Meal Planning 101
Meal planning is a learned skill and can take time to get really good at it, but I promise you it gets easier and easier and the stress and work it takes off your plate is so worth it. To get you started I have come up with a few steps that will have you meal planning like a pro in no time.
Hack Your Hunger: Creating Balanced Meals and Snacks
Balance. What does that mean? It means we want to have a variety of nutrient dense foods and include carbohydrates, protein, and healthy fat in our meals and snacks. This ensures that we are getting enough micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) as well as the macronutrient components (carbohydrate, protein, and fat) that will keep us energized, full and satisfied.
The Hunger Scale
One of the principles of intuitive eating is honoring your hunger. The hunger scale is a tool that is used in the practice of intuitive eating to bring awareness to and honor your hunger and fullness queues. Believe it or not, our bodies are incredibly good at regulating energy (caloric) needs. The problem is, starting from a young age, we are exposed to food rules (think “clean your plate club”) and diet mentality. Through years of ignoring our hunger and fullness queues, through chronic dieting, we have overridden this innate ability and forgotten how to listen to it. The good news is that this ability, though lost temporarily, doesn’t go away, and can be recovered with practice.
Your Healthier Super Bowl Menu
The Super Bowl is an American tradition and so is putting on an epic Super Bowl party, complete with all the delicious food options. I have compiled a Super Bowl menu that will knock your guests’ socks off while also helping you stay on track with your goals! Going to a friend’s house? Pick a couple of these options to bring so you know you will have healthy options to balance your plate.
What is NEAT?! 10 Fun Ways to Get More Steps
NEAT- non exercise activity thermogenesis is everything we do that does not include sleeping, eating, or planned exercise.
Don’t get me wrong, planned exercise is very important and helps to build and maintain lean body mass as well as promote cardiovascular health, but what do we do with the other hours of our day? What if I told you there is one thing you can do TODAY to improve your metabolism and reverse the negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle?
A Registered Dietitian’s Guide to Eating Fast Food
Obviously, it is best to eat home cooked foods as much as possible. You have more control over the ingredients in your meals and therefore have more control over the overall nutritional profile. My best dietitian advice is to try your best to continue to build the habit of planning ahead, making most of your meals at home, and reducing the frequency that you dine out. But life can be hectic and no matter how we try, there will still be times when we need to grab something quick. Here are some of my dietitian-approved options for fast food in the Fargo/Moorhead area.
Monday Mentality: What it is and how to stop it.
Monday is the start of our typical work week and thus makes sense to us as an opportune time for a fresh start. “Monday Mentality” is a mindset to start the week with a positive attitude and motivation, a reset button. Sounds pretty good, right? It could be a good thing, but what happens when we keep pushing the starting line ahead and keep moving it to next Monday?