Nutrition: Where Do I Even Start!?

If you tuned in to my last couple of blog posts, you might now be wondering where the heck to start.  If you missed those posts, you can start here then head over to this one!  Now let’s jump in so you can get started right away!

First, I need to say this: a health journey is very individual.  I am going to give some blanket suggestions below, but you will need to decide where it makes the most sense to start. And as always, if you need more help with this, book a free call with me to learn more about coaching and how it can help you achieve your goals.

Below is going to be a series of suggested starting points.  Rather than try to tackle them all at once, pick one to start with and once you get more comfortable with that, you can come back to this post and try to incorporate another one.

1. Liquids! One possible starting point is with what you are drinking.  It is very easy to consume a lifetime’s worth of sugar in just one drink from Dunkin or Starbucks or Cumbie’s.  First, start by increasing your water intake.  Just plain water.  Ideally, not from a plastic bottle, but one step at a time. Your next step will be decreasing sugary (or fake sugar) beverages.  So soda, juice, sugary coffee drinks, slurpees, gatorade etc.  (If you need an electrolyte sub, try my favorite LMNT).  Unfortunately, the list is very long of drinks that you should not be putting in your body.  Just so you don’t think I am this lofty person who has never gone through this before, let me tell you about my experience with this.  When I was in middle school I drank Coca-cola daily.  So much so, that if I didn’t have it, I had a massive headache. One time I forgot my lunchtime can of coke and had to beg a teacher to get me one out of the teachers vending machine.  In any event, one day in high school I quit cold turkey.  I just plain old stopped.  Once I got to drinking age I did start to drink Captain and Coke again or other drinks that contained sodas.  Several years ago, I stopped drinking those beverages altogether. But the stories around liquids don’t stop there!  Once I started drinking coffee, I started with Dunkachinos.  Do you remember those?  Do they still have those??  Anyway, I eventually progressed to drinking real coffee loaded with sugar, cream and/or those horrid coffeemate creamers.  If you currently use those creamers, let that be your first elimination!  I also was a big fan of Dunkin’s pumpkin spice coffee which I just won’t touch now. Anyway, once I learned that these added chemicals and sugars were bad for you I started to transition to just cream and added sugar, then I subbed the sugar for real maple syrup.  Then I ditched the maple syrup and just used cream.  FINALLY, I just went black.  And I KNOW, I KNOW!! Y'all are freaking out right now.  It takes about a week to get used to and you will never go back.  Coffee is actually quite good for you when you drink it black.
2. Fast Food! I get that it feels really convenient to grab McDonalds or Wendy’s after the kids soccer game.  I grew up in a town with a McDonald’s and when I had to be to work at 630am during college I often was in the drive through grabbing a couple of those delicious breakfast sandwiches, you know the ones that tasted sweet and maple-ely??  I also frequented Wendy’s in the evenings grabbing a fried chicken sandwich with nothing on it but a slice of cheese. And french fries of course and ya know an occasional frosty.  Guys, fast foods are never healthy.  Even the healthy options are likely to have those highly inflammatory seed oils (think salad dressing).  So if you had to, yes, opt for the salad, but likely you don’t have to.  It’s a mindset shift.  It’s about being prepared for meals instead of having nothing thawed or cooked and leaving you with little options for when life is hectic.  Not going to fast food places will also help your wallet; you’re welcome.  At first when I stopped going to fast food, I would still go once or twice a year.  Now, I do not go ever.  I know that it is not good for me and I know my body will revolt if I put that crap in my mouth.  Let me give you some alternative options.  I personally LOVE my crock pot and it saves me soooo much time.  There is nothing better than coming home to a beautifully cooked meal that you spent 5-10 minutes putting in the crock pot.  One option is putting chicken in the crock pot and covering it with water.  It will cook and be ready to shred.  You can then make it into chicken salad, buffalo chicken, BBQ chicken, tacos and the list goes on.  You can also cover the chicken with salsa instead of water and make a delicious salsa chicken that is easy to throw on a salad.  Chili is a super hearty and easy to make thing in the crock pot as well.  Check out Skinnytaste’s quick beef chili.  Sheet pan meals are also a fave of mine because you put everything on one sheet pan and it takes about 30 minutes.  Check out Eating Bird Food - she has lots of sheet pan meal options.  Both skinnytaste and eatingbirdfood have quick meal options.  The bottom line is, having a plan for what you are going to eat for your days or week ahead will vastly help you avoid that fast food line.
3. Processed foods!  If you find yourself in the grocery store buying frozen chicken nuggets, frozen pizzas, that crappy chicken cordon bleu that I used to love, hamburger helper, rice a roni, spaghettio’s (do they still make those?! My meme used to tell me I was going to turn into a spaghettio.), swiss cake rolls, mini muffin bites, cereal and the list goes on - you have got to stop.  I know they feel convenient just like with fast food.  It is just a mindset shift.  Again, having a plan for what you are eating and when is going to make this a lot easier.  And if you have kids, yes, especially depending on their age, you are going to have a bit of a battle on your hands.  Bring them into the health conversation (without scaring them) and let them be a part of the plan and prepping.  If they have skin in the game they are a lot more likely to be cooperative.  If you need some tips and tricks for raising kids in this world where they are fed sugar for every meal, check out Kelly Leveque AKA Be Well By Kelly.  She does a lot of kid friendly content and posts what she is feeding her kids all the time!  She also talks about not making a big deal if they do go to a party and eat the cake or if they are out and they have french fries and how she pairs that with healthy habits. The sky is the limit with different subs or tricks.  You can make a healthy protein smoothie thick so it’s like pudding or make it like a milkshake if they like a milkshake at the end of the night like I used to.  You can make french fries in the air fryer with real potatoes. You can make meals that hide veggies in them (like SkinnyTastes Sloppy Joe recipe).   You might need to ease your way into this one - this isn’t necessarily a cold turkey one especially if you have this stuff as part of every meal every day.  And remember, I have made the changes to my diet slowly over years as I learned more and more about nutrition. If you can cold turkey, great, but if not, do not beat yourself up.  Just continue to make slow and steady progress toward a processed free diet.
4. Walking!  Walking is one of the best things you can add in!  Especially if working out is not something you do regularly, or is not something you enjoy or you hate the idea of the gym.  Just start walking.  10 minutes at a time especially right after meals can have a huge impact on your health both physically and mentally.  Maybe walking while your kid is at soccer practice and/or going for a family walk before school or after dinner.  Whenever you can sneak these in is going to be so beneficial.  And may I suggest doing this without being on your phone?  Although, if you are having a phone conversation while at work, it is not a bad time to get up and walk around!  

These 4 areas make great starting points, but like I said, pick one and slowly work your way through it.  These are big, general areas and depending on how you and your family eat right now, it might take some time to transition to a healthier lifestyle.  Just start slow and set yourself some goals.  You might also make the changes to your food more quickly than the rest of the family so they get the benefit of seeing how you have changed.  And with kids, leading by example is a big deal.  Getting them to take part in the picking and preparing of the food is a big deal (y’all know you can’t tell kids what to do 😆).

Still need help? Book your free call with me today to see if my 4 week coaching program is right for you.  Take the guesswork out of it and let me save you time and frustration!