Health & Fitness
What Do You Want Your Diet to Do for You?
It's the time of year when many of us are thinking about what we eat and what changes we might want to make. When you think about your diet, ask yourself, what do you want it to do for you?
“If you don't know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.” Lawrence J. Peter
‘Tis the season to think about your diet...or so it seems. In the midst of holiday festivities, many of us hear the voices in the back of our minds saying “Another cookie...really?”, or “I wonder how many calories are in that eggnog.” Some are approaching the years’ end with designs on a different approach to food in the new year, as in, "I'm going to try the vegan thing now."
Still others are looking to adopt modifications as a result of social, dietary or ethical concerns. These changes could include a reduction of meat or dairy, perhaps including more organic or local foods.
Before you jump in, you should think about your goals. Ask yourself some questions; What do you want your diet to do for you? How will you know if you've made the right choices? What will you do if this change doesn't bring about the results you want?
With respect to your diet...and life...when you create goals and think them through, they help sustain you through difficult times and give you a longer-term road map so that you don't get "lost" along the way. Whether it’s weight loss, food allergies, better digestion or more energy, have a clear goal in mind and a plan to help monitor how you feel along the way.
Weight loss is an easy goal to monitor, but what about wanting more energy? How do you know if you are doing the right things to support that goal? Keep a food journal and record what you eat and how you feel afterward. It’s likely that you’ll only need to keep it for a few weeks since most of us tend to have repetition in our diets based on seasonality and preferences. You’ll start to see quickly which foods are your friends and which are your foes.
Be aware that on day 3 (or day 1 or 2!) of any new diet, you might feel like reverting to old habits...what will you do then, what's your strategy? Did you think through how your change in diet would impact your shopping, prepping and cooking? What foods have you added to your pantry and which ones have you removed? What about your family, are they on board with you and eating the same foods (often they are not, and that's ok) but how will you shop, cook and eat together. Think that through so that you are not frustrated or tempted to toss it all aside because your family is having pizza night...again.
Be prepared to explore and adapt because just as each person is different and so are each person's conditions, emotions and dietary needs.
What Your Diet Should Do for You
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In general, your diet should make you feel GOOD! When you are eating in harmony with your body and with your environment, it should feel like swimming with the current, not against it. If every meal is torture in terms of preparing and eating -- then you are doing something wrong.
Your food should taste delicious to you, it should make you feel nourished, "clean" and satisfied. It should provide you with enough calories and nutrients so that you can maintain a healthy weight and energy level. It should help restore your health if you have been eating a diet that has robbed you of your vitality, caused you weight gain and bestowed upon you one or more issues like; like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, chronic indigestion, reflux or diabetes.
Your diet should NOT prevent you from doing your normal activities, it should not cause health problems. Eating a diet that works for you would mean you wouldn't feel bloated, irritable or otherwise unwell after eating. In terms of your emotional well-being, your diet should not make you feel anxious, depressed, stressed, guilty or deprived.
Food and eating should delight all of your senses and should bring you joy. If your diet isn't, then maybe it's time think about why it's not and consider some changes.
One thing about changes though...if you don't know where you're going, you probably won't get there, at least without a lot of trial and error. In making dietary or life changes...spend some time thinking about what your goals are and then set about putting a road map into place to ensure you arrive arrive at the destination you envisioned.
