What Should I Eat Today?

There is so much conflicting dietary advice out there.  Is fat bad for you? Should I go gluten free? What about cutting out dairy? Does diet coke count as healthy because it’s less calories? It can be overwhelming and contradictory and make it seemingly impossible to answer the simple question, what should I eat today?

The media offers up conflicting evidence on what we should eat based on the latest (read: does not mean best) scientific finding.  We hear that low fat is good for us and is the way to lose weight. Then we hear that sugar is really the culprit, and fat is ok.  They tell us that all carbs are bad but we hear that whole grains might be a healthy option. We hear a report that coffee drinking can cause cancer and in another report hear that it is harmless and can be beneficial to health. UGH, it’s confusing.

The truth is, it is SO much more simple than all that.

Instead of listening to what “they” say, it’s a good idea to start looking within.  We innately know what makes us feel good and what makes us bloated, sucks our energy, and gives us acne.  The problem is we have lost our ability to really tune in to what is happening in our own bodies so we think we don’t have any answers ourselves. But we can get it back! In the meantime I’ll give you some clues…..

Eat real, whole foods and lots of vegetables.

By real, whole foods I mean food in its most natural state.  This means foods from nature like fresh fruit and vegetables, nuts, beans, meats and fish, and not foods that are refined, processed, or that contain added ingredients.  And a variety of fresh vegetables should be consumed on a daily basis because of their amazing nutritional benefits. 

It’s very empowering to realize that we do not need to rely on the media, or outside sources to tell us what real, whole foods are. We treat nutrition as a medical specialty and we are highly vulnerable to every study that comes along because we are relying on others to tell us what to eat.  We believe that you have to be nothing short of a genius to figure out what to put in your own body.  That's a lot of pressure!

The thing is, our bodies already intuitively know what these foods are and naturally thrive off of their fuel. And guess what, you already are an intuitive genius, coooool! We just have to retrain ourselves to start listening to what our gut is telling us.

And right now you’re all, “No, I really don’t know what to eat, help me.”  One really helpful way to start the process of tuning in to understand what your body is telling you is to do a three day food log. Write down what you had for every meal and snack, and what symptoms (if any) you had afterwards. It’s a great way to start to pay attention to things you usually ignore like bloating, nausea, cramping, excess gas or pain. This is a great first step into strengthening the connection between what we put into our bodies and how we feel.  And we go from there! It's a total journey, so be patient with yourself :)

Want to find out more about how we can work together to figure out a food plan that works best for you? Click the button below to schedule a free discovery session!

xx Christina Tidwell, MN, RN