Eat For You Dietitian

It’s Friday and this week was not a great week. I was overwhelmed, unsure and then sad as all my birthday plans for this month had to be postponed. Lockdown birthday it is then.

Today feels like a good day. Yesterday I messed up my day, after a late night I still got up at 6.30am feeling exhausted but I pushed through my 40 minute interval run and as I didn’t want to end up in a scene from The Mist I didn’t go to the park and just ran around the same streets which was boring. Afterward though I didn’t feel refreshed, I was bloody exhausted the whole day and despite working from home (although I did have to travel to a home visit using appropriate PPE) I was a zombie. Fell asleep at 8.30pm on the sofa then by 9.30pm I was in bed till 7am this morning. Most restful sleep I’ve had in months and months.
Anyone else feeling that every day they MUST:

Meditate
Stretch
Exercise
Cook from scratch 3 meals a day Read
Reflect
Create

Social media is a wide and wonderful place, however the live workouts, live talks and cook-alongs, IGTV schedules, influencers talking about new hobbies, books are coming up everywhere and I was thinking should I be scheduling my time like this. I have a book on my nightstand I’ve started reading but only picked it up twice in 3 weeks. I have something I’m knitting half-finished and my acrylic paints and canvases waiting to be used again but a lack of wanting to just yet. That’s ok. Everyone’s pace is different.

Exercise, movement, physical activity, working out …

whatever you want to call it.
I did my first headstand on the weekend! Fine, I had help holding my legs up straight but I held them up. Never in a million years did I think I would be able to do that. Now that’s lit a fire in me to continue getting stronger and power yoga is no joke. If anyone says yoga is only stretching, I challenge you!

I was talking to my running coach the other day about how I felt that I needed to do yoga in the morning before a working day instead of a strength session recently to set myself up first thing in the mornings. That the overwhelming feelings had to be centred and she reminded me that it’s okay to listen to your body. Move when your body wants to move. Be grateful that I am able to move in different ways and continue to learn and develop. I have personally found yoga amazing in that sense, holding poses, transitioning and breathing sounds easybut I have so much more to learn. Bonus – I can do it overlooking the sunrise in my pyjamas. In this cold weather, that beats a morning run in the mist.

I also bought a new set of dumbbells. Luckily a week before they declared a Lockdown 2.0. So alongside my 5kg dumbbells and 12kg kettlebells, I have 10kg dumbbells. Wow, heavy! My last strength session I altered between the 5kg and 10kg dumbbells as it was harder but I put no pressure on myself. Remember when 5kg used to feel heavy, hell remember when the same exercises using bodyweight was hard. Progress is a beautiful thing.

Cooking from scratch

When people hear I’m a Dietitian they expect me to eat overnight oats with plenty of berries, cook fresh every day and salad or veggies at every meal with no carbohydrates in sight. Not for me! First I hate overnight oats and I love pasta and bread. I enjoy cooking from scratch and following recipes and sometimes I like putting a pizza or fish and chips in the oven as an easy dinner. Let’s not put pressure on ourselves. We know fruit and veggies are beneficial for our bodies and I enjoy eating these in different forms. Fresh, frozen and tinned.

I do not diet. I do not restrict. I eat. What I eat in a day? I absolutely hate these posts/vlogs. What you eat in a day should be individual to you, based on a variety of factors (clinical, environmental, likes/dislikes). Why should I tell you what I eat in a day? It should make no difference to the choices you make.

When I speak to a patient/client I aim to educate and empower them to make their own choices. I don’t like referring to days as ‘good’ or ‘naughty’. I don’t have to burn calories so I can eat XYZ and nor do you. Our relationship with food has been shaped by many environmental factors and now throw social media into the mix and I am competing against ‘nutrition advice’ people are reading through unqualified platforms.

If you do want to make positive changes to your eating habits, start with adding in, not taking away. Always sound better and increase likelihood you’ll maintain.

My little ramble for the day.