONE CHANGE IN MINDSET HAS HELPED MY CLIENTS…
THE IMPORTANCE OF ADDING IN
RATHER THAN FOCUSING ON WHAT YOU FEEL YOU SHOULD TAKE OUT
When starting out with a new client, they often ask what foods I will tell them to avoid, fearing the end of their favourite foods. Rather than focussing on what they should ‘cut out’, ‘eat less of’ or ‘eliminate’, which automatically makes one want to eat those foods and doesn’t support a healthy relationship with food, my first thought is always about what wonderful foods we can incorporate into their culinary repertoire.
When you shift the focus to what our body actively thrives off and all the delicious foods we need to provide the necessary macro and micro nutrients (proteins, fats, fibre, carbohydrates etc), clients soon reap the benefits in relation to blood glucose and hormone balance, digestion, energy levels and mood (just to name a few) throughout the day. All foods have a place in a healthy diet and relationship with food, feeling deprived does not!
In some cases, eliminating certain foods or food groups (e.g. nut allergy, lactose intolerance, coeliac disease etc) is recommended or chosen (e.g. following a plant based diet). This doesn’t mean that a high level of variety can’t be reached, it just takes a bit more work, preferably with a nutritionist, to ensure you’re getting the necessary nutrients elsewhere. However, I have seen many clients with nutrient depletions and deficiencies as a result of restricting their diet unnecessarily and eliminating food groups to be ‘healthy’ which can cause more harm than good.
So how does adding more in really help, especially if you’re concerned about weight management? Incorporating a wider variety of nutritious foods can not only supports our gut health but also our appetite, cravings, hormonal health (to name a few) which in turn is vital in supporting mood, energy levels and weight management too. Restricting and eliminating foods and food groups can often lead to the opposite effect.
This isn’t just specific to what we eat, but our lifestyle practices and habits too. What might happen if you focussed on adding 1 portion of vegetables to your evening meal, or a portion of protein with your afternoon snack, or brought your own breakfast into work instead of grabbing a pastry everyday? Alternatively, spending 10 minutes moving outside without your phone before work or noting down 3 things you’re grateful for each morning? These are all examples of habits you could add into your day that could not only enhance your physical health but your mental health too.
How many times have you heard someone dismiss healthy eating and living a healthy lifestyle as being deprived, or as being no fun, or having no fun. More often than not, it is because they are thinking about it in terms of what they will lose, rather than what they will gain. By incorporating variety and diversity into your meals, it is not just possible to feel great, it might even give you the headspace to start applying this thinking to all areas of your life. And then who knows what you might achieve!
