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Eating Right – Where do you start?

by Maggie Davis

Individuals, couples and families consult me looking for help to lose weight, or to control their cholesterol or blood sugar. Sometimes people are surprised that I don’t hand them a printed “diet” sheet or prescribe a diet plan that dictates what they will eat for each meal and snack until they reach their goal. I explain that eating right is a journey rather than a destination. And my role is to help them determine where they are now and to plan how the trip will go forward. Taking responsibility for your own food choices means turning off the cruise control and keeping your own foot on the accelerator or brake. This process of self-discovery and the journey to health and wholeness needs to begin with getting in touch with not only your body, but with your heart and your soul as well.

As a Registered Dietitian, my mission and my ministry are to inform and inspire my patients and clients to adopt healthy lifestyles and to eat right. I find that most people do best making gradual changes that they can build upon rather than sudden strict “dieting” that can lead to unrealistic expectations, subsequent failure, and dangerous yo-yo attempts to go on and off the diet bus. Our “diets” are in fact the way we usually eat and should not be confused with medical diets that are sometimes necessary to treat serious medical conditions such as kidney failure or severe food allergies.

Making drastic sudden changes in the way we eat can send our body, mind and spirit into a collision course U-turn without giving us time to slow down and consider how, where and when we will make the turn. Our body’s metabolism may go into conservation mode and compensate for the dramatic drop in food by increasing our absorption and utilization of the food we do eat. Our mind may focus on the negatives of a reduction in food and the work that is involved in planning and preparing our meals and snacks in a different way. Our soul may be reluctant to really examine our behavior and the barriers that have kept us from eating or exercising in a way we know is healthy.  We may want to avoid the soul searching that is required to recognize potential emotional triggers that influence our eating.

To consume good food as part of a healthy lifestyle takes time and tailoring to the

Individual or the family. One reason many diet programs don’t work beyond the first few weeks is that they impose a particular way of eating, a narrow range of food choices, and very specific menus without teaching the individual the principles of selecting and enjoying a wide variety of foods.

I believe that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and that we should feed it accordingly – with love and respect. It takes us each being individually responsible for deciding what to eat, what we purchase at the grocery store or order in a restaurant or for take-out. We may not always have a choice of what is served when we are away from home but we can stop and consider which way to go when we come to this fork in the road…

So instead of looking for the next diet gimmick or weight loss pill, start to prepare for your own journey to health by pulling over to the side of the road and taking the time to write down what you are eating right now in your daily life. That’s right, record everything – the taste of a food sample at the grocery store, the pastry in the break room or club meeting, the candy from the dish at the office – and be totally honest with yourself. Are you eating enough vegetables and fruit? Are you filling up on quick starches and snack food? Do you wait until 6PM to think about what you will serve your family for dinner? 

If you need to make changes that will guide you for your whole life, then my advice is to choose one or two small changes that you think you can form into a lifelong habit. You might decide to plan lunches for the week before you go shopping or to think before ordering your usual high calorie favorite at your usual restaurant. Once you have put these small changes into practice and you feel you “own” them, then select another habit that you want to make your own. Before you know it, you will be on the road to eating right!