“I can’t believe I ate the whole thing,” was a campaign slogan many years ago for an antacid company. The woman in the commercial was bloated, uncomfortable, and very sorry she had eaten so much. If you are trying to lose weight, you’ve probably had times when you totally regret how much you ate. If you experience regular episodes of regretful eating, consider this: You will rarely be sorry for saying, “No” to excess food. In fact, learning to turn down unnecessary or unhealthy foods is a great skill to have for long-term weight maintenance.
Regretful Eating Defined
Regretful eating is a term I came up with after I finally lost all my weight. It means being sorry, or regretful, for eating certain foods or a large amount of food.
Here are two real life examples of regretful eating:
Scenario #1:
You are sitting at home watching television at night. A commercial for ice cream comes on and you start thinking about ice cream. Instead of reminding yourself that you’re done eating for the day, you get off the couch and head for the kitchen. There’s no ice cream in the freezer but there are some cookies for your kid’s lunch. You eat one, then another, and before you know it – you’ve had five or six. You immediately regret having cookies you didn’t even like or want.
Scenario #2:
You and a few of your friends are out for dinner after a rough day at the office. At first, you had good intentions of ordering a salad and fish but after hearing everyone else’s orders, you decide to go for the fried sampler platter and a dessert. After all, you deserve it. As you head home, you are sorry you didn’t stick to your original plan and have something that fit with your diet.
The Cure
The cure for regretful eating isn’t to internally berate yourself and make yourself feel bad for eating too much or eating foods you don’t want. That doesn’t do you any good.
The cure is simple. You’ve got to harness the power of saying, “No.”
Regretful eating may stem from emotions, habits, or the pressure of social situations. Regardless of the cause, you can stop experiencing the regret of bad decisions by learning to say, “No.”
It’s not easy but it’s a surefire way to fix regretful eating and a skill you get better at over time.
The Application
When faced with tempting food, you have a few choices.
1. You can eat as much as you want.
2. You can turn down the food completely.
3. You can have a small portion and then walk away.
All of these choices require a decision. Number one is probably going to make you sorry later, while two and three are healthier choices.
To avoid choosing number one, tell yourself, “No, I’m not going to pig out right now. There is nothing so special about that food that it’s worth blowing my diet for.” And then if it doesn’t stick the first time, repeat that phrase to yourself again.
You’ll Rarely Be Sorry
I was much more sorry for overeating than I ever was for making healthier choices and telling myself, “No.” In fact, I can’t think of a time when I regretted making the healthier selection.
At the end of the day, food you choose to reject one day will still be there the next day. You can always have it later when you are in the mindset of making a more careful and deliberate choice.
Consistency is often the difference between success and failure. Think about it. Saving money requires consistency. Running a marathon requires consistent training and in order to lose weight, you’ve got to be consistent in your food choices. If you struggle with inconsistency in your diet, I’ve got some ideas you can apply to be more consistent in moving toward and finally reaching your weight loss goals. What is Consistency?
The American Heritage Dictionary of English Language defines consistency as “reliability or uniformity of successive results or events.”
Consistency in weight loss is doing something in a similar way day-by-day that results in pounds and inches dropped over time.
I’ve known a lot of people who lose a little bit of weight and then begin gaining weight again. It’s not because they suddenly lost their ability to lose weight but because they stopped making the choices that initially gave them success.
Consistency in weight loss has five components:
Know what lifestyle choices bring results.
Accept that progress may be slow at times.
Be aware of situations where you make the wrong or less ideal choice.
Take steps to bring consistency back to your diet when you begin to falter.
Repeat choices that bring good results.
What Causes Inconsistency?
The answer to this question depends on the person. For me, I often became inconsistent in trying to lose weight when I became frustrated with how slowly the pounds came off. Other people lose their focus because of upheaval in their lives, holidays, criticism from other people, social events, or emotional eating.
It’s important to know when you start your diet that life will throw you some curveballs. While they are not always fun, learning to stay consistent with your diet will help you later when you are trying to maintain your loss. After all, life’s inconsistencies vary day to day and year to year. How Consistent Do You Need to Be?
The people I know who have successfully lost their excess weight and kept it off are those who were more consistent than not. They weren’t perfect but they had an overall consistency that allowed them success.
From personal and anecdotal experience, I know being consistent with your healthy diet at least 80 percent of the time almost always allows you to lose weight. Of course, the more consistent you are and the less you cheat on your diet, the quicker your weight loss will be. What Are Some Ways to Be More Consistent?
I get that it’s one thing to say, “Be more consistent,” and quite another to apply that principle. To that end, here are 10 ways to be more consistent in your diet.
Have a routine for food planning and preparation.
Shop for food at regular intervals such as once a week.
Track your calories and exercise at least five days a week.
Take a few minutes each day to assess how you are doing.
Acknowledge the life events that are playing a role in your dieting struggles.
Be okay with a few inconsistencies or mess-ups.
Be patient with yourself as you develop new routines. It takes time for new habits to stick.
If something isn’t working, change it.
If you slip back into old eating habits, get back on track as soon as possible.
Focus on changing a few behaviors at a time instead of changing everything in your life at once.
Salty nuts, sweet granola bars, small bites of cheese, and smoothies are all common snacks you might choose when you are dieting. But are those snacks helping you lose weight or are they killing your diet? I love a good snack as much as the next person, but I learned very quickly that too much snacking led to very little weight loss. Find out whether your snacking habits are slowly killing your diet.
The Reasoning for Snacks
Many diet gurus and nutritionists recommend adding one, two, or even three snacks per day into your diet. For example, the Mayo Clinic website says, “Well-planned, healthy snacks can complement your weight-loss plan.”
I understand the reasoning behind the recommendation of snacking.
1. Reducing your calories to a weight loss level makes you hungry and snacking takes the edge off that hunger.
2. Good, healthy snacks can add nutrients to your diet.
3. Some studies have suggested that snacking can increase your metabolism slightly, which may help with weight loss.
Even though I understand the reasoning, the results of snacking can be disastrous for some dieters. I’ve had clients who just couldn’t understand why they weren’t losing weight. In examining what they were eating, the problem wasn’t their meal choices, portion sizes, or lack of exercise, but snacks.
The Numbers
Would you be surprised if I told you that a government survey found that men took in an average of 586 calories from snacks and women took in an average of 421 calories from snacks every single day? Even I was a little bit surprised at that number because that’s a lot of calories from snacks.
To further drive the problem with snacking home, the same survey found that the average person got almost 25 percent of their total intake from snacks and 17 percent of Americans ate 40 percent of their calories from snacks.
Let’s break that down:
If you are trying to eat a 1,200 calorie diet to lose weight and fall into the typical category of eating 25 percent of your calories from snacks, that’s 300 snack calories each day. Guess how much you have left for regular meals? 900 calories. That’s not much.
The Reality
Snacking is permissible and can help some people. Eating between meals can curb your appetite but the behavior can also add unnecessary calories to your day. So many calories that you might stall any weight loss or even gain weight.
I was one of those people who easily ate 40 percent of their diet in snacks. Many of my clients were too. It’s easy to do if your snacks are high in calories like chips, smoothies, cookies, or ice cream.
But it’s also easy to eat way too many calories from healthy snacks if you aren’t careful. Take a look at this list:
Here are three possible scenarios for successfully losing weight that involve snacking.
1) Snack only when you are really hungry and pick a single snack that has about 100 calories. It’s okay to not have a snack at all and just eat three healthy meals. Don’t automatically assume you need a snack. You might not.
2) Plan to have one snack a day. The key word is plan. If you are eating 1,200 calories, your snack should only have 80 to 100 calories to leave room for meals that will fill you up. So, snack on a piece of fruit or a large serving of vegetables.
3) Count your snacks as meals if you are snacking more than once a day. Instead of thinking you are having three meals and two or three snacks each day, think about each eating session as mealtime. Because when you are eating five or six times a day, the calories add up fast.
For almost 10 years, my first thought when I woke up was this: “I promise myself I will not overeat. I will stick to my diet.” And by noon most days, I had already blown it. It’s a promise commonly spoken by people trying to diet and just as frequently broken as evidenced by the fact that so many people struggle with overeating. That’s why the majority of Americans are overweight or obese – they eat more than they need. If you want to break the cycle of eating too much and lose weight, you’ve got to understand why you overeat.
1. It’s There
Food is basically everywhere and its availability makes it easy to eat any time, any place, and in almost any circumstance. Make conscious, informed choices and don’t eat food from your office vending machine just because you have a dollar in your pocket.
2. You Like It
“But I like food,” is a common exclamation I hear. I like food too, but I learned to enjoy the foods I like in smaller quantities. There’s nothing wrong with loving food, but there is something wrong when too much food causes you to be overweight.
3. Habit
Some habits are good and some aren’t. Eating candy after dinner or automatically pulling through Starbucks to get your 450-calorie coffee each morning are bad habits if you want to lose weight. I made a chart of [linkbuilder id=”6510″ text=”bad food”] habits I wanted to break. It helped to see all my bad food habits written down in black and white.
4. Social Pressure
You may eat more food when you are around your friends who love to eat, and eat, and eat. If this describes your social group, tread carefully. Changing your eating habits around them can cause some friction. Be kind, but stay firm to your goals.
5. Complacency
If you’ve ever lost a few pounds and then started overeating again, you are falling into the complacency trap. As you drop pounds, don’t add more food back to your diet unless you are trying to find your maintenance point. Stay focused on your goal.
6. Frustration
I know it’s counterintuitive, but feeling frustrated with your weight loss progress can make you want to overeat. It’s almost like you are getting back at your own failure. Instead of letting frustration get you down, figure out what’s going wrong and fix it.
7. Rebellion
I used to head directly from my Weight Watchers meeting to the McDonald’s that was practically next door. I know now that I was totally rebelling against the fact that I had to diet. Of course at the end of the day, I was only hurting myself. Next time you find yourself inhaling food you know isn’t on your plan, ask yourself why. You may discover that you are rebelling against yourself.
8. Lack of Planning
If you plan and shop for your weekly meals ahead of time, you’ve always got what you need and are probably going to do pretty well at sticking to your diet. But if you don’t plan, you may overeat because you end up going out and those restaurant portions are just so big. Of course you don’t have to eat the whole portion, but it’s often what happens.
9. Emotions
No list of overeating causes would be complete without emotions. It’s probably one of the most common causes whether done from anxiety or boredom. Sometimes you can fix overeating from emotions by being more mindful of why you are overeating and sometimes a good therapist or counselor can help.
Let’s play a game of word association! If I say “probiotics,” you say…what?
You might say, “healthy,” “supplement,” or even “antibiotics.” But I’ll bet many would automatically reply, “yogurt.”
Yogurt is a particularly famous source of probiotics, but what if you don’t like it? Are probiotics really that important?
Well, yes. Not to sound hyperbolic or anything, but they’re possibly the most influential piece of the health puzzle that we are only just starting to comprehend. If you’re not convinced, this article is for you.
Probiotics are live bacteria that colonize in our guts, mostly the colon. We actually have 10 times more bacterial cells than human cells in our bodies!
However, if we aren’t diligent about caring for these beneficial bacteria, they won’t survive in our intestines, and the pathogenic (disease-causing) bacteria will start to take over. Unfortunately for us, the Western trifecta of chronically high stress, widespread antibiotic use, and highly processed, low fiber diets creates a hostile environment for these bacteria.
So, we definitely need a healthy gut, and one of the biggest ways we do that is by regularly populating it with probiotics.
Before you reach for that cup of yogurt, however, consider this:
Yogurt can be part of a nutritious diet, but too often it’s glorified, low fat, liquid ice cream. Plus, some people can’t or choose not to eat dairy, and others may simply dislike yogurt’s texture. For this last group, there are some non-yogurt, probiotic dairy products (kefir, yakult, and filmjölk) but you do still have to keep an eye on that sugar.
In reality, dairy is far from the only game in town.
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Sure, you could try a non-dairy yogurt, but these are often low in protein and high in sugar; or you could go for a supplement, but these are frighteningly unregulated and pretty expensive. There are much more exciting ways to get your probiotic fix! Fermentation is the process that turns milk into yogurt, and cultures across the globe have been finding their own ways to ferment foods for centuries that have nothing to do with dairy.
In Russia, they drink kvas, made from fermented beets or grains. You can buy it here, but many brands are little more than sugar water, so make sure you’re getting the real thing.
And of course, there is Kombucha, the fizzy, yeasty tea that anyone who’s anyone has tried. Its Chinese origins date back 2,000 years, and it’s still trending strong today. If you’re feeling brave, you can try making your own.
In Germany, there is sauerkraut (which actually dates back to the Mongols in China) and in Korea there is kimchi, both fermented cabbage. Be wary of commercial, canned varieties, as the bacteria don’t often survive the processing. Making your own is quite easy; or you can seek out craft varieties in stores.
Then there is fermented soy: namely, miso and tempeh. These products confer health benefits (including probiotics) beyond non-fermented soy products, like edamame and tofu. Miso can add a wonderful umami flavor to dishes, while tempeh offers a tasty alternative to animal protein.
But wait! That’s not all!
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We can kick back probiotic foods all day, ‘erry day, but if we don’t set up a nice, cozy environment in our colons for the bacteria to live, they won’t stay very long. This is where prebiotics come into play. Prebiotics are non-digestible plant compounds which stimulate the growth and activity of our little, bacterial friends. A lot of companies have isolated these prebiotics to fortify their products; you’ll see them in the ingredients list as inulin, lactulose, maltodextrin and wheat dextrin, acacia gum, arabinose, and fructo- and galacto-oligosaccharides. These ingredients may not be tolerated in large amounts, and besides, why not just get them from the foods they’re naturally found in?
You can find inulin in garlic, onions, and Jerusalem artichokes; oligosaccharides in bananas, berries, and legumes; dextrin in whole grains, especially wheat; and arabinose in nuts and seeds, to name a few.
Together, these probiotics and prebiotics are known as synbiotics because they’re far more powerful in combination than either one is on its own.
Healthy bacteria also thrive when you generally practice good self-care. Keep your diet high in fiber and based largely in whole, minimally processed foods. Find ways to destress and break from sedentary routines. Oh, and you might consider eating some high quality dark chocolate, because your gut bacteria may in fact be chocoholics, too!
To make a long story short: nope, you definitely do not need yogurt to have a healthy gut.
Sip on some kombucha while making your own sauerkraut. Stir some cocoa powder and sliced bananas into your oatmeal.
Basically, eat a high-fiber, plant-based diet, with a few fermented foods thrown in, and you (and your gut) will be just fine!
Grueling boot camps, borderline-religious adherence to food plans: we dutifully watch the energy going into and coming out of our bodies with zeal and determination. Calories in versus calories out, we are told. Basic math. Q.E.D. Problem solved.
Body weight, however, is not a simple, elementary calculation, and it’s high time we talk about another piece of the puzzle.
Chronic sleep deprivation is a bigger problem than you think.
Roughly 20 years ago (in 1998, to be exact), 35% of Americans were getting eight hours of sleep. In 2005, that number was down to 26%. Basically, one-third of Americans (and perhaps, at this point, even more) is chronically sleep deprived.
As much as I wish I could just go-go-go (think of how productive I could be and still have time for hours of Netflix!)…I can’t, and neither can you. Sleep is when we recharge: cells repair themselves; hormones circulate; and the brain gets a refreshing reboot. Without any sleep, we would literally die, and as it turns out, not getting enough of it throws us totally off balance, too.
Inadequate sleep increases how much energy we consume.
Partly, this is thanks to the lovely phenomenon of squashed impulse control that comes with the neurological consequences of even a mild to moderate sleep deficit (think, just a few hours). Suddenly, those kind of stale, generic doughnuts in the office break room that we normally don’t bat an eye at look like the holy grail of nourishment; or maybe it’s a glimpse of our kid’s candy stash that triggers us, or the smell of the fast food joint we walk by in the food court, or…
Whatever our Achilles’ heel may be, research has shown that if we’re running on even a smidge less sleep than is ideal, we’re likely to consume an extra 550 calories the next day. Five hundred and fifty! That’s an entire meal beyond what we would’ve otherwise eaten. Getty Images News / Joe Raedle
Impulsivity, however, is not the only reason we may find ourselves knocking back some extra bags of chips the day after a restless night. Our hormones are also affected, three in particular that could have a big impact on body weight. First ghrelin, an appetite stimulating hormone, increases so we find ourselves wanting to eat more and more. Next there is a decrease in the satiety hormone, leptin, which makes it more difficult for us to register when we have had enough to eat. Finally, insulin is dramatically impacted, leading to the kind of impaired glucose tolerance typically only seen in diabetics.
Oh, and cortisol also shoots up, which leads to a state of stress in the body, and do you really need to be reminded of all of the health consequences of living under chronic stress?
As if neurological and hormonal impairments weren’t enough, there are still more factors that drive up our energy consumption when we get a poor night’s sleep. Fatigue can be confused for hunger as our body desperately seeks the energy it didn’t store up from the night before. Plus, if you’re sleeping less, you’re awake longer, which provides more opportunities to eat. And though I’m sure someone out there reaches for an exact portion of dry roasted almonds or some organic, raw kale leaves during their midnight channel surfing session, chances are those late-night calories are coming from less than nutritious sources.
To add insult to injury, we also burn fewer calories when sleep deprived.
Did you think it could get worse? It does. Think about it: after a rough night of sleep, how likely are you to hit the gym the next day? If you do drag yourself there, how productive are you? Sometimes adrenaline can surge us through on that first day, but make a habit of it and our other self-care practices, including workouts, will suffer, too. Research shows that individuals who are sleep deprived are less likely to be physically active than those who get adequate sleep.
We can’t cheat sleep, so let’s do something about it instead.
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The exact amount of sleep needed varies from one individual to the next, but generally seven to nine hours for adults is the goal. Having trouble? Try out these tips from the National Sleep Foundation:
· Avoid daytime naps, especially after three o’clock.
· Avoid stimulants, including caffeine, nicotine, and yes, alcohol.
· Avoid large meals too close to bed.
· Avoid bright light (especially digital) at night.
· DO exercise more.
· DO get lots of early morning light.
· DO establish a sleep schedule and relaxing bedtime routine.
· DO create a sleep oasis that is cool, comfortable, dark, and reserved only for sleeping.
Getting into a routine with your sleep takes time, but it could very well be the one thing standing between you and your wellness goals. What have you got to lose?
There are plenty of nutrition myths out there, and working as a dietitian, I hear them all day long. Sometimes, I nod and smile, knowing it’s neither the time nor place to interject with my commentary but there’s one in particular that really lights my fire. It also happens to be the one that I hear most frequently:
“Healthy food is so expensive!”
False.
I wish that’s all I needed to say to placate my clients, but no one ever believes me right away. It is entirely possible to eat nutritiously without breaking the bank, and to prove it to you, I’ve gathered up some top, expert tips to show you how it’s done.
Before we get to that, though, there is one slight caveat to my argument. Sometimes, the higher quality option may, in fact, cost more. Companies may charge more for their antibiotic-free meats compared to their standard offerings, for example. And snacking on nuts is probably going to cost you more than picking up an economy-size bucket of “cheez balls” on super sale at your nearest savings club.
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However, the cost of a product is not solely incurred at the checkout lane of your preferred retailer. The foods we eat become a part of us and are great contributors to our overall well-being. As a fellow dietitian once lamented to me in exasperation: healthy food isn’t expensive—cancer is expensive; diabetes is expensive. If a diet full of on-sale soda and frozen pizza costs less at the grocery store, that doesn’t mean that relying on it won’t cost you in other areas further down the road. It also doesn’t mean that there aren’t environmental costs to various choices.
Of course, not everyone can afford grass-fed meats and organic almond butter. Fortunately, that’s not the only way to eat nutritiously! “Healthy” comes in many shapes, sizes, and, yes, budgetary constraints. So now, let’s get to what you really want to know: how to shrink that grocery bill without filling your cart with so-called “junk”!
Planning for Success
A meal plan may sound daunting, but it is one of the best strategies for eating well on a budget because it helps prevent over-buying and wasted food. If you’re new to meal planning, start small until you feel more comfortable. In making your meal plan, here are some tips to consider:
Watch the sales. Both Nikki Nies, a dietitian with the Christian Care Senior Living Center, and Savannah Thaler, a dietitian who runs Savvy Wellness and Health LLC, encourage clients to base their meals plans on their stores’ weekly circulars. These ads point out great deals on produce, unprocessed meats and seafood, whole grains, beans, and more.
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Keep it simple. Tackling too many new recipes can leave you buying new ingredients faster than you can use up the ones you already have. Thaler advises clients to “stick with a few go-to favorite [recipes] and then choose just one or two new dishes to try.” This also helps streamline meal planning so it’s less of a hassle.
Know your pantry. A disorganized kitchen is a recipe for accidentally buying something you already have, and spending money on a nice jar of peanut butter only to find three perfectly good ones stashed in the back of your cupboard is money you didn’t need to spend. Keep an organized fridge and pantry by clearly labeling leftovers and maintaining lists of staples you currently have versus what you need. Bring that restocking list to the store and stick to it.
Speaking of lists… Make one, seriously. I won’t say it’s never a good idea to take advantage of a deal you see at the store, but more times than not, it’s this kind of spontaneity that leaves us with four pints of Ben & Jerry’s and a guaranteed game of Tetris when you get them back home to your already packed freezer.
Use what you have. Nies loves The Pantry Challenge, which focuses on ingredients individuals already have as the foundation for their meals. When you use what you already have, you don’t need to buy much more than a few fresh ingredients (like veggies or maybe a protein) to fill in the nutrient gaps.
Choosing the Right Store for You
Some areas of the country have more options than others, but take some time to get to know which retailers are available to you so that you can make an informed shopping decision.
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Shop around. Although a part of me still daydreams of one day being wealthy enough to do all my shopping at pricey Whole Foods, I’ve learned how many healthy options exist at even bargain-based stores. It’s rare to find one store that will always have the very best deal on every single item on your list, but knowing which places tend to have the lowest prices for the things you need can help a lot.
Think beyond the supermarket. If you want to know the real threat to the traditional grocer’s bottom line, it’s not a brick-and-mortar store at all: it’s the online options. From Amazon to Thrive, consumers have a staggering amount of nutritious foods literally at their fingertips, making them especially helpful for individuals in areas of
the country with fewer retail options.
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Know when to be loyal. There are advantages to traditional supermarkets, though. Many offer discounts, register and digital coupons, and special deals throughout the year, especially tied to their loyalty cards. Every store has its own policies and benefits, so peruse your options and decide which one fits your needs best.
Get to know your store. Do they double manufacturer coupons? Do they take expired coupons or ones from competing stores? When an item is on sale do you have to buy a certain number to get the deal? What is their policy on rain checks? There’s nothing worse than thinking you’re getting a deal only to realize you didn’t read the fine print.
Store-Wide Tips
So you have your meal plan, shopping list, and store. You’re ready to shop! But first, there are some very important, broad-strokes pointers to keep in mind throughout the entire store.
Bigger isn’t always better. This is true when it comes to packaging and true when it comes to carts. Shopping carts at food stores are getting bigger, and with more room comes the subconscious urge to make it look full. Now, if you’re doing a larger trip, you might need a full cart; but if you know you only plan to buy a handful of items, opt for a smaller cart or hand basket.
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A deal isn’t always a deal. It’s possible for a brand to be discounted yet still cost more than a full-price competing brand. This is especially true when you compare on-sale brand names to their private label equivalents. Emily Holdorf, consulting dietitian and owner of EmPowered Nutrition, emphasizes comparing unit price and total price to determine the best deal. Katie Mulligan, a dietitian who works specifically with low-income families through the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program, adds that “a sale might look like a good deal, but not if you throw half of it away before you get a chance to eat it,” so only buy what you’ll use.
Put in some effort. You have two budgets: time and money. If you want the convenient option, you’re going to have to be prepared to spend more money. If you want to save money, you must invest more of your time. Chop your own veggies instead of buying them pre-sliced, make trail mix from raw ingredients, and portion snacks into bags yourself instead of buying individual servings.
Produce
We all know it’s important to eat more fruits and veggies, but it can be discouraging when they seem to spoil so quickly despite your best efforts. If you’re finding that your family just can’t manage to make it through your produce for the week, you can always buy less. In addition, there are plenty of other ways to save some green on your greens!
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Embrace ugly produce. Jenna Gorham, owner of Jenna Gorham Nutrition Counseling, steers clients toward discount produce racks: “Even if the fruit or veggies look a little past their prime, they can easily be frozen” to use later in smoothies, oatmeal, yogurt, stir-fries, or pasta. This emphasis on choosing “ugly produce” not only addresses budgetary concerns but also helps to seriously combat the rising cost of food waste in this country.
Stop buying blueberries in December. In other words, “buy in season…to save money and to enjoy more flavorful, nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables,” explains Irene Gardner, dietitian of IG Nutrition. She also recommends buying and freezing extra berries in the summer (when they’re on sale!) to last through the winter. Exactly what is in season at any given point can vary from one region to the next, but if I need a quick refresher, I love Williams-Sonoma’s online reference.
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Fresh isn’t always best. In fact, many dietitians (dare I say basically all of them?!) recommend frozen produce! Gardner explains that these products are “flash boiled to preserve color and then frozen,” keeping nutrients and fiber high. Plus, frozen fruits and vegetables are extremely convenient to keep on hand, one of the few exceptions to the rule that healthy convenience foods can’t be cheap. Philadelphia-based dietitian Brooke Mullen points out that they’re also perfect for winter, when fresh, in-season produce is less plentiful.
Protein
Proteins, especially animal-based ones, can really drive up a grocery bill. Beyond simply looking for good deals and sales as we’ve discussed above, it can be even more impactful to think outside of the box when it comes to the protein in your meals.
Look beyond the meat department. Dietitian duo Angie and John Lamberson stock up on proteins like canned salmon and tuna, peanut butter (go natural!), and even eggs. I also like to remind clients that even the “expensive” eggs ($4.50 a dozen) are still only $0.75 for two! (And you’re probably spending more to feed your Starbucks habit.)
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Use less meat. According to Mulligan, though meat is often the most expensive ingredient, you can stretch it by adding beans, lentils, chopped walnuts, and minced mushrooms to burgers, chili, stews, and casseroles. In general, we don’t need nearly as much protein as we think we do, and filling about one-quarter of your plate with a high quality protein should be plenty for most people. It can be hard to move away from that “meat as the center of the plate” mentality upon which many of us were raised, so consider starting with dishes like stir-fries, casseroles, and pasta where it’s more common to find meat as more of a garnish.
Or, forgo the meat altogether. Meatless Monday (or, if you’re feeling spunky, perhaps Vegetarian “Vednesday”?!) is a nice way to get your feet wet with vegetarian meals. Nies loves versatile tofu, which “costs an average $1-2 less than boneless chicken breast or pork.” Thaler recommends dried beans for protein, and even freezes hers once they’re cooked in individual servings to up the convenience factor, another tip that has become a staple practice in my kitchen.
Groceries
You may have heard to shop only the perimeter of the store, but that’s not to say that’s where all of healthy foods are! Dip into the aisles for healthy pantry staples, like beans, whole grains, nuts, and canned tuna.
Bulk up. Gardner loves to buy whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds in bulk. You can buy exactly how much you need so there’s no waste, you’ll get a great deal, and you’ll help the environment by reducing packaging, too! Remember, though, buying bulk in perishables in riskier, since if you can’t go through the full amount before they go bad, you aren’t saving yourself any money.
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Don’t overlook store brands. Store brands (“private label”) have really stepped up their game, so you don’t have to worry about getting an inferior product. In fact, I just about wax poetic about my store’s private label, all-natural peanut butter. That same store sells an organic brown rice whose fiber content knocks the socks off of every other brand on the shelf. You’ll also find private label rolled oats, quinoa, hummus, and frozen vegetables in my kitchen at pretty much any given moment. What many people don’t realize is that grocery stores hire regular food manufacturing companies to make these private label products, so pretty much you’re getting the brand name products you’ve grown to love for a discounted price, because private label doesn’t need to waste money on marketing or advertising.
Stop spending money on drinks. Juice, soda, and other specialty drinks are pricey and about as far from nourishing as it gets, but paying for plastic bottles of glorified tap water isn’t much better! Invest instead in a good, reusable bottle and a water filter. The planet will thank you, too.
Lastly, don’t be afraid to ask for help.
You aren’t alone, and you don’t have to do this alone. Government agencies such as WIC, SNAP, and the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program are all there to help! If you qualify but don’t apply, you’re missing out on free money that you could be using on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and more.
AFP / BEN STANSALL
If you don’t qualify for these government benefits, you still have options. Food pantries and other local organizations can also be of great assistance, and more and more they’re asking donors to consider the nutrient density of the items brought to them. There are even organizations like The Great American Milk Drive working to bring the more perishable items to donation centers across the country.
I know that there are stigmas against some of these assistance programs and organizations, but don’t let pride or principle stand between you and taking charge of your health. The odds can be stacked quite high against us at times through no fault of our own. If you’re following a lot of tips in this article and still struggling to make ends meet, you could truly benefit from these services. Shake off those feelings and accept the help that is so willingly being offered—people really do want to help!
AFP / BEN STANSALL
Maybe we can’t all afford organic kale and pasture-raised chicken, but luckily, we don’t have to in order to be healthy. Forget about flashy package claims and news headlines; go back to the basics, put in a little effort, and focus on putting one foot in front of the other. Everyone deserves to fuel their lives with good nutrition, and with little tweaks to planning, shopping, and cooking habits, everyone can!
Dietitians love bashing nutrition fads. We’re quick to point out, and rightly so, the dangers of the many that offer quick fix promises and miracle cures. Their side effects range from nausea and fatigue to actual malnutrition. Extreme ones can also disrupt mood and hormones, trigger adrenal fatigue, and slow metabolism, all while being unsustainable long-term and at times socially isolating due to their relentless rigidity.
But if I’m going to preach that there are no inherently “good” or “bad” foods, then it’s probably time I concede: there can be benefits to many of the trends I caution against so often.
Juicing
The Issue: Juicing strips fruits and vegetables of their fiber, leaving pretty much a big ‘ole glass of sugar (ok, and vitamins). Fiber is kind of a big deal when it comes to wellness, and few of us get. Besides, our bodies do not need help “detoxifying,” as many of the juice cleanses claim; that’s what our liver, kidneys, skin and entire immune system are busy doing all day long. The Silver Lining: Skip the cleanses, and instead incorporate small juice portions into well-balanced meals. If the juice is fruit heavy, go lighter on the carbs that meal, and make sure you’re getting fiber, protein, and fat elsewhere. For example, pair a small glass of fruit and veggie juice with whole grain toast and almond butter, or a large salad with nuts, seeds, or avocado (fats); tuna, chicken, hardboiled eggs, or beans (protein); and extra veggies (fiber).
Superfoods
The Issue: The term is unregulated, so it can be used by companies however they please. Plus, I don’t care how many antioxidants they have, throwing blueberries into a sugary, refined cake doesn’t make it nourishing. “Superfoods” set us up for unrealistic expectations, without considering how much needs to be consumed to see results (a lot), or if there are side effects of consuming that much (often, there are). The Silver Lining: Then again, if calling foods “super” makes people more jazzed about eating fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, and salmon, I really can’t complain! Go ahead and enjoy a diet rich in these foods (rather than relying on powders and supplements making those same claims), but don’t expect any miracles.
Raw Food Diets
The Issue: This diet can be low in certain nutrients, like protein, calories, vitamin B12, iron, calcium, and omega-3 fats. It’s also a lot of fiber, which can cause discomfort if the average Westerner dives into head-first. It’s expensive, time consuming, and can be socially isolating for some. Besides, some nutrients are more easily absorbed from cooked foods! The Silver Lining: You don’t need to go 100% raw to enjoy the benefits! This diet will automatically limit less nutrient-dense foods as well, like refined sugar, processed meats, and well, a lot of what we categorize as “junk.” Try filling half your plate at most meals with non-starchy veggies; rely more heavily on nuts, seeds, and avocado for fat than more processed oils; and only continue if you as an individual respond well to it.
The Paleo Diet
The Issue: I’ve seen plenty of Paleo dieters polish off entire cartons of ice cream because the rigidity of it all wore them down; if you can’t sustain it, it’s not working for you. Keep an eye out for nutrient deficiencies too, including calcium, fiber, and potassium. Lastly, this is not the new Atkin’s diet, and should not be viewed as a green light to load up on meat and restrict carbs! The Silver Lining: Many Paleo principles are solid, like limiting processed foods (cakes, candy, ice cream, chips, and fast food); and more home cooking. Be more critical of principles which don’t sound sustainable for you. If a food group doesn’t bother you, there’s no reason to eliminate it. I’m a big proponent of well-soaked beans, for example, and moderate amounts of whole grains, especially when sprouted.
Going Gluten-Free
The Issue: This diet is not associated with weight loss and so far no evidence supports its benefits for the average Joe or Jane. Gluten-free specialty products are expensive yet not necessarily particularly nutritious, often lacking fiber and riddled with fillers and binders. And of course, social gatherings and eating out become quite the challenge. The Silver Lining: By all means, incorporate more naturally gluten-free foods into your diet, like fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, beans, salmon, eggs, and even certain whole grains. But swapping Oreos out for gluten-free chocolate sandwich cookies won’t make most of us any healthier. Make sure you’re getting enough fiber, and further support that gut with probiotic-rich foods.
Look, honestly? Do what makes you feel good, but please make sure your diet is balanced and nourishing. If something stops feeling good, it’s probably not right for you, no matter what someone else says.
For the record, when someone says, “I’m organizing a trip to Maui; you should come,” unless that someone is a serial killer, the correct response is, “Yes!”
Yet when faced with that same proposition, I immediately launched the excuses: I’ve already committed my vacation time elsewhere; I always go to the Poconos with my family; I already went on a big trip this year, for Pete’s sake!
Then a thought occurred to me that made me pause: how many stupid, unimportant things do I say yes to every day? And now how quick am I to say “no” to something that deep down I genuinely want to do?
Less than a month later, I booked my non-refundable ticket from Newark Liberty to Kahului. I was going to Maui!
On Maui, I did so many things that I once told myself I couldn’t do and learned so much about myself and the broader scope of the world around me.
It never would have happened if I had listened to that first little voice, scared, pessimistic, and self-limiting.
Life Lesson One: We have a very narrow view of food.
Getty Images News / Bruno Vincent
Before Maui, I didn’t think it possible to get excited about a banana. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I like them; they’re sweet and make a killer “nice” cream. But those gargantuan Cavendish bananas upon which we “Mainlanders” rely pale in comparison to…basically every other banana variety in existence. I tried a lot of unfamiliar, “exotic” fruits and vegetables on Maui, but go figure, my mind was blown by a humble banana. (Okay, I also fell a bit head over heels for breadfruit, especially smeared with freshly ground peanut butter, but I digress.) When I waxed poetic about these ethereal bananas to my guide, all he said was, “You should taste the ones that grow in Nicaragua.”
It really is a shame that we are so underexposed to the immense diversity of natural foods. It not only leads to breeding efficient yet ultimately less flavorful crops, but it also threatens the sustainability of our agricultural system.
Life Lesson Two: Sometimes fear is just a bad habit.
Getty Images News / Win McNamee
As I stood clutching a rope swing, staring into the natural pool of water below because peer pressure cajoled me out of my play-it-safe, “I’ll just sit this one out” attitude, it hit me: I wasn’t actually afraid. I told myself that I was afraid. I sure acted like I was. But I actually had no fear of jumping in whatsoever. I was just so stuck in that rutted mindset of automatically rejecting something even remotely risky (and, let’s face it, fun) that I didn’t even consider the possibility that I might actively want to do this.
(Bonus life lesson: do not scream while simultaneously jumping into a pool of water, as all this gets you is a mouthful of not-so-appetizing river water.)
Life Lesson Three: Seek solitude.
Getty Images News / Christopher Furlong
Look, this trip brought some junk out of my closet for sure, but I found myself as the trip wore on getting particularly anxious and sensitive. Eventually I realized that I was clinging too much to the comfort of those around me, and that constant reliance on others was wearing on me.
I needed to be alone.
Solitude can feel daunting, but we all need to learn to sit comfortably with the truth of our own beings now and then, away from the comforting distractions of others. Holding our solitude sacred is, I believe, how we ultimately grow.
Life Lesson Four: Surfing is really f-ing hard.
Getty Images Sport / Buda Mendes
I mean, you have to know that going into it, right? But I’m an achiever. I’m good at what I do. I catch on.
Um, except not so much. I floundered: epically, thoroughly, and anything but gracefully.
I got knocked around, pulled under, and slammed into poor, unsuspecting other people. I struggled to maneuver the board, awkward and heavy beneath me. I felt, quite frankly, like a total A-hole, and every fiber of my being begged me to give up. End the humiliation. Go back to something I was good at.
In that moment, a part of me did give up. But anything new is hard, and surfing requires immense skill, strength, and practice. I was going to feel like a total A-hole in the beginning; that’s ok. We’re allowed to be bad at things. Things are allowed to be hard.
Life is about sometimes majorly sucking at something but finding a way to do it graciously and to enjoy the process. It’s about putting yourself out there anyway. Life is learning the difference between the inner voice that speaks out of habit and fear, and the one that has your back and helps you grow.
And so we’re clear, when someone who isn’t a serial killer invites you to Maui…go.
As we close in on the end of the year, many people begin to give up, slow down, or cruise on through knowing that at the beginning of the New Year they get a “fresh start.” However, I want to challenge you to think differently. I want to challenge you to finish strong—to attack the last few weeks of this year with the same power and hustle that you started the year with. Now is not the time to throw in the towel. Now is the time to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get after it.
1. Revisit your original resolutions or goals. Chances are pretty high that earlier in the year you made either a list of resolutions or goals that you wanted to accomplish this year. Take those out and look at them. How many have you stuck to or accomplished? Are there any that you abandoned that you could recommit to right away?
2. Write out a few end of the year goals. In addition to revisiting your goals from earlier in the year, could you write some fresh new goals that you would like to accomplish before the new year begins? Make these goals realistic and attainable with the time left in the year. This will help you keep motivated to move forward and not let anything slow you down.
3. You don’t need a date to start. Jan. 1 is just another day like any other. Yes, it’s an awesome time to remind us that we can set new goals and achieve new things, but there is no reason that day is any more special or purposeful in setting and achieving goals. You literally can set goals any day of the year. That same mindset is the one that is going to keep you focused to end the year strong.
4. How you end the year is how you start the year. The stronger you finish this year, the stronger you will start the new one. Want to put your best foot forward next year? Then really end this year as positive as possible! The more momentum you have now, the further it will take you later.
5. Get involved in a group. Nervous you won’t be able to finish the year strong with the holidays staring you down? Find others to keep you accountable. Join my DietBet challenge with friends and stay committed to ending the year fitter and stronger—both mentally and physically—than you started. It’s never too late.
