My last two posts covered the basics about what dietitians are (and do) and what I eat in a day as a Registered Dietitian. In the latter I talked about how everyone’s healthy life looks different. It’s important to find what works in your own life, not to follow a random diet plan or copy what someone else does. Along those lines, I thought it might be fun to explore what a normal day looks like for other dietitians. This two-part series will feature several different dietitians working in different areas and what they ate in a given day. You’ll read about three different dietitians below – stay tuned for more in an upcoming post!

Molly Koczarski, MS, RDN, LDN

Molly is a Registered Dietitian located in Whispering Pines, North Carolina. She has been a dietitian for 11 years and she recently graduated with her Master’s Degree from Central Michigan University. She is just about to start a new position as an outpatient dietitian for First Health of the Carolinas where she will be working with a wide variety of medical conditions including diabetes, obesity, heart disease, food allergies, etc. When Molly isn’t working she likes to spend her time with her husband, 4-year-old daughter, and dog. She enjoys fitness, cooking, and coming up with new recipes. She is an avid peanut butter lover and loves a good glass of wine.

Best nutrition advice: There is no “one size fits all” diet. Focus on moderation and mindful eating. Food should be enjoyed, not restricted. Building a healthy relationship with food is the key to success!

What she ate in a day:

The day started at 6:30 with a hearty breakfast of eggs (1 egg + 2 egg whites) mixed with some arugula, a side of fresh strawberries, and a Birch Benders protein waffle with slices of avocado on top.  After seeing a few patients at work I found myself pretty hungry and snacked on this delicious Greek Yogurt by Light and Fit with a serving of Trader Joes “Just a Handful” trail mix. Hit the spot!

After going on a 30-minute lunch walk I found myself ready to eat again. I prepped a macro bowl for lunch today and it consisted of spring mix and some raw vegetables, some instant pot shredded chicken, and a side of brown rice and quinoa mix. I added some oil and vinegar on my salad for some healthy fats, as well as sprinkled some hemp seeds on top. At 3:30 with an hour to spare at work, I found myself once again ready for a snack so I chomped on a yummy and delicious apple to hold me over until dinner.

After a good workout it was time to eat dinner. With the weather being so nice lately we decided to grill some turkey burgers. We had a salad on the side for our veggie. I added some avocado on my bun (but you can’t see it in the photo). Before getting settled for the night I wanted to have a little “dessert” so I had some chamomile tea (not pictured) with one of my delicious homemade protein muffins. My dog Izzy wanted some too, as you can see.

That’s a typical day for me. I usually eat 3 meals plus 2-3 snacks throughout the day. I always try to balance out my carbs, protein and fat and really focus on getting in my vegetables. I also opt for healthy fats and definitely don’t deprive myself of any particular food or food group.

Anne Corley, MSM, RDN, CD, LC

As a Life Coach and Registered Dietitian with over 26 years in clinical practice, Anne is passionate about promoting wellness (physical, mental, emotional and spiritual) with her clients. She loves helping people have “A Ha!” moments in improving their life and their health, and moving their dreams into the realm of the possible. She has partnered with clients who have made significant, meaningful changes in their lives in many areas; health, career, relationships, etc. through her practice Nourish Your Wellness Now. In all areas she has truly enjoyed the opportunity to share her knowledge and experience through coaching, training and instruction in order to help improve the well-being of her clients/patients.

Best nutrition advice: Listen to your gut, literally and figuratively. Eat when you are hungry and stop when you are satisfied.

What she ate in a day:

Today I woke up in Dingle, Ireland on a long-awaited trip with my 3 sisters. We’ve been staying at Bed & Breakfasts all along the way; today was no exception. Breakfast was a fairly typical offering of Continental and hot breakfast. Always there is the push for the traditional Irish breakfast which is bacon, eggs, sausage, black & white “pudding” (blood sausage), tomatoes, (optional sautéed mushrooms & baked beans), and brown bread & toast with butter & jam. Also fruit, yogurt, cereal, croissants, etc. along with tea and coffee. My normal breakfast is a Shakeology smoothie on my way to work, but I figured “when in Ireland…” Plus, have you ever tried to tell an Irish woman who is your host, “No, thank you”? Apparently you just don’t do that here. 😉

So up to this point I have been ordering the bacon, eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms (and once the beans…I’ve never been a fan of baked beans but I thought somehow these might be different. Nope. Not doing that again!) I have not tried the “pudding” at all; I just can’t bring myself to do it. Today I ordered bacon (Irish bacon is more like our ham or Canadian bacon), tomatoes and mushrooms, and I had Muesli and plain yogurt with berries. Also, lots and lots of tea using part sugar/part stevia and milk (not sure what type of milk, but it was at least 2% if not whole). I ended up eating two bowls of Muesli and only one of the pieces of bacon.

After breakfast we packed up and left for our Air B&B at the Cliffs of Moher (about a 3 hour drive) with a trip by ferry included. When we stopped at a “quickie mart,” as we frequently do, I got a sparkling water and I added True Lemon to it (I drink a lot of water but have never learned to like it plain, so I usually add True Lemon, True Orange, or fresh lemon or lime).

Because the breakfasts have been so big and usually later than I normally eat, we have had “linner” most days and then something light or fun later. Once we got into town, we stopped at a restaurant to have “linner” (lunch/dinner) before our hike on the cliffs at 4:00pm. I had the most delicious salad! Here’s the quote from the menu: “mixed leaves, sundried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, caramelized onion, shredded carrot and honey roasted sunflower seeds with Spanish goats cheese, a hint of pesto and grilled chicken fillet.” I had soda water and lime to drink. Normally I would have also checked out the dessert menu, but we didn’t have time. We had to hurry through “linner” because we were running short on time. We started the hike a little after 4:00pm; it was 10k distance and about 850 feet of elevation gain and it took us about 3 hours. It was very windy, but we were blessed with some of the most breathtaking views I’ve ever seen!

When we returned from the hike (around 7:00pm) our host had made fresh scones for us, with jam and butter and tea or coffee. I had one scone with jam and a nice sized cup of tea, with milk and sugar/stevia. And then chugged a big glass of water!

Danae Shelley, RD, CDE

Danae is a dietitian and nutrition supervisor at a nonprofit group of medical clinics based in South Seattle. In July of 2019, she will have been a dietitian for 6 years. For Danae, the years of being an RD have really flown by!

Danae got married in September 2018 and lives in Renton with her husband and their min-pin, Max. They love spending time together and going out and meeting new people. They also enjoy traveling (both around Washington and elsewhere), taking Max to the dog park, dancing (especially salsa and bachata), and trying out new ice cream places!  

Best nutrition advice: Just aim to make one small positive choice every day toward improving your health!

What she ate in a day:

During the work week, I tend to get up with just enough time to shower, get ready, and feed the dog, etc., so I don’t normally leave a whole lot of time to make breakfast. Breakfast is usually on the go and usually eaten on my way to work or when I get to work as I prepare for the day ahead. This morning I whipped together a strawberry protein shake made with 1% milk for some added protein that keeps me full all morning, along with my much needed cup of coffee with a few tablespoons of creamer.

Due to a meeting I had at my normal lunch hour, I had to have a little snack to tide me over until I was able to eat. I had forgotten I had an English cucumber in the fridge, so last night I sliced it up and portioned half of it into a Ziploc bag.

In my house, we are the king and queen of leftovers (when we have them)! My husband is tall and eats a lot, so sometimes he eats all of the meal and there isn’t any for leftovers. Today was left over vegetable burger soup (I know it’s too hot outside for soup, but it’s cold in my office with the a/c, so it’s not that bad). The soup has lean ground beef (93/7), stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, mixed vegetables and onion soup mix. I also had a small cup of strawberry yogurt. It’s hard to find yogurt that is low in sugar, but this one has 2 grams of sugar and 12 grams of protein. I originally had the fruit cup planned to go with my lunch, but I was feeling a little full after my soup and yogurt, so I decided to hold off and have it for a snack later. I normally don’t do a lot of canned fruit, but I had a coupon for this product and thought I would give it a try. It was a mixture of mango and chia seeds, which are a great source of omega-3. It was a burst of fruitiness to get me through the rest of the work day!

For dinner, Queen of the Leftovers strikes again! After a bit of a longer of a commute that normal, I got home later than I usually do, and therefore was hungry. The night before, I intended to make some enchiladas, however due to a tortilla malfunction, I had to turn it into enchilada lasagna, made up of ground turkey, chili beans, seasonings, layered with whole wheat tortillas and topped with Monterey jack cheese and enchilada sauce. I had a square of that with a little helping of sour cream on top.  I washed it down with a glass of water. After doing some stuff around the house and yardwork outside, I was feeling a bit hungry, so I reached for a small bag of popcorn with light sea salt and green tea. Its low calorie and high in fiber. You can see from the picture, it’s so yummy even Max wants a taste!

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Being married to a dietitian, my husband is often asked, “What does she eat? I bet she eats perfectly all the time!” He usually chuckles and tells them about my love for ice cream and all things salty, including tortilla chips with “plastic cheese” (you know, the liquid “cheese-like food product” you get from a high school football game concession stand? Mmmm…) Eating to feed both your body and your soul is important! If you what you eat most of the time is good for your body, then you can enjoy soul food sometimes without guilt or health consequences.

I thought I would take the opportunity to show you what one Registered Dietitian eats in a day…or rather, three days. I chose to include three days to give you a better average and to avoid the bias of a “perfect day” since I knew I would be recording it. As you read through this post, try not to compare my diet with yours. Everyone’s healthy looks different, and there is no one right way to eat! What matters is that what you eat works for your body, your life, your schedule, and your happiness. These days represent what works for me.

Day 1

7:00 am – The day started with a tropical smoothie that contained leftover banana and pineapple with some spinach, nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt, orange juice, and chia seeds. As always and of course, I had a cup of tea!

10:30 am – Mid-morning after a few hours of work, hunger set in and I had a piece of whole wheat toast with some spreadable butter.

12:35 pm – After my workout I was very ready for lunch! Lunch was a leftover mish-mash. A large salad with a salmon burger patty, sunflower seeds, croutons, and bleu cheese dressing. Clementine kombucha to drink!

1:30 pm – Not too long after lunch I realized that it hadn’t been quite enough and that I was needing a bit more in the way of carbohydrates for energy to get me through the afternoon. I had one of these marshmallow pies left over from our Memorial Day camping trip. It went peacefully.

6:30 pm – I gardened for a few hours and then I was ravenous! For dinner I made beef ravioli with marinara and sauteed mushrooms, onions, and spinach.

8:30 pm – While watching Captain America: Winter Soldier with my kids in the evening, I had one of these raspberry fruit juice popsicles. So delicious!

Day 2

7:15 am – We still had leftover  pineapple, so I made another tropical smoothie with pineapple, leftover fruit salad, and spinach. I also made toast and a poached curried egg, so I didn’t add the Greek yogurt to the smoothie this time.

9:45 am – Snack time! In between appointments I nibbled on some roasted ranch flavored chickpeas for some carbohydrate and protein.

11:30 am – After seeing another client and doing a quick pilates workout, I ate the last of the leftover salad and the leftover ravioli from last night for lunch. I chased it with a square of Dove chocolate. Yum!

1:15 pm –  Throughout the afternoon, I focused on blogging and admin work. I snacked on raw veggies w/light ranch dip and clementine oranges.

4:25 pm – Hunger set in and I still had one more client until dinner. I had exhausted the food I brought for the day, so I walked around the corner to Arby’s for some of their snack-sized curly fries. I. Love. Curly Fries.

7:15 pm – This particular night at our house is a “use up” night, so I get the night off from cooking and everyone eats their own thing. Tonight, I finished off some leftover homemade baked beans and butternut squash.

Day 3

7:35 am – Today I ate a bit of an unconventional breakfast. Today’s tropical smoothie included pineapple, 1/2 canned peach, spinach, orange juice, and milk. Alongside that was the rest of a half-eaten sandwich prepared by one of our boys and then abandoned. Poor sandwich. So I played garbage disposal today. 🙂  #momlife

12:30 am – I was running late to work and was busy seeing clients once I arrived, so I didn’t get a chance for my mid-morning snack. I was HUNGRY by lunch time. So hungry that I skipped my workout and went straight for food. Today, I ate some pasta salad that I doctored up with chicken, corn, and sauteed peppers and spinach. Once I started eating it, I realized that it didn’t have very much chicken in it, so I tossed in a handful of my roasted ranch chickpeas for some added protein.

5:30 pm – I ate a lot of pasta salad for lunch, so I never got hungry for my afternoon snack. Plus, we were eating an early dinner so we could get to my son’s band concert on time. For dinner, I made pupusas (a Salvadoran savory corn “pancake” with chicken, cheese, and refried beans). I topped mine with salsa and ate a couple of leftover spiced pears. More kombucha to drink!

9:30 pm – After the concert, they had cookie trays and I love me a good white chocolate macadamia nut cookie! So delicious.

So there you have it! Three pretty typical, if not unvarying, examples of days in my food life. In hindsight, I perhaps shouldn’t have chosen 3 days in a row simply because I eat a lot of leftovers so several things showed up repeatedly. For example, I don’t usually have a smoothie every morning, but I did for these three days since we had leftover pineapple we needed to use up.

Other than that, these days show the typical pattern that works for me: balanced healthful meals with a treat or two just about every day. I love the food that I eat. Having plenty of tasty healthful foods I love and not denying myself “unhealthful” delicious treats in moderation makes for a great and delicious balance. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions or ideas for other posts you would like to see!

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Many of my clients wonder if they have a problem with food, because they find themselves craving sugar or bingeing on snacks or treats, especially at nighttime. There are several steps you can take to identify or overcome food addiction. The first and most important thing is to determine what causes your food cravings. Determining the cause will help you discover whether or not you have a food addiction or if there is another potential cause for your food cravings.

How to Determine what triggers your cravings

Check in with your intakes 

Most of the time, cravings are a response to a need for fuel. Many of my clients get cravings in the evenings, especially for sweets or salty snacks, because they are undereating either carbohydrates or calories throughout the day. More than half of my clients who are trying to lose weight are actually undereating, so honestly assess the possibility that you might be over-restricting. Common symptoms include low energy, poor sleep (or sleeping too much), brain fog, fatigue, memory issues, and food cravings, especially cravings for carbohydrates or sugar.

If you aren’t sure (most of my clients assume they need to eat less than they actually should), find a Registered Dietitian to help you know how much you should actually eat. For reference, most adult clients should be eating more than 1400 calories and well over 100 grams of carbohydrate daily (even if you’re trying to lose weight or if you have diabetes). Calorie tracking apps and online calculators are often inaccurate.

Assess your emotions

If you are certain you are meeting your body’s nutritional needs and you still struggle with a compulsion to eat unhealthful foods on a regular basis, try looking at your emotions. The second most common cause of food cravings has to do with dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain that makes us feel content. Negative emotions are usually paired with low dopamine. The brain sees low dopamine as a problem that needs to be fixed and will often go hunting for a way to raise it. Eating delicious food is a quick way to get a rush of dopamine, so often our brains go straight to the fridge to fix the problem. Your brain doesn’t care if you eat ice cream, it wants dopamine. Ask yourself if you are experiencing a negative emotion. Boredom, loneliness, stress, anxiety, and depression are common culprits.

If so, the first line of attack is to try to raise dopamine in a way that doesn’t involve food. You can do this by turning to an activity that you truly enjoy. Calling a friend, doing a crossword, going for a walk, or reading a book are examples of activities my clients have used. The key is that you enjoy it – otherwise it doesn’t raise your dopamine!

Sometimes you don’t have the time to do an alternative activity, so the next line of attack is to try to find a healthier food option. Craving salty snacks? Go for a couple handfuls of tortilla chips with salsa,  pretzels, or whole grain chips or crackers (Sun Chips and Triscuits are great options). Sweet tooth calling out to you? Try frozen grapes,  graham crackers, or berries with vanilla yogurt or whipped topping.

Finally, if you know that a healthier activity or alternative will not do the trick, it’s not a failure. The best thing you can do is try to moderate the amount of food you eat. Three to four bites of a desired food can cause the peak amount of dopamine response within the following 10-15 minutes. The take-home message? Rather than eat continually until your dopamine peaks and you feel better, try to savor that tasty food for 3-4 bites then wait 10-15 minutes. After that, reassess to see if you still feel like you need more.

Seek an outside opinion

If you have evaluated the above topics and are still struggling to get to the root of your food cravings, it could be possible that you have a food addiction. Evaluation for food addiction is still in its early stages. Researchers from Yale University have created a food addiction scale but the scoring system is complex and it is not widely used. For now, the best method is to meet with a Registered Dietitian and a Licensed Mental Health Counselor. Since food addiction by nature exhibits crossover between mental health and food habits, each professional can have valuable perspective. If it turns out that you do have addictive food behaviors, a holistic treatment plan will involve them both as well.

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Sometimes life gets in the way of meeting the goals we want to meet…some things don’t seem realistic in the moment, but that doesn’t mean you should let the time pass you by! Learn something new, take a baby step, or build on your basics. Just keep moving forward!

Bacteria aren’t always bad! In fact, your digestive tract is loaded with colonies of these little guys. While some can be harmful, most are helpful. Having a good balance of bacteria in your intestines (aka gut bacteria) can be a critical piece of your overall health puzzle.

Less than ideal gut bacteria have been linked to depression, anxiety, overeating, food cravings, brain fog, fatigue, diabetes, obesity, cancer, irritable bowel syndrome and intestinal damage, among other issues.^1-5 Tending to the needs of the tiny bacterial warriors in your gut can be hugely beneficial to your wellness. Here’s are four groups of foods you can eat to support your gut health:

Probiotic foods

What they do: Probiotic foods contain the good bacteria that can help reinforce the armies in your gut. Different strains of probiotics have been researched for different health benefits. For example, L. plantarum and L. rhamnosus are linked to lower levels of stress hormones and increased amounts of intestinal building blocks.^{1, 2} L. heleveticus and B. longum improved stress responses in mice.⁴

How much: Since research into the benefits different strains of probiotics is still in the works, there is no official probiotic recommendation.

How to get them: Foods that are fermented often retain healthful bacteria all the way into your digestive system. Fermented foods like yogurt, kombucha, miso, sauerkraut, and kimchi all contain healthful probiotics.

Vitamins A and D

What they do: Both of these vitamins are linked to improved intestinal and mental health.¹

How much: For vitamin A, men should aim for 900 mcg and women 700 mcg per day. For vitamin D, aim for 600 IUs per day unless you’re over 70, then boost that to 800 IU daily.*

How to get them: Boost vitamin A intake with a serving of sweet potato (1403 mcg), spinach (573 mcg), carrots (459 mcg), cantaloupe (135 mcg), red peppers (117 mcg), or mango (112 mcg).

We get vitamin D primarily from exposure to sunlight, but if your area lacks that for some or all of the year (heyyyyy Western Washington!), try a serving of salmon (447 IU), canned tuna (154 IU), and dairy or dairy alternatives with added vitamin D (115-125 IU). For many living far from the equator, a vitamin D supplement can be a wise idea, but ask your doctor to check your vitamin D status first.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

What they do: Supplementation with the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA is linked with improved gut bacteria and reduced anxiety- and depression-related behaviors.⁴

How much: 1.6 g per day for men, 1.1 g per day for women.*

How to get them: Different forms of omega-3s are absorbed and utilized at different rates. To get the most usable EPA and DHA, eat a serving of salmon (1.5-1.8 g), mackerel (1.0 g), or trout (.84 g). For non-fish-eaters, plant-based sources of omega-3s contain ALA which can be converted to EPA and DHA, but only about 15% of the ALA is converted. These ALA sources include a serving of chia seeds (5.06 g), flax seeds (2.35 g), black walnuts (.76 g), and edamame (.28 g). If you aren’t likely to meet recommendations with food, a daily omega-3 supplement can back you up. Be sure to choose one that is “burpless” or “enteric coated” to avoid fishy-smelling breath.

Prebiotic Fibers

What they do: “Prebiotic fibers” are specific types of fiber that the bacteria in your gut like to snack on. Keeping a healthy colony of good bacteria well-fed can keep your intestinal lining strong and regulate digestion.^{1, 4-5} For those who already have a bacterial imbalance or a condition like inflammatory bowel disease, some of these can actually worsen symptoms. Talk with your doctor if you have any concerns about your gut health.

How much: There isn’t a specific recommendation for prebiotic fiber intake, but 25-30 grams of fiber covers it for most adults.*

How to get them: Most whole plants foods are good places to find fiber. For prebiotic fibers, go for lentils, kidney beans, apples, currants, dates, figs, and whole grains like wheat, rye, and barley.

*Recommended intakes and food nutrient contents were obtained from National Institutes of Health fact sheets. Children and pregnant or lactating women may have different recommendations.

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1. Bischoff SC, Barbara G, Buurman W, et al. Intestinal permeability – a new target for disease prevention and therapy. BMC Gastroenterol. 2014;14:189. Accessed from:  https://bmcgastroenterol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12876-014-0189-7.
2. Carabotti M, Scirocco A, Maselli MA, et al. The gut-brain axis: interactions between enteric microbiotia, central and enteric nervous systems. Ann Gastroenterol. 2015;28(2):203-209.
3. Galley JD, Nelson MC, Yu Z, et al. Exposure to a single stressor disrupts the community structure of the colonic mucosa-associated microbiota. BMC Microbiol. 2014;14. Accessed from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25028050/
4. Foster JA, Rinaman L, Cryan JF. Stress & the gut-brain axis: Regulation by the microbiome. Neurobiol Stress. 2017;7:124-136.
5. Oriach CS, Robertson RC, Stanton C, et al. Food for thought: The role of nutrition in microbiotia-gut-brain axis. Clin Nutr Exp. 2016;6:25-38.

Regardless of your body’s size, maintaining positive habits makes a significant difference in your overall health. Sometimes, though, your health goal itself may include losing some extra fat that is causing you discomfort or health problems. Weight loss is a commonly sought after and frequently frustrating goal – mostly because there is so much confusion about how to effectively go about it! After working as a dietitian for 6 years, I’ve compiled a list of my top 15 weight loss tips to help you meet your goals. Enjoy!

1. Ease into it

I know this might be a weird thing to hear from a dietitian, but don’t come out of the gate doing every healthy thing you can think of. Plan a couple of healthy changes, add them into your life, get used to them for a few weeks, then add in a couple more.

There are a couple of reasons I recommend this – first of all, it’s much more likely that you’ll be able to stick with your new habits if you have a little time to get used to them and work out the kinks. Second, nearly everyone will run into a plateau at some point on their journey. For plateaus lasting more than 2-3 weeks, it’s nice to have a couple of healthy changes in mind to get things moving again. If you start out by maxing out your exercise and strictly limiting your food intakes, you don’t have anywhere to go when things inevitably get stuck.

2. Be part of your own plan

As tempting as it is – trust me, I know – avoid going for pre-made meal or diet plans. These plans are convenient and seem simple, but they were not made to match your lifestyle. They may get you moving along for a week or two (or even a month or two), without teaching you to make your lifestyle more healthful. Often, they contain foods you don’t care for and leave out some of your favorites – that’s no way to live! This is one reason I don’t make meal plans for my clients. Participating in the creation of your own healthy plan will help you practice making a healthy lifestyle that you actually enjoy and can follow long term. If you’re lost on how to do this, find a Registered Dietitian to help you!

3. Don’t expect (or aspire to) perfection

Do not expect to never eat your favorite foods. Do not aspire to never eat your favorite foods. It makes me sad just to think of it! You can and should include all kinds of foods that you enjoy while meeting your health goals. Do it intentionally and without guilt. Including favorite foods will help your plan be sustainable and enjoyable, and prevent out-of-control bingeing.

4. Consider your personality

A sustainable healthy lifestyle is about so much more than calorie calculations and exercise. Consider aspects of your personality that you may never have thought of in relation to nutrition and fitness before. Are you detail-oriented? Tech savvy? Flexible? Need structure? Tend to obsess? All of those things should play into your choices about which paths to take. If you’re not sure how to do that, check out this handy graphic to guide you.

5. “Begin as you mean to go on”

Originally said by Charles Spurgeon, the sentiment of the quote is to only begin a life change that you expect to be able to continue long-term. Do not begin any nutrition plan that you only intend to follow temporarily. Your plan should be sustainable. Now, sometimes, life will happen and you’ll have to change up your plan accordingly, or you’ll change it up to match your workouts, for example. The point is that you shouldn’t embark on a plan that you know beforehand will be too hard to stick with after a few months.

6. Embrace the trial and error

Approach your healthy plan as a series of trials and errors, designed to find the healthy plan that perfectly fits your life. If you try something that doesn’t work, it’s not failure, it’s information. That wasn’t the right approach for you. Try another! Keep going, and you’ll have ironed all of the wrinkles out of your plan and it will fit your lifestyle like a glove.

7. Make sure you’re eating enough

There is so much bad info out there. Weight loss is so much more than eating less and moving more. In fact, about half of the clients I see who are trying to lose weight are undereating, not overeating.  Their undereating is what keeps them from being able to lose weight! Without going into the nitty-gritty hormonal details, chronic over-restriction leads your metabolism to slow down and puts your body in fat-saving/fat-storage mode. Strict calorie restrictive diets actually teach your body to store fat. The next time someone says that you should be eating 1200 calories per day to lose weight, just let that comment roll off your back. The goal is to eat exactly what your body needs, minus just a tad. Then your body won’t mind filling in the gaps with extra fat.

8. Don’t fear the carbohydrate!

While we’re on the subject of slowed metabolism, let me address one of the most common weight loss mistakes I see – undereating carbohydrates! Poor carbohydrates, they get such a bad rap as being one of the leading causes of weight gain. Not true! Carbs are the primary fuel our bodies use. When our bodies don’t get enough carbs for a while, they slow our metabolisms down to “survive the winter.”

This is why nearly every low-carb diet works spectacularly for a while, then weight tends to plateau. Typically as soon as you start adding carbohydrates back in (no matter how gradually), most of the lost weight comes back. This is because your body believes it is now summer again – time to start stocking up fat for the next period of starvation!

This is not to say that a mild decrease in carbohydrates can’t help speed weight loss, but drastic reductions are not the answer for sustainable weight loss. Lose the weight in a way that includes carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, but choose well in each category. Go for complex and nutrient-dense carbohydrates like whole fruits, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and low-fat dairy or dairy alternatives. Choose lean proteins like skinless poultry, lean beef or pork, fish, eggs, and nuts. Aim for liquid, plant-based fats like avocado oil and olive oil. Add plenty of antioxidant-laden veggies. 🙂

9. Hold steady (and expect plateaus)

Plateaus happen for all but the very lucky in weight-loss journeys. Sometimes they happen for a discernable reason, sometimes your body just isn’t feeling like losing weight that week. Don’t stress, and continue doing what you are doing. If your weight sticks for more than 2-3 weeks, only then is it time to consider tweaking your plan. Try adding a little time or intensity to your workouts, or add in some cross-training.

10. Build in non-scale victories

Keep goals besides weight-loss goals, because sometimes the scale just doesn’t want to reflect the hard work you’re putting in. It happens. To everyone.

My faves are achievement goals. They are the most fun! Explore new territory – maybe something you’ve always dreamed of doing but never believed you could do. Want to learn to box? Hike part (or all!) of the Pacific Crest Trail? Ride a horse? Become a personal trainer? Play tag with your grandkids? Skydive?

Pick one that fires you up. Consider your workouts training for that dream. Be consistent. Achieve it. Pick a new goal. Rinse and repeat.

11. Embrace health improvements, not just pounds lost

Along those lines, make changes for their benefit to your health, disease prevention, or an increase in energy. Believe in the good you are doing for your body by moving it more, eating more vegetables, or drinking more water. Read handouts or books about it if you need to! Sometimes it seems the only reason someone is willing to do anything healthy is to watch the number on the scale go down. While that can be a satisfying and healthy goal, the scale does not always cooperate (as mentioned above). If you’re putting all your eggs in that basket, you’re setting yourself up for frustration. Instead, notice the way your body feels – your energy levels, your digestion, your skin, the way your clothes fit. All of those are signs that you’re headed in the right direction, and none of them require weight loss.

12. Ditch an “all-or-nothing” mindset

Some people are inclined to have an “all-or-nothing” mindset, particularly about nutrition or fitness. Either they’re doing all the things – eating “clean,” working out out 5 times a week, drinking enough water, and taking their vitamins – or they’ve given up on being healthy. One day of a missed workout or a serving of french fries leads them to throw in the towel on all of their healthy habits. Health does not work this way, and neither should you think this way about your health. Every step is a step in a healthier direction. Don’t let one “imperfect” moment tell you how everything has to be. Just pick it back up and move on.

13. Steer clear of “diet lingo”

While we’re at it, avoid phrases like “eat clean,” “cheat days,” “cutting carbs” and “guilty pleasure.”

There’s nothing dirty about dessert, eating cheese is not cheating, carbs don’t need cutting (except with a bread knife), and no tasty food should make you feel guilty.

Using these phrases reinforces the mindset behind them, and that is not a helpful mindset. All food can fit in a balanced weight-loss lifestyle.

14. Rewrite your cassette tapes

This is an idea one of my clients had and I loved it. She said she had all of these old self-deprecating diet “cassette tapes” playing in her head, telling her she was too fat, shaming her for what she would choose to eat, or telling her that fruit was bad because it was too high in sugar. As she was working with me, she learned that the voices on these tapes were misinformed or just plain wrong. She had to make a conscious effort to “record over” the unhelpful voices with something she knew to be true. She actively thought about how nutritious fruit is and how the fiber helps her digestion, or how she is making many efforts to improve her health and she should not be ashamed for the choice she is making now. Rewriting her tapes enabled her to take charge from all of those old, useless philosophies that had held her back for years.

15. Believe in yourself – no matter how long it takes, you can do it.

If you follow the other tips, losing weight and making healthy changes shouldn’t be excruciating. If it is, it’s time to change your plan! I certainly won’t say it will be a walk in the park (though it may involve some of those!), but it’s doable. It takes consistency, patience, and dedication to the process over anything else. Slow and steady, and if you need some help, go and get it. There’s no shame in that. You can lose weight. You can improve your health.  Believe it.

I’ve been on a liver-friendly diet for over a month now. If you’re not sure why, you can read about it here. A few days ago, my doctor redrew my blood to check my liver enzymes and they were…*drumroll please*…normal! Thank goodness that whatever was the reason for my elevated liver enzymes has resolved at this point and is no longer an issue!

As far as following the liver-friendly diet itself, here are my observations:

The Good

Eating 5 servings of fruits and vegetables every day makes me feel so good! I have great energy, great digestion, and my skin is super clear compared to when I eat fewer servings of the good stuff. Whenever I make sure to get my plant foods in it always reinforces to me how important it is for my body.

The Bad

No raw sushi. 🙁

The Ugly

Not a whole lot…probably the toughest part of the whole month was navigating social situations where others were drinking alcohol or eating high-fat or high-salt foods and I was trying to limit those. I wrote about a few of those situations in my post about eating out on a liver-friendly diet. It wasn’t miserable, but it was a bit tough. I think the difficulty would depend on how often you normally drink alcohol, take NSAID medications, or eat high-fat foods. Since none of these are a huge part of my normal, I didn’t feel like I was missing out too much.

Thanks for following along with my liver-friendly journey! Stay tuned to find out what I’ll be up to next!

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