Finding Help with Eating for Resilience
Hi Byte Wellness Fam!
We’re rolling into another holiday weekend in the U.S., where we tend to pull out the grill and put something on it. As you know by now, what we put in our mouths during this long weekend can set the stage for our eating habits (and our wellness) far beyond these 3 days. Incidentally, a holiday is the perfect time to wrap up our conversation about finding the right eating balance to boost our wellness resilience. Replay the discussion from this week’s #PhyteWellWednesday Workshop here.
All our lessons about eating for resilience come to a head on a weekend like this because we’re reminded of the social and emotional value of food.
*If you need help sorting through food attachments in a balanced way, check out our recent #FridayFave: registered dietitian nutritionist Brianna Theus of The Celestial Life**
As my uncle recently pointed out, big events with family and friends are almost guaranteed to feature food. How many of the gatherings that matter to you include one of more special dish? Think of your favorite cake for birthdays, that one Auntie’s famous mac n’ cheese at the repast, you get the picture.
What’s more, most of us can point to specific foods (and recipes) that have become part of our emotional lives- bringing us a sense of togetherness and comfort through the best and worst of times.
It just so happens that many of these celebratory foods are the types we try to avoid in everyday life. They’re energy-dense, filled with starches and fats, and we worry that they just might counteract all the hard work we’ve put in to reach our wellness goals. But, we want them anyway…especially during the holidays.
So what do we do?
-Do we give up some of our favorite foods forever?
-Or do we eat way more than we think we should (and feel guilty about it for the next week)?
-Or, do we choose moderation and sample a little bit of everything?
It’s much simpler to figure out what to eat and how much when we ground the decision in the principle of balance.
So, how do we find eating balance? That's a journey that relies on expertise and intuition.
First, we can work with healthcare providers (like Brianna, above) to figure out what nutritional guidelines benefit us (based on our health risks like high blood pressure or type 2 diabetes). It might help to review our discussions on how some foods can be health resources (nutrient-dense foods), and others can pose health risks (energy dense foods).
Then, we can think about how food makes us feel. We factor in the social and emotional attachments to food, and we start to find some balance we can feel good about- somewhere between feeling completely deprived and totally over-indulgent.
That balance doesn’t look the same for everyone. But, our outings this long weekend are the perfect opportunity for us to feel our way into it.
Discussion Question:
When you reach for a snack, what food category does it usually fall into: plant, animal, or processed?
This might seems like a simple question, but try to answer honestly as you move through your day. Are you eating more of one category than you thought? Less of another? What impact could that have on your wellness goals?
Happy Healthy Living,
Dr. Wuse