EASY Nutrition Changes That Actually Matter
by Dr. Marv
Nutrition is one of those topics that is as polarizing as religion and politics.
Throw in the gigantic amount of conflicting information there is out there for good measure too. Without adding anything else to the equation it’s easy to see why people get frustrated and throw their hands up in disgust after multiple failed attempts to stick to a “diet” as they can’t figure out which one is the right one for them.
Beyond the flat-out confusion is another huge problem that I see far too often:
When someone tries to follow a “diet” they pick something that is way too restrictive and is something they can never realistically follow long-term. Instead, they have short durations of white-knuckled adherence that they can’t possibly maintain and when they break down, they go off the deep end – not just returning to their previous eating habits but usually worse than before for those first few months after the “diet” is abruptly ended. This is exactly what causes the dreaded yo-yo effect that research shows happens to up to 66% of individuals who lose weight but end up putting on more than they originally lost within three years.
And THAT is the reason why people start to feel like a “diet” will never work for them and that they are cursed to stay overweight and in poor health forever.
And who can blame them?
Everywhere they look someone promises they have “THE diet” that will work for everyone but is often overly complicated or overly restrictive. And so once again the cycle starts when they had told themselves they were never going to try again.
I’m here to tell you it doesn’t have to be that way.
And yes, here I am claiming what the previous individual told you, but I want you to bear with me and hear me out.
When it comes time to start making those all-important initial changes with someone’s eating, it’s important to not be restrictive and not make it seem like a huge overhaul all at once just like the last time.
Instead, I like to take things one step at a time – introducing one change that is as less intrusive as possible; having that become a habit, and then moving onto the next step and repeating the process. By slowly and strategically introducing the proper steps we can make massive headway with little perceived effort.
This is exactly why my first step when it comes to addressing a patient’s nutrition when they are hesitant to be burned again has actually nothing to do with food at all.
A simple 10-minute walk after meals has a very long list of benefits that are shown in literature:
– Increases overall daily activity
– Appears to be as effective as prescription metformin for improving blood sugar control with diabetics
– Helps individuals easily maintain their first 10% of weight loss which appears to have the largest share of health benefits
What I really like about this first step is that it focuses on a long-term habit versus a short-term rule.
I’ve also found this to be a great habit to implement with families as a whole, creating an opportunity for quality family time. It’s almost magical when this becomes a part of the normal routine at night with the kids after dinner, teaching them healthy habits early on in life.
Now of course, right now the local weather isn’t very forgiving for frequent walks, so doing something to get blood flow can be substituted – air squats, pushups, jumping jacks, riding the home stationary bike, etc.
Once walks (or some sort of activity) have become a daily habit, it’s a good time to start addressing food intake.
Instead of immediately taking away from someone’s food, I would much rather add.
Again, psychology matters and let’s start with addition rather than subtraction so it doesn’t feel like you are immediately being penalized for trying to improve your health.
Here I recommended adding fibrous vegetables and fruits – the more colors from the rainbow you can add the better. It’s shocking with how little dietary fiber the average American gets 16 grams of fiber per day and by merely adding one item to each meal, you can rectify this all-too-common nutritional shortcoming.
This list is not exhaustive but a good starting point:
– Vegetable options: bell/mini peppers, spinach, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, green beans, broccoli/cauliflower (be cautious as these are high gas so not everyone agrees with this family of vegetable)
– Fibrous fruit options: blueberries, blackberries, raspberries
– Other fruits I am a fan of because of high potassium content: bananas, apples, oranges (if someone is a diabetic I would not rely solely on this category)
Yes, greens such as spinach and zucchini go great with your morning eggs and bacon.
Yes, a handful of blueberries brought from home is a super easy addition to any bought lunch at work.
Don’t overthink it.
Pick items you enjoy, even if it’s just one or two at the start and become consistent with eating them at every meal. And for those wondering, I don’t care if they are fresh or flash frozen either as the nutritional content is identical.
One of the most common protests with this step is, “I don’t know how to cook at all so I can’t add vegetables to my meals.”
Luckily, we live in the Golden Age of Convenience, so I’m going to politely argue that you haven’t exhausted all your options
Air fryers make everything tase delicious (I mean c’mon now – who would ever buy chicken wings at $2-3 a pop when you can make your own for less than 65 cents each and be just as delicious with a good rub or pre-made glaze!?).
If that’s out of your budget a simple stove top steamer cooks veggies within 8 minutes.
Don’t have 8 minutes? Microwavable steamers get the job done in 90-120 seconds.
Can’t find a microwavable steamer? Buy pre-packaged steamable-bagged frozen vegetables.
The point is, today we have options – lots of options.
And no, I am not saying you eat veggies bland as can be – seasonings are our friend so find a few you like and rotate through them. This prevents you from getting pallet fatigue and giving up after 5 days of eating the same thing over and over again like you find in one time meal plans with no deviation.
Now that you’ve implemented frequent after meal walks and somehow found a way to eat a fibrous vegetable or fruit at every meal of the day for maybe the first time in your entire life, it’s time to finally start focusing on portion and therefore caloric control.
NOTE: For the purpose of this blog and our nutrition services as chiropractors we are focusing on caloric control not from a physique standpoint in quest of a so called “beach body” but for improved health standpoint in terms of less joint pain from being overweight, improved energy, heightened mental clarity, improved hormonal health, prevention of Alzheimer’s which is now starting to be referred to as Type III Diabetes, etc. Add to that benefit list is that we now know that fat cells release chemical signalers called cytokines that have now been linked to osteoarthritis of non-weight bearing joints that is common in folks with chronic obesity so again, improved musculoskeletal outcomes.
I’m sure half of you cringed at just the thought of caloric control from previous bad experiences. Don’t worry, we’re not going off the deep end making you count every calorie from the start. Instead, we are literally leveraging human psychology once again because the more often we can do that, the better our chances of long-term success.
By simply using smaller plates you won’t even notice that portion sizes have been reduced because the visual stimuli of a full plate doesn’t change.
It sounds silly and even trivial but a common complaint when focusing on caloric control with folks I’ve heard over the years is, “I can just tell I’m eating so much less because of all the empty space on my plate and it makes me hungry.”
Beyond that is the fact that by using smaller plates you simply can’t put as much food on there (outside of a leaning Tower of Pisa situation). Therefore, you would have to literally to go for seconds which is a good “opportunity” to give yourself a chance to recognize you are most likely eating in excess than what you need from a fuel standpoint.
Trust me, the smaller plate method works, and it works shockingly well. Be consistent with this step for just a few weeks and you will have forgotten what you’re doing – effortless caloric control.
Another easy way to help prioritize quality nutrition is to start following a pecking order when it comes to eating. This is especially helpful for when you’re eating out and don’t have access to your smaller plates at home.
By eating your protein source and fibrous vegetables or fruits first BEFORE your carbs or fats, you improve the chances you let your body’s natural satiety signaling do its job and help you once again with effortless caloric control.
Satiety = feeling full
Protein and fiber are both very satiating – mainly since they have the highest thermic effect of all macronutrients meaning it actually is very “expensive” to digest them (to 30% of calories consumed in each case). This is exceedingly important for helping someone regulate hunger signaling.
Adding to the thermic effect is it typically takes about 15-20 minutes for our body to register rising leptin levels in the body that start to get released as we eat – a hormone that signals we are full. This again increases the odds that your body’s satiety signaling work properly after a few weeks of practice.
This pecking order also offers the great benefit of helping with blood sugar regulation. Both higher protein and fiber diets have been shown to improve blood sugar control even in diabetics. By getting your protein and fiber in BEFORE your carbohydrates you will reduce the blood sugar spike that would happen if you reversed the order and helps with natural satiety signaling. Why? For most folks, large blood sugar spikes triggers an even larger hunger response which we are trying to avoid for improved health outcomes.
Once you have made the first four steps a part of your day-to-day living, then yes, even further focusing on the amounts and types of food we eat is necessary.
While I do like having folks track for a period of time from just an education standpoint; I do recognize there are individuals who would rather pluck their eyebrows out one at a time so there has to be an alternative.
This is exactly why I’ve always been a huge proponent of the hand measuring method for almost a decade once I first learned about it.
Why?
We will always have access to this – even on the road – and it provides a very easy tool with how to “build” your meals, a key step can seem impossibly complicated to someone who has decade long established poor eating habits.
Each meal we want:
– an open palm-sized portion of high-quality protein
– an open palm-sized portion of fibrous vegetables (or fruit)
– 1-2 cupped hands of complex carbs depending on current fueling needs and goals (more active individuals may require 2)
– a thumb-sized portion of fat (granted if eating a fattier protein source this will suffice otherwise this translates to about 1 tbsp of healthy fats)
Once you’ve built your plate with your hand then you just follow the previous step of following the meal pecking order and almost like magic improved eating habits become second nature.
Now how do you go about implementing these changes?
What I recommend is to implement one step at a time and focus on making it part of your every day routine. Once you’ve been consistent with following that step, then you can add on the next step in this process. For most folks this comes out to be about every 1-3 weeks a new step is added.
Again, the goal isn’t gut-wrenching temporary adherence, but instead consistent adherence long-term. That’s why focusing on turning these “steps” into “habits” is where the magic lies and what you should be striving for.
When that happens, that’s when success is maintained long-term and with very little effort compared to previous failed attempts.
If you would like to learn even more about some ways you can improve your nutrition in a simplified and straight manner as possible we recommend watching this FREE webinar Dr. Marv gave last year.
As always we would greatly appreciate it if you forwarded this blog to any of your friends, family, and loved ones who you think may benefit from learning about our first 5 steps with nutrition changes.
