My 9 Nutrition Hacks
I am not a nutritionist. Or a doctor. Or a chemist, biologist or diet expert. But I am a student of nutrition and, after decades of reading everything I can and tinkering with my own nutrition and wellness, I know what works for me. And I’ve learned that much of what works for me also works for others.
So here are my nine nutrition hacks. Nine things that work for me. They won’t all work for you. But some will.
Breakfast matters
I don’t know if it is the “most important meal of the day” or not, but I know that it matters. Starting my day with crap sets me up for a day of up and down energy, bad cravings and poor choices. Breakfast needs some protein, some greens, and some whole grains. And as little sugar as possible.
I like to throw it all in a smoothie: almond milk, vegan protein powder, kale, spinach, whatever fruit I have fresh or frozen (really, anything works: bananas, apples, strawberries, mango, blueberries), an eighth of an avocado (essential to make your smoothie, well, smooth and to give you the good fats you need to get your day started), chia seeds, ground flax seeds and three ice cubes.
Done.
2. Sugar is bad
It just is. It causes your blood sugar to go up and down and does all kinds of bad things to your body. For many people, myself included, sugar triggers headaches. And the most insidious thing about sugar is that eating it makes me crave more of it. So that handful of gummy bears I grabbed at 11:00 am isn’t just those five gummy bears. It is five gummy bears that are going to make it really, really hard for me to resist another five gummy bears at 2:00.
Sugar has consequences. Best to avoid it.
3. Soda is worse
Soda is like mainlining sugar. It is like shooting sugar into your veins the way a junkie shoots heroin. There is not a single reason to drink soda. No, I don’t need the caffeine. No, I don’t need the sugar boost. And neither do you.
4. No good comes from eating at night
When Eric and I first moved from an apartment to a house, we didn’t put a TV in our bedroom. “Bedrooms are for sleeping and sex,” the experts say. So instead, the TV was in the living room which was right next to the kitchen. I vividly recall watching the Amazing Race while eating cereal from the box. After three years, I realized how much I missed laying in my bed and watching television. I know, I know, watching TV is a waste of time but at the end of a long day, the 40 minutes I spend lost in someone else’s drama from the comfort of my bed is heaven. Anyway, we moved the TV to the bedroom and I immediately lost four pounds.
No good comes from eating late at night. Have a good dinner. Finish dinner. Do dishes and call the kitchen closed.
5. Eat more vegetables
Okay, here’s the truth. Until you do it and do it for a while, asparagus will not taste as good as Oreos. But one is fuel, and one is poison. It is estimated that there are 20,000 types of edible plants in the world and there are hundreds of different ways to prepare them: you can steam them, roast them, mash them, grill them, blend them into smoothies, add them to a stew, combine them into a salad or eat them raw. Just to name a few.
I try to eat them. Every meal, every day.
6. Drink More Water
I don’t need soda, juice or wine. I might think I do, but I don’t. You probably don’t either. What we need is water and probably more of it than we are getting now. While there are differing opinions on exactly how much water we need, plenty of research shows that even mild dehydration can dampen our mood, reduce our ability to concentrate, increase the likelihood of headaches and drain our energy. I don’t know about you, but I need all of those things functioning at their best.
So I keep a stainless steel water bottle with me pretty much all the time and fill it every chance I get. You probably should too.
7. Pack an Emergency Egg
Years ago, my sister came to visit for the day, which required a two-hour bus ride from the city. When she arrived, she unpacked her bag and pulled out two hard-boiled eggs in a little plastic container. “Emergency eggs,” she explained. I knew exactly what she meant. I always have food in my bag. Literally always. Usually, it is a good quality protein bar or bag of carrots.
Right now, as I write this post, I have a protein bar, a sliced apple and a small bag of nuts at the bottom of my purse. You will get hungry. Be prepared.
8. The 3:00 P.M. Apple
Focusing on what not to eat doesn’t work so well for my rebellious spirit. If you tell me I can’t have a Reese’s Peanut Butter cup, my response is likely to be “watch me.” So rather than focus on what I can’t have, I focus on what I can have.
I’ve identified a few troublesome times, including the 4:00 slump. I’m home from work. The kids are off the bus. I’m hungry and sluggish. Cookies, nuts, and Reeses Peanut Cups call my name. I can shortcut those cravings by eating an apple every day at 3:00. Whether I want it or not. More often than not, once I eat the 3:00 apple, I don’t want that Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.
9. One Plate
The truth is, I rarely (maybe never) need that second plate of food. I might want that second plate, especially if it is something delicious like lasagna, but chances are very, very slim that I need a second plate. I try to make a well-balanced, nutritious plate. Eat it. Stop there. This one is probably the hardest for me because I love food and once I’m in, and the food is there, I just love to keep going. This might be the only one of my nine hacks that I feel takes “willpower.” I would say I succeed in stopping after one plate about half the time. But I’m working on it.
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Now I don’t manage to do all of these things all the time. Some mornings, I don’t have the ten minutes it takes to make my morning smoothie. Some days, I can’t resist the second plate of lasagne. Once in a while, I eat the gummy bears, skip the 3:00 apple or get on the bus with nothing healthy to snack on. But these are the nine hacks that I try to live by. They work for me and, I suspect, some of them will work for you.