Good Nutrition: No Discount Code Needed
There is SO MUCH noise around nutrition on the internet and in our faces every day - especially in January. It’s overwhelming, confusing and kind of just annoying, amiright? We’re pummeled with messages to eat more protein (buy my protein brand with this code), take these supplements (use my code to get 17.2% off the sponsoring brand), drink electrolytes, (you get it: code, buy, buy, buy…), and so on*. It’s endless, and it’s too much.
Back to the Basics of Nutrition
Here’s the real truth: Good nutrition doesn’t need a discount code (unless you use coupons at the grocery store, then good on you!)
Check this out:“Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat.” This is the recommendation from CrossFit. It’s simple, straightforward, and it works. It works to keep body fat in a healthy range; it works to support energy needs for exercise and day-to-day activities; it works to promote general health and wellness over a lifetime. It’s not sexy, flashy or going to get you a brand deal on Instagram, but it will nourish, satiate and energize you so you can live a full and active life.
What if you don’t eat meat? This recommendation still stands; you just have be a little more creative about how you get your protein in and more aware of the starches used in meat substitute products. But it can be done!
We have a tendency to make nutrition complicated for two reasons 1) We live in a food landscape full of highly-palatable, processed and fast food choices that are constantly pulling at our attention and taste buds and rather than recognize that those food items don’t support our health and wellness and, therefore, avoid them, we try to create loopholes and workarounds so we can have our Big Mac and eat it too. Don’t eat enough fruit and veggies and now you’re low on vitamins and minerals? Take a pill. Want to eat bakery items and desserts but also get protein? Construct some protein powder Frankenstein dessert that’s not as good, more expensive and lacks micronutritients. 2) Someone is trying to sell you something, market at you or influence you because of reason #1 - and they’re really good at it.
Dial back all the noise. Take a break from listening to all the influencers. Release yourself from the stress of which brand of what supplement to try or how to make a high-protein, sugar-free, gluten-free, dairy-free muffin. EAT REAL FOOD**. You will be more satiated, more energized, and probably save money (potatoes are super filling and cheap, yo).
How to Apply Basic Nutrition to Your Life
Shop the perimeter of the grocery store; avoid the middle isles. The stuff we want to avoid is in those middle isles - the cookies, chips, crackers, sodas…AND they are more expensive. You are paying a premium to have your corn processed, fried, seasoned and mixed with chemicals. Eat real corn. It’s cheaper and better for you.
Meal prep ingredients for easy fast meals. Once you have your grocery store perimeter groceries, take ONE HOUR to cut up veggies, rinse fruit, throw some potatoes in the airfryer, toss some chicken in a crock pot, or build out a couple casseroles to have in the freezer. I promise, you can knock out alot of meal prep in just one hour, and you’ve set yourself up for success all week long. Now you have all these components ready to go that you can put together as you like and season as desired meal-by-meal.
Learn how to cook. I know we’re all busy, but if you take the time to learn how to cook your own food, you’ve just unlocked a super power of tasty, good nutrition. A burger at home is just as good if not better than at a restaurant and better for you because you can control the ingredients to serve your goals (also cheaper, are you seeing a thru line here?) A salad at home is way better and more delicious than at one of those fancy salad places, and you KNOW who has touched your ingredients or what surfaces they touched. If you’re really in need of the occasional sweet treat (cuz we’re all human, don’t stress about it), make a batch of cookies, bake one for now, portion out the rest and freeze them for later. You’ll scratch that sweet treat itch with an item you made yourself with fewer ingredients than something that would have come from a box, and the experience was better cuz it was fresh and warm from the oven. Learn to be self-sufficient when it comes to preparing the food you put into your body - you’ll eat better, more nutritious food, make better progress towards any weight loss goals if you have them and save money (look, I know this blog wasn’t about saving money on food, but with the cost of groceries and especially the cost of eating out…I mean, it’s just a reality so why not save some dough as well as eat better, huh?)
Build a satiating, nutritious plate. If you think of a plate like a pie chart, aim for half the plate to be non-starchy veggies, a quarter to be protein, and a quarter to be a starch/carb (i.e. potatoes, rice, squash, a dinner roll).
Consistency Not Perfection
If you decide to give this back-to-the-basics nutrition strategy a try, remember this: it’s ok if you’re not perfect. Life happens, birthdays happen, plans get upended…we pivot and move forward. The reality is eating is a daily part of our entire lives, so if we can eat the basics most the time, we’re doing pretty good. And we don’t need to get down on ourselves if we cave and make a donut run on a Saturday morning or dive into a pizza with some pals every once in a while. Enjoy the moment, and then eat an apple - no discount code required.
*Supplements, electrolytes, protein powders have a place and a use, but they should be used to supplement a nutrition-forward diet, not to take its place.
**obviously, if you have dietary restrictions for health reasons (i.e. lactose intolerant, Celiac, etc) don’t eat those foods
