Your After theWinter

Mind Body Connection

by: Megan Allen, RD, LD, CDCES

When the winter season comes to a close, you may find yourself craving your predictable schedule and routine again. Additionally, with a new year often comes a desire to make healthier choices for our body and mental health. Winter and the holidays typically include sugary treats, less water, increased alcohol, and less physical activity; leaving your body craving for more nutrient dense food choices, optimal hydration, and movement! Here are some simple priorities to help get your health on track after the long season.

Creating a Simple Plan

It can be very tempting to jump into a new diet, meal plan, or supplement regimen when starting a healthy lifestyle routine. It can be comforting to have all the “rules” and a grocery list set up and done for you. However, I encourage you to take a more relaxed approach to your healthy eating plan. While not the most trendy, foundational habits can make a big difference in your health and your energy levels during the day. They will also help you to expand into deeper health routines that you may struggle to maintain without this baseline.

These habits include:

1. 64 oz plain water per day (ideally 16 oz before your morning coffee),

2. 3-4 cups of vegetables per day, and

3. a source of protein at each meal, especially breakfast

I choose these three foundational habits because getting adequate hydration can help you feel energetic during the day, while higher amounts of fiber from vegetables can improve your digestion and reduce bloating after the winter. Protein helps you stay full longer between meals and will contribute to minimizing cravings for less healthy options.

While these habits are a great place to start, a specific plan is still needed to ensure success. I always recommended reverse engineering the process of implementing habits into your day. Ask yourself:

“What do I need to accomplish first in order for me to achieve this goal easier?” Planning the preparation process can be the biggest difference maker on managing time and ease of access to healthy food. Do you need to prepare hard boiled eggs on a Sunday, so they are available to eat throughout the week? Or maybe you need to add Greek yogurt, turkey bacon, protein shakes, or cottage cheese to your next grocery list so you have quick, enjoyable options on hand to choose from. Set simple, impactful goals that will ensure an easier transition during the busier times of your week.

Make Things Enjoyable

Life is too short to spend time doing things you don’t enjoy. This is especially true when it comes to your eating habits! If the changes you are making to your diet is something you can’t see yourself still doing a month, a year, or ten years from now, consider changing your approach to achieving that goal. So how do you start making healthier choices while still enjoying yourself?

Start by brainstorming a list of your favorite meals, snacks, beverages, and even restaurant meals. It does not matter if you would label them “healthy” or not. Now, if there’s already some healthier choices on that list then feel free to enjoy them. If there are some less nutritious options on the list, still keep them in your diet but have a plan for enjoying them in smaller portions or make a healthier version. For example, do you love blueberry bagels for breakfast? Change to a whole grain bagel with light cream cheese and fresh blueberries. If you enjoy fried chicken for dinner, try swapping it for chicken breaded with whole wheat bread crumbs and baked in the oven. Do you find yourself having ice cream after dinner in the evening? While at the grocery store, skip the larger tub and try buying individual ice cream bars which help makes managing portion sizes easier.

Let’s talk about exercise! If you want to exercise multiple days of the week but you hate going to the gym because it takes too much time away from your family and other responsibilities, then reevaluate how you will meet your exercise goal at home. Consider online exercise programs that offer free trials to see if you like it before subscribing! Most programs will give you one week free before they bill you for the full program. You can also try “walk at home” YouTube videos. These have been around for a while now, but they are essentially guided step aerobics videos where the work effort equates to walking a long distance. Workouts that only require your

3It is perfectly normal to not enjoy the first thing you try in regards to exercise or healthy eating. Remember, you are not failing at your goal, you simply have not found the right strategy that’s enjoyable and sustainable. When you have long term goals for your health it is always worth the effort to experiment and find what you love! This is the best way to find sustainable change with your health.

Reframe Your Mindset

When it comes to making healthier choices, you can make all the plans, buy all the healthy foods, and choose a new workout plan, but making the decision to eat those foods and do the workout every day comes down to your mindset and the relationship between health and body. You will not always feel motivated to do the things you need to do to improve your health and that’s completely normal. This is where discipline and a positive, enjoyable relationship with food, exercise, and your body will help you continue with your goals.

So, what does this look like in real life, and how do you achieve a changed mindset? We are human, we are not always going to be in the mood to complete that tough workout. Usually we talk ourselves out of doing difficult things, but sometimes we just need to start! Training yourself to always start a workout regardless of how you feel, can help create that disciple which is crucial to building habits that stay in our lives. Even if the workout only lasts 15 minutes before you need to toss in the towel, that is 15 more than what you would have done if you took the other route. It may also help prevent the “all or nothing” mentality we commonly have. I.e. - because we skipped one thing or failed at something, we give up on all our other values and goals the rest of the day. Avoiding this trap can attribute to a positive self-view.

Congratulate yourself for starting and recognize that every little bit matters. I always recommend having that “emergency” exercise. The one workout you can always do no matter what changed during the day (and you have no excuse for not doing.) For me, this is a quick 15-minute stretch or yoga. It keeps me moving, allows me to feel some accomplishment, and can help reduce my stress on those days the world feels extra challenging.

Struggling with a craving for something less healthy and nutritious? Instead of giving into the craving right away, delay it by first having a healthy meal of protein, vegetables, and high fiber carbohydrates to satisfy your physical hunger. Before giving your body what it wants, try to pause, take stock, and try a balanced meal, some water, or even 10 minutes of movement.

It’s also important to keep in mind that social occasions, holidays, and changes in schedules are bound to happen and can make it difficult to stick with our original plans. It’s tempting to throw in the towel when you have plans for a healthy meal but then a friend asks you to dinner. Instead of waiting until tomorrow to get back on track, review your options and consider how you can make this meal even 1% better. The meal may not be as healthy as what you originally planned, but even small decisions you make will help to build confidence in the future. Be firm in your goal but reasonably flexible in the approach.

I hope you will keep these three priorities in mind as springtime approaches. As you work through the process, you will be happily surprised how your health changes in 1 month, 6 months, or even a year down the road. Start today!

Find small changes that you can implement to help guide your health and body toward the vision of who you want to be. Just remember to enjoy what you are doing; it will make those important habits easier to incorporate into your busy life.

Megan Allen is a Registered Dietitian and Diabetes Care and Education Specialist who works one-onone with clients to help them set personalized nutrition goals to improve their health. She became a Dietitian because she believes food is a source of nourishment for disease prevention and treatment, but also enjoyment for your life as well. Food should make you feel happy and energetic, never guilty or stressed. When working with clients one-on-one she helps them set enjoyable, behavior-based goals to improve their health beyond hitting a certain target on the scale.