Spring can be a very exciting time! The nights are getting lighter, longer and warmer, we fire up the BBQ again, and the first flowers begin to bloom. It’s a time to start reflecting on the year and look forward to summer.
However, for some, the pre-summer season brings on complicated feelings of food guilt and can encourage unsustainable eating habits that might not have you feeling your best. If you find yourself trying a restrictive summer diet each year, only to feel out of control with food later in the season – this year, challenge yourself to try something new and focus on building achievable and health promoting eating habits that can last a lifetime!
Catherine, My Food Bag’s Dietitian, gives her do’s and don’ts of the ‘Nearly Sunny’ season
Do: Focus on what you can eat, not what you can’t.
Healthy eating should be positive. At meal times, think of creative ways to hero a wider rainbow of vegetables, whole grains, fibre, healthy fats and pack in flavour with herbs and spices. It’ll set you up with a more positive mindset, help you feel satisfied after meals and make mealtimes something to look forward to.
Do: Play around with portion sizes
The plate model recommends making up a meal with ½ a plate of veggies, ¼ plate unrefined carbohydrates and ¼ plate lean proteins. I often reflect on whether I’m achieving this, and if I do or don’t, how I feel. Play around with portions of each to see how you feel after the meal.
Do: Make healthy twists on your favourites
Diet culture can tell us that our favourite meals are a thing of the past – I disagree! I always recommend getting creative, and trying out healthy twists on classics instead. For my nachos, I tend to favour greek yoghurt over sour cream, focus on a punchy fresh salsa for flavour and add a smaller amount of lower fat cheese.
Do: Focus on your fitness and strength
Getting fitter and stronger is a fantastic, positive goal that helps us to appreciate our bodies for all they can do – not just how they look! Set a few fitness goals for the season, and smash it out of the park.
Don’t: Feel pressure to cut out food groups
Dietary variety is an incredibly important part of diet quality. Unless you feel better for it, I never encourage cutting out food groups. It can leave you feeling dissatisfied, make socialising challenging, and may mean you’re missing out on important nutrients. Instead, try to focus on eating a wider variety of nourishing foods from all the food groups.
Don’t: Get too bogged down in the numbers
Our bodies are incredibly complex, and not all of our needs are the same. Whilst counting and number crunching can be an interesting objective insight into our dietary habits, they’re not the be all and end all and can sometimes make it difficult for us to eat socially, and spontaneously. Calorie counting isn’t for everyone and it certainly isn’t the only way to eat well.
Don’t: Go cold turkey on your favourites
If you can’t live without chocolate, don’t try to. I often see people overeat a favourite, in order to prepare for their diet, only to then overeat it again after the diet is over.This yo-yoing can wreak havoc on our mental health. If you find yourself in this position, my advice is to practice (and it will take practice!) eating smaller amounts, when you like, rather than an all or nothing approach.
Don’t: Use weight as your only measurement of success
There are so many ways to measure progress, and choosing a non-weight related one can make the journey much more positive. Try some of my suggestions here.
Equipped with these do’s and don’ts, let the season put a spring in your step! For more advice on beating diet culture, check out my blog on creating a positive relationship with food.
