We hear a lot about eating balanced meals, but how exactly do you balance one? With all the information and misinformation out there, it’s a daunting task to sift through it and decide what’s right. Here are 5 tips to help get you started, or re-started- wherever you may find yourself on your journey with food.
Forget what you already know. Forget about the food pyramid and forget about all the shoulds. They will cloud your judgment, and you need clarity to make the best decisions you can for your health. To this end, YOU are in charge of your own health. Like it or not, that’s the absolute truth. Also, food pyramids and recommended daily allowances change often. We don’t need so much research and science telling us what to eat. We just need real food.
Start today. Try not to make plans for the day that you’re going to change things for the better. Start now. Start with the next meal and forget about the last one.
Think about an artist’s palette to guide your palate. Your meals need color, wildly diverse color; color that blends and color so bright it pops off your plate. The more meals like this the better, but if you come close, that’s good enough because you can make up for it at the next meal. Your meals are the bigger picture, not just this meal. So, endeavor to make the painting as colorful and beautiful as you can.
Eat raw and cooked foods. This goes back to diversity. Back in the day, humans knew that different nutrients and enzymes could be absorbed by either cooking foods or eating them raw. One or the other doesn’t work. Both do. Use the seasons to help guide you here. In the summer you’ll likely reach for more raw foods, salads and fruit, etc. In the winter, you’ll reach for warming foods like soups and stews. Your intuition is right here. Eating pineapple in January feels strange because it is.
Take your time and sit. We forget about this one because we’re always in a hurry to get to the next place. What’s the rush? I don’t know, but after moving to the desert I realized I was still rushing even though I really had no need to. I’m just used to that fast pace. How and when you eat is as crucial as what you eat. So, get used to taking time for your food, eating with someone, talking and enjoying the act of eating. It’s a beautiful thing to take time to nourish yourself and you’ll find you won’t have missed much.