Clearing Up Nutrition Confusion
Today’s post introduces Robyn Priebe, RD, our wonderfully capable registered dietitian who helps the women who come to our healthy weight loss spa sort through their confusion about healthy eating, to go home with a plan for eating that works for them.
I recently noticed an article in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association titled “Staying Passionate about Dietetics.” I thought was interesting that as much as it’s possible for a dietitian to get burnt out on nutrition, it has to be far worse for the average person sifting through the ever-changing nutrition rules thrown at them each day. I bet if we all took the time to jot down each piece of advice or snippet of nutrition information we heard/read in the course of one day, we’d all come up with incredibly diverse and perhaps even comical lists. I encourage anyone to do this and post it; I’d love to see what you come up with.
My point is that everyone has their own take on what’s healthy or nutritious and what isn’t. It’s frustrating for me as a dietitian when I read a study that contradicts one I read just a week before. I imagine that all the conflicting information is just as frustrating for many of you out there, too. At a certain point you just need to “go with your gut” when deciding about what is a good choice for you and what isn’t. My instincts tell me that loading up on protein powders, mega-vitamins supplements, and processed foods seem like a bad idea for me. I also know from past experiences that I feel better with a higher carbohydrate intake than perhaps other people prefer. We are all different.
Reflecting on how food affects us personally will help us weed through the nutrition rules we encounter every day. How nice it is to be able to say to someone, “Yes, I understand that way of eating works for you, but I know from my experience that the way I eat works well for me.” Or, “Yes, I see that avoiding sweets is a good decision for you, but I know that I do better if I can have something sweet here or there; it has a better outcome for me.” How wonderful to actually mean it because you have taken the time to figure out what does work for you. If you are having difficulty figuring out where to start or difficulty deciphering all the claims you hear about different ways of eating, our article on clearing up nutrition confusion may give you a place to start.
So what did the article I mentioned say about us passionate dietitians? It actually suggested that people further along in their career are more passionate than those newer to the field of dietetics. Surprising? A little, but maybe at a certain point you get better at sifting through all the noise and getting back to enjoying food and all the wonderful things it can do for us.
What does your instinct tell you is a supportive way for you to eat? Have you heard any nutrition advice lately that made you think, “That sounds like a bad idea!”?
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