The saying “new year, new me” can take on so many different meanings; joining a gym, a new style, or some sort of self-care added into your life. Being in the nutrition world there are a lot of trends that I wish were normalized into everyone’s day-to-day life. Here are my hopeful trends for the world of nutrition and how they can make all of us happy and healthy.
- Normalizing all body types: I’m the first to admit, I’m not at a healthy weight. I’m classified as obese, but I do what I can with my diet and exercise to keep myself feeling good. One thing I wish many understood is we don’t all look the same especially when it comes to size and shape. Let’s normalize our beauty in all types of curves whether they are small or large. Let’s normalize beautiful bodies that have all differences.
- Carbs aren’t the enemy: From taking so many nutrition classes to hearing poor advice from the wrong sources on nutrition I can’t begin to stress how carbohydrates are not the enemy. So many times, I have heard “Carbs make you fat.” That is the furthest from the truth. Carbs are essentially the best way to fuel the body. They get your day going at breakfast time, they give you energy for that workout you are about to start through that protein bar or shake they are the powerhouse for the body.
- Make it more nutritious: Tik Tok always inspires me, especially with some of the amazing dietitian content I see being put out. I remember seeing a post that stuck out to me that helps me not feel guilty when wanting some chips or wanting that piece of chocolate. Ask yourself, can I make this snack more nutritious by adding something? Pair that handful of chips with a side of raw baby carrots and maybe some hummus for some more flavor. It’s not about feeling guilty for having those cravings and indulging in them, it is simply asking yourself, what can I add to make this more nutritious?
- Don’t cut out the things you love: I always hear “I’m going to cut out sugar, I’m going to cut out bread or even meat.” Many do this not because they developed an intolerance and medically need to try other foods, they do this because they think it will help them to lose weight faster and feel better. Who knows, it might but the result will be constantly thinking “wow I really would love a soda” or “I can’t go and have that piece of bread.” It will even result in you “cheating” and feeling guilty and all that weight you lost will come right back onto you. My advice: eat the things you love but do it in moderation. You should still be able to enjoy the foods you love whether it’s a nice big plate of chicken alfredo or that hot slice of pepperoni pizza. Understand that cutting things out you love will just be more damaging to you later if you teach yourself that the best way to eat is through restriction.
- Explore variety: Variety in a diet is something I always advise my nutrition clients to seek in a diet. Variety helps you to not be bored of foods but rather, feel excited about trying new things with stuff you already know and love. In college, it can be so daunting going to the dining hall and only having a few options to choose from, I try to figure out a lunch or a dinner I think of what can I pair with that entrée to make it different and not just the same boring dish. Let your food mind get creative.
The world is a constant revolving door of great nutrition knowledge that can get clouded by the bad from the wrong sources. It is important to know that we’re humans, not robots. We won’t be perfect in our health journeys every day. The way to be positive about this is by doing the best you can and making yourself your version of happy and healthy. These are just a few different ways that I touched on but there are so much more out there. Cheers to 2023, and a year of positive thinking about your body and your health.