Our Approach to Nutrition Habits NEEDS a Refresh

The awesome, Kate Solovieva (Precision Nutrition Master Coach ... and more!) recently shared this as part of her e-newsletter... 👇

"Eating is about more than just putting food in our mouths. There are rules, guidelines, assumptions and expectations that we learn as we grow up. There is a household FOOD CULTURE - the way we learn to think ABOUT food." 

We RARELY take in our DECADES of learning from our environment into account when we think about and approach our nutrition practices.

We OVER-simplify our physiology and chemistry in order to "make sense of it all", while at the same time UNDER-estimating simplicity in our HABITS (while letting nature take it's course of action). Either way, it's rarely looking at WHAT WE KNOW, RIGHT NOW... due to our PAST experiences.

🥦Ever thought about why you maybe don't like vegetables for example??

What if your "vegetable experiences" as a child were mushy, disgusting canned veggies your parents would FORCE you to eat (or else you'd be punished).

📺Ever thought about why you eat every meal so quickly and end up with your "eyes being bigger than your belly" as my mommy would say??

What if there was often a TV on while you ate your meals as a kid OR perhaps your family OFTEN ate in front of the TV (as you mindlessly ate your meal day after day, year after year...)

🍨Ever thought about why you always have the urge to eat dessert?

What if you grew up in a home where dessert was almost always offered and/or available to have and enjoy...

⚖Ever thought about why you can't get away from trying the next fad diet that pops up on social media?

What if you grew up in an environment where a parent (or both) were constantly doing the same, dealing with their own weight issues and where weight and appearance were the forefront of most of your childhood upbringing (either directed at you or around you).

"There is a household FOOD CULTURE - the way we learn to think ABOUT food"

I had to repeat that line from Kate Solo, because it's so powerful.... "The way we LEARN to THINK ABOUT food." When someone is working to create positive change in their nutrition habits, we all say "we know there's no quick fix" despite often reaching for it anyway OR complaining "nothing is happening" if things have to go on more than a week or two without change. 🫣 This comes back to what I mentioned earlier about us OVER-simplifying our physiology and chemistry AND to Kate's point about a "Household food culture".

This amazingly, EVER-adaptable body that each and every one of us live in for our entire lives... DOES NOT FORGET what it's LEARNED. Within that, it DOES NOT forget what it does, says and thinks MOST often. For the purpose of this point, I WILL do some basic math:

If you grow up with a particular food culture in your home during your childhood, lets say on average MOST of us may have experienced 18-19 years of this (for us born in the 80s and earlier - back when you COULD afford to leave home at that age if you wanted). That's approximately 2-decades of LEARNING and creating BELIEFS, PRACTICES and PHILOSOPHIES around nutrition (and all it's encompassing aspects)!!

🤔 20-years approx of WIRING into your brain these thoughts and practices, means that the body will NOT be undoing those DEEP experiences and beliefs in a 6-week diet effort.

🤔 20-years is plenty of time to ADAPT and become "GOOD AT ANYTHING" - including mindsets, beliefs and habits. That didn't happen overnight. It was 20-years of PRACTICE. Again, something that a short effort will NOT address to any sustainable point.

HEY COACH! Speaking of "POINT"...

... WHAT'S YOURS!?!??

My point is NOT to scare you away from putting in an effort to creating change in your nutrition practices.

My point is NOT to say it's impossible to change after so many years.

My point IS arguing for a DIFFERENT approach and understanding than MOST OF US have been taking in our efforts. We need to open our minds to the possibility that positive change may lie outside of the realm of carbs, proteins or fats. There are DECADES of "STUFF" (good, not as good, just plain weird... all kinds of stuff) that has piled into our psyche and our body that we NEED to take into account to understand where we're coming from.

UNDERSTANDING rather than forcing rules on ourselves or trying to "drill sargeant" our way to healthier eating.

UNDERSTANDING rather than giving our nutrition over to numbers, scores or badges/rewards.

UNDERSTANDING rather than looking externally for "that one piece of nutrition advice that will change your world".

I know what you're thinking; "But Coach, that will take time". YEP! It will. How much? You won't know until you TRY. Most likely, when you're doing things in a way that's about YOU, in a way that's coming from internally vs external information/advice and when you're doing it in a sustainable, realistic and progressive way... You won't even be thinking about TIME. It'll feel GOOD. Like there's a rhythm to your nutrition approach.

Remember that it also took TIME to get to NOW. Your body didn't force itself to get to here. It didn't rush things. Your body took it's time. It listened to it's environment (internal and external) and adapted. It CAN and WILL do it again, if you ALLOW your physiology to do it's thing.

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Nutrition is SO MUCH MORE than calories in, calories out!! It's NOT just energy...

-It's our memories (good, bad and the ugly)

-It's part of ones culture

-It's celebration

-It is connected with our financial situations/times

-It's connected to who we are as individuals (taste, texture, likes, dislikes etc)

-It's NUTRIENTS for our body to build, adapt, repair and create more resiliency

-It's connected with our family and friends

If you want to begin exploring nutrition from a different point a view, that is REALISTIC for you - and if this post speaks to you - Connect with 'Coach D' and begin the conversation about how Nutrition Coaching at Zenergy Health & Wellness may be able to help you.