4 Quick Tips for Healthy Eating, From an Intuitive Eating Dietitian

If you know me by now and have read my past blogs, you would probably know that these tips are going to be nuanced, shame-free and realistic. Sometimes you just have to feed the search engines exactly what they want, you know?

tip #1:

Eat within an hour of waking up.

I know that everyone has a different relationship with breakfast and being hungry in the morning. However, I am a big cheerleader for this tip for multiple reasons.

The why:

• It wakes up your metabolism and gets your energy going for the day.

• It helps to regulate your blood sugar after coming off an all night fast.

• It can help build the consistency of eating patterns by starting off your day with a meal.

• It can help reduce overeating/binging later in the day.

Tip #2:

Eat every 3-6 hours.

This is a general guideline and of course can be effected by what you ate last, how much, if you exercised, didn’t eat enough the day before and on and on. Even with all the caveats, this is a helpful cadence when you are starting to build in an eating routine. You can start by spacing out your meals and add in snacks as needed.

The why:

• It helps to keep your blood sugar from spiking or dropping too low.

• It helps keep your body regulated in knowing that you will eat at regular intervals (and build trust).

• It help keeps you hunger from becoming too intense, which could lead to becoming hangry, irritable, etc.

• It helps you with making the choices you want to make, whether that be meal planning or having a balanced meal rather than grabbing whatever is in sight.

tip #3:

Add, don’t subtract foods.

This is my favorite tip to give because it really supports the idea that there are no “good” or “bad” foods and you can still align with your health goals at the same time. For example, if you are wanting to eat more veggies, then add in veggies into your meal instead of replacing them with something else or thinking “I really should eat this veggie instead of xyz.” I have found with my clients but having the addition approach they still meet their health goals and overtime the foods balance themselves out without having to feel restricted.

The why:

• It decreases the feeling of restriction and helps with habituation/abundance mindset around foods.

• It supports the premise that there are no “good” or '“bad” foods (so important I said it twice).

• It helps thinking about food creatively rather than from a place of restriction.

TIP #4:

Slow down when eating.

I am reclaiming this tip from diet culture! This isn’t about chewing your food x number of times (ew), taking tiny bites or making sure that you take an hour to eat. This is to address something that I see so commonly in my work with people - they report eating meals really quickly (I’m talking minutes), sometimes standing up in the kitchen , etc. I feel this is a sign that you are eating in a stressed state, and a way that we can help our nervous system is to slow down the whole eating process. That means plating your food, sitting down at a table, and aiming for the meal taking at least 20 minutes.

You can also build to this! Start with setting a timer to see how long meals take you right now. Then from that starting point see if you can build up, adding a few minutes at a time. All the while taking deep breaths as you eat and really experiencing the food. This practice will help you notice your fullness and satisfaction cues, decrease stress and help the eating experience be more mindful and pleasant.

The why:

• It helps your body cue you that you are full and satisfied, if you quickly eat that can be extremely difficult to catch.

• It makes the eating experience more pleasant and less something that you have to “get it over with”.

• It helps you be more engaged in the eating experience and savor the foods.

• It helps you to learn more about yourself and your eating habits. Imagine trying to observe something that takes 3 minutes vs. 20 minutes.

•••

There we have it, my four tips! I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below, especially if you tried any of them out.

Also, if you’re feeling lost or like you don’t know where to start, I’d love to work with you on your journey towards food neutrality and improved health. I know that even quick tips like these can hold so much nuance, and sometimes you just need to talk out your personal situation with an expert!