Five Healthy Resolutions

Start your year off with a bang – of healthy advice!

Oh the nutritional ridiculousness that raises its ugly head at New Years.

Do you solemnly swear and sincerely resolve, yet again, not to eat so much chocolate, ditch the nightly alcoholic beverages and get really lean, you know, just like that ‘lorna jane girl’ or ‘crossfit guy’ striking a fit looking pose on top of a mountain?

We see half naked men & women, toned and chiseled, splashed through our news feeds promoting 12 week challenges, slim down programs, shakes, detoxes, juice cleanses, diets and everything in between. They all promise the body of our dreams and the inner wellbeing that we so desire. Their marketing strategies suck us in, with an impeccable argument and synergistic branding. The model on the advertisement just looks so… happy. And we all want to be happy.

Maybe you got a book for Christmas, “The 5 Secrets of the Lean”, and come New Year’s Day you are going to be that person.

Forgive me if I’m coming across as a little cynical and crabby. I’m just a little protective of my profession and when pseudo-science and false images are used to promote a product with absolutely NO scientific evidence to substantiate it, it makes me cross.

After many many years of talking to people about food, diet, getting lean and overall happiness, one truth rings the loudest: The answer is not in a product. There is no silver bullet.

A ‘skinny’ tea is not the solution you’re looking for. It’s honestly not (it’s a laxative that causes water to enter your colon triggering a large, runny bowel movement that empties you out, making you feel ‘skinny’). Please don’t use them.

The answer is not a 7 day juice cleanse. Apparently drinking only juices everyday for a week is supposed to purge your system of toxins. You feel headachy and nauseous and the leaflet promises that feeling this disgusting means that it’s working. Please don’t do this, your system doesn’t need detoxing.

Have you ever wondered why professionals with my qualification don’t endorse such products?

I ask you, ever so sincerely, to not do crazy this new year with the dieting. Embrace balance. I BELIEVE in balance. This is the answer that you’re looking for.

Here are five healthy resolutions we do recommend you adopt this new year:

Eat more vegetables every single day

Regardless of what else you eat, an intake of 5 serves of vegetables a day decreases your risk of death from heart disease or cancer by 20%. If you do nothing else with your diet in 2015, except this one thing, you’ll be doing AMAZING!

Fill half your plate with vegetables at as many meals as you can and you’ll easily hit the 5 serves a day target. Fresh, frozen, raw or cooked, it doesn’t matter, just start upping the vegetable ante.

Make smarter choices about your food

Our culture is so funny. We find out that highly refined carbohydrates in large amounts aren’t good for us, so we cut out an entire group of foods that contain carbohydrates, with serious sugar haters even cutting out fruit and some vegetables. Fear of carbohydrates is rampant. This is NOT what good nutrition is all about.

Instead of cutting out foods, just start making smarter choices. 6 slices of sourdough with butter is probably not so good, but 2 slices along with other nutritious foods at a meal is totally fine. Just because 6 slices is too much, it doesn’t mean the opposite is true. It’s the same with vitamins and minerals. Just because adequate vitamin C reduces the duration and severity of a cold, it doesn’t mean that taking 6 vitamin C tablets in one day, when you feel a tingle in your throat, is even better. You’re just gonna wee it all out.

Nutrition research is undeniably pointing to overall diet quality rather than individual foods and nutrients. We’re finding that too much fat is just as detrimental to your health as too much sugar. You can also eat too much protein and heck, even eating too many carrots will kill you. Your health is a reflection of what your diet is characterised by each and every day, not of the one meal you just ate.

Need some helpful ideas on food swaps? Click here.

Use your jaw and teeth more

I was recently watching a Nutri-bullet advertisement. You know the one, “It turns regular food into superfoods” (their quote not mine). Seriously, I won’t buy this product just because its marketing team decided that this was an OK statement to use in their advertising, because it’s not. I’m not joking. The Nutri-bullet (or any food processor or blender for that matter) does NOT do that. It claims to break food down to a cellular level and release all the nutrition. This is so bogus. Did you know that the human jaw, teeth and enzyme rich saliva has been doing this job FOR FREE for approximately 10,000 years or more? And it burns calories to do it! OMG bonus!

Chew your food in 2015. There are so many benefits. It slows down your eating, forces you to become more mindful and generally means you eat less. Did you know that 1 cup of almond meal is equivalent to 90 almonds. 1 cup of almond meal could easily be blended with coconut oil and 10 dates and smooshed into balls. You could probably eat those balls in a couple of minutes but could you eat 90 almonds, 10 dates and 1/4 cup coconut oil that quick?

Foods to chew whole often:

Vegetables
Fruit
Nuts
Seeds

I’m not saying that you can’t blend or process anything, these appliances definitely have their place. Just don’t purée or smoothie up everything you eat. Give your teeth a chance, they won’t let you down.

Choose whole foods

How do you know if a food is ‘whole’? Nothing has been added and nothing has been taken away. Whole foods often grow on trees (plants, shrubs, vines, etc) or they come straight from an animal. Another way of looking at it is:

The less done to your food, between the farmer and you, the better.

Tim Tams don’t grow on trees. Neither does protein powder. Coconut oil has been extracted and concentrated from coconut flesh and butter is the fat part of the milk, concentrated and whipped with salt. These are not whole foods. Can you eat them? Of course you can, but don’t be deceived. Protein power is just as processed as a Tim Tam, and would I class eating multiple Tim tams everyday as a healthy habit? No I would not. I would not use coconut oil any more frequently than I would use butter, which is in small amounts. I would also not eat protein powder any more often than I would a Tim Tam (or other baked goods), which would be very occasionally.

Oh good lord they do! Image credit: https://www.thisismango.com.au/projects/tim-tams/

Want to eat good quality sources of protein? Eat eggs, tuna, chicken, steak, milk, among other things. Whole foods.

Want to eat good quality sources of carbohydrate? Eat lentils, chick peas, beans, potatoes, whole grains. Whole foods.

Want to add flavour to your food? Add lemon, garlic, chilli, ginger, herbs and spices. Whole foods.

Want to snack healthily? Eat fruit, yoghurt and nuts. Whole foods.

Remember, it’s all about balance and what your diet is characterised by. Processed foods have their place but it’s as an accessory to your diet, not the main event.

Update your kitchen skills

One of the biggest barriers to healthy eating in Australia is a lack of skill in the kitchen. You might have all the good intentions and all the nutrition information in the world, but if you can’t translate that information into a meal on your plate, 3 times a day, 7 days a week, that tastes good, that the whole family enjoys, that doesn’t cost too much and take too much time, then WHAT IS THE POINT?

This picture of bliss could be you.

Get some skills. Learn how to cook better so you can cook meals that are not only healthy but taste great too. Learn about the proper storage of fruits and vegetables so you have less food wastage.

The Healthy Eating Clinic’s kitchen consultation program kicks off on the 18th January 2016! They’re not about teaching you how to create a soufflé or fondue (as nice as that may be) but about how to put a 15 minute meal on the table for dinner or what to do with leftover food or how to create things in bulk, or what to make for your kid’s lunch boxes.