Finding Balance in Nutrition
I hope you have enjoyed tuning into my blog the past couple weeks! This week I am discussing, “finding balance in nutrition”. Side note: this will be different for everyone!! We all have different body with different goals, but I am going to make suggestions that a majority of you can apply to your own lives! Below I have included 10 suggestions on finding balance in your nutrition!
#1 Know the difference between being hungry and being thirsty
This was a huge turning point in my nutrition journey! I was eating great and exercising but wasn’t seeing the results I was hoping for! I learned I wasn’t drinking enough water. Once I started drinking more water, my urge to be eating lowered. I AM NOT SAYING drink more water to avoid meals! What I am saying is that water is an important part of your diet AS WELL AS the eating balanced and healthy meals. Try to recognize the next time you “feel” hungry, if you’re actually hungry or if you just need some water! This will create a huge shift within your health.
#2 Make your plate look like a rainbow
Eat the rainbow (not skittles)! Filling your plate with every color of the rainbow can create a healthy and nutrient filled meal. Eating the rainbow involves clean and plant based foods (strawberries, lettuce, carrots, etc). An example of this would be filling your plate would be eating a salad with chicken (green + protein) tomatoes (red), carrots (orange), with balsamic dressing (I count this as purple – up to you though). Finishing off the meal with a banana and blueberries (yellow and blue). It’s important to complete your rainbow with veggies and fruits!
#3 Eat breakfast
The most important meal of the day! Eating breakfast has many benefits. Eating in the morning helps improve your energy, weight management & concentration.
#4 Read labels
Reading food and drink labels is so important! Being able to understand what is in your food can help improve your nutrition. I will be posting a blog about how to read labels in a couple weeks…stay tuned!
#5 Plan ahead
Balancing your diet requires a fair amount of research and planning. Planning ahead can mean a couple of different things. When I am trying to eat healthy, I like to plan what meals I will be eating throughout the week. This will ensure I don’t make quick unhealthy meals or feel the need to go out to eat. I also like to plan my grocery list, what I will eat at a restaurant (looking before I go), as well as how I plan to stick to my nutrition plan.
#6 Don’t be afraid to ask for help!
Starting a new nutrition routine can be scary! Never be afraid to ask for help! Learning is a huge part of finding balance within your nutrition. Before I did research and asked MANY questions, I had no clue what balance within nutrition looked like.
#7 Do NOT rely on the scale
Many people today rely on the number looking back at them on the scale! I believe we should be happy within our own bodies not being happy with our body if it reflects a small number. Don’t get me wrong, a scale can be beneficial to use. I like to use my scale every other week. This helps me know if I am maintaining a healthy weight or not. I believe my reflection in the mirror is more beneficial then the number on the scale. Loving yourself doesn’t revolve around your scale!
#8 Clean out your kitchen
I do this very often! When I want to create a clean nutrition plan for myself, cleaning out my fridge and pantry is the first place I start. Buying ice cream or chips is bound to happen for me, however, when I start a clean eating plan I can’t keep these things around. It’s so easy to give in or “treat yourself” to junk food when it’s sitting around. When it’s not around, you’re less likely to be thinking about the unhealthy foods.
#9 Get your friends involved
I love to get my friends or family involved! When I’m trying to better my health, it’s easier to do when you have friends or family doing the same. You can hold each other accountable and encourage each other to reach your goals. When my friends have similar eating patterns as me, I am less likely to be tempted by going out for fast food, alcohol, etc.
#10 BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!
YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU PUT YOUR MIND TO! Know you are capable of creating a healthy balance within your nutrition. You will screw up and fail…this 100% normal! I screw up all the time, but I don’t let that stop me from creating a lifestyle to achieve my fitness and nutrition goals. I believe in you and you should believe in yourself too!
I hope some of the suggestions I included above are beneficial for you! Creating balance within my nutrition was the most important step in my wellness journey. I promise this will help you feel better mentally and physically!
3 Comments
Danielle Terrell
This is really helpful advice for someone who doesn’t know much about nutrition or finding the right way to balance their diet. I’ve done some of this stuff when trying to find a balanced diet myself and a lot of this proved to be really helpful. Great information!
Lissie Eichel
Hi Madison,
I first want to say I really enjoy the set up of this blog. It was actually really fun and easy to read, so that was enjoyable. But, I really like this content as well. I have been through periods of time where I eat healthy and then I get so upset when I am unhealthy that I kind of have just stuck to being unhealthy but I want to stop that. So, I find your blog really encouraging and I have already started using aspects that you have talked about in last blogs.
Keep up the great work, I can’t wait to read more (:
Jeff W
Eating a balanced diet is a lot easier said than done. However, with time, effort, and dedication, it can be achieved. This is something I’m currently trying to work on too since I really need to lose weight. I feel a good bit of advice I can give is to learn from your setbacks/failures and use them as inspiration to grow even more in response.