“Bite into a Healthy Lifestyle”

Registered Dietitian, Kelley Raetzsch offers tips on healthy eating for National Nutrition Month

March is National Nutrition Month® and this year’s theme “Bite into A Healthy Lifestyle” encourages everyone to adopt eating and physical activity plans that are focused on consuming fewer calories, making informed food choices and getting daily exercise in order to achieve and maintain a healthy weight, reduce the risk of chronic disease, and promote overall health. Our Registered Dietitian at BSWRTC, Kelley Raetzsch, has some simple tips to take the first step towards good health!

Listen to your body. When you have an urge to eat, ask “Am I Hungry?” Diets will often tell you when to eat, how much you can eat and what to eat. This will usually disconnect you from your natural ability to regulate hunger and fullness. Typically, a diet will leave you feeling deprived, which then leads to overeating. You know your body better than any diet does, so start listening!
Put your fork down. It takes about 20 minutes for the brain and stomach to communicate that you may be satisfied. Make sure you give yourself time to feel your fullness -this will help prevent overeating.
Consider your perspective. When exercise is used to “burn off calories”, it can lead to obsessing about food, calories eaten, and calories burned. This can also disconnect us from our body and its’ instinctive desire to move. Instead, make a switch to viewing exercise for the health benefits, mood stability, social interaction, and physical challenge it can give you! You will be sure to enjoy food and exercise to their fullest!
Plan and prepare. Sit down with a Registered Dietitian and figure out a pattern of eating that will promote health as you tune into your own hunger and fullness. Make some time to create a menu, even if it is just a couple of days or just dinners. This will save you from eating out too often or choosing poor quality foods when you are “just too tired” to make it happen. Also, prepare healthy snacks in advance so you always have great options available.
Take a look at your plate. A good visual is for about half your plate to be full of fruits and vegetables, ¼ – 1/3 protein foods (beef, poultry, eggs, beans) and ¼ grains/starches. Find the mix that works well for your hunger and any medical conditions you may have.
Tools not weapons. It is important to learn nutrition facts, including those found on food labels and ingredient lists. Also, it can be useful to know numbers, such as calories and your body weight. However, use these pieces of information as tools not weapons. Try not to bet caught in rules and rigidity that leads to constant thinking about food and body weight. Again, that will prevent natural hunger rhythms and likely lead to disrupted eating patterns, possibly an eating disorder.
Make an appointment! Bon Secours Registered Dietitians are here to help! Are you ready to be empowered with nutrition facts from the experts? Call your RD today! For more information or to schedule a consultation, contact Kelley at 285-8812 (Bon Secours Washington Redskins Training Center) or 285-8822 (Watkins Centre).