How To Eat Well Without Dieting
Nutrition is the foundation of health. Everything we consume provides cellular information for our bodies, informing our state of health or disease. As much as people may try, you can’t out supplement or out exercise poor nutrition. Your internal health and the health of your cells will always impact your overall wellbeing.
But when it comes to nutrition, there are a lot of opinions out there about which foods are “good” and which are “bad”. This creates patterns of food restriction, which are rampant in the wellness community. It encourages disordered eating and often leaves you feeling guilty about your food. As a passionate foodie, I’m very resistant to food guilt of any kind. I do not believe that food restriction is necessary in most cases. In fact, I believe that we can be well while consuming ALL the foods we enjoy. Here’s how: it’s called the Crowding Out approach.
First, focus on consuming all the foods you want to include in your day. By prioritizing these foods first, you will naturally crowd out some of the foods that aren’t serving you, but without restriction. For example, if you know you want to increase the vegetables in your diet, make a salad with each meal and eat it first, before you dive into the rest of your plate. For most people, they will feel relatively full after the salad. This will make it easier to choose health-promoting foods for the rest of their meal or eat fewer of the foods they know don’t agree with them.
Yes, food is medicine. I believe that statement deep down to my core. Changing my eating patterns saved me from over a decade of digestive pain and suffering. But food is also culture, pleasure and joy! To ignore this role that food plays in our lives is to ignore culinary history and truth. ⠀
So make a list of the foods you want to start incorporating into your day. The foods that nourish and fuel you. Then prioritize them - these foods first! What happens afterwards will depend on the day. But no matter what you will have already given your body the health-promoting foods it needs to thrive!
