We are excited to share this special guest post from Rebecca the Dietitian! We recognize how much the way you fuel your body influences your exercise results, and are excited to be able to bring you Rebecca’s sound eating advice to help you optimize your health, enjoy eating and get the most out of your workouts. We hope you will check out her post below and look forward to learning more from her. If you are in need of more guidance when it comes to nutrition, her comprehensive course, “Nourished & Fit” teaches you everything you need to know in order to lose weight, increase your energy, and balance your hormones (while enjoying delicious food of course)! Along with the course you will be invited to monthly group calls and a private Facebook community of amazing, supportive women. Please check out this link here to learn more (be sure to use the code ‘JSTV’ for a 30% discount).

 

In this season, I’m feeling called to help women learn to really care for ourselves. I think sometimes we tend to be excruciatingly self-critical. This can result in us taking on healthy habits as a form of punishment or a way to “fix” something about ourselves. Making goals coming from that place is a recipe for yo-yo dieting and unsustainable exercise patterns.

The key to long-term success in eating habits is to make sustainable, enjoyable, nourishing choices to take the best possible care of your amazing self (instead of starving yourself or torturing yourself because you don’t think you look good enough). Choose healthy habits because you love yourself, and you know you deserve the best.

 

Here are sample some goals for the New Year that you can consider for self-love:

 

Goal: You want to feel energized.

Maybe you are tired of feeling tired. You love your full life, but you find yourself wishing for a nap by late morning. Try switching from refined carbohydrates to whole grains. Whole grains like oats, sprouted bread, and brown rice are digested more slowly so that the energy supplied by the carbohydrate can last for a long time (instead of a sugar rush and then crash). Bonus: this helps balance your hunger hormones and curbs cravings.

RELATED: ‘CLEAN EATING’: IS IT NECESSARY FOR WEIGHT LOSS AND HEALTH?

 

Goal: You want great digestion and a healthy microbiome.

Are you spending more time than you would like in the bathroom? Consider slowly increasing your intake of high-fiber foods. Eating a variety of foods like fruits, veggies, beans, and nuts can help to regulate your digestive tract. The combination of different fibers can help prevent runny stool as well as constipation. Increase slowly so that your body can get used to the change, and hopefully, over time, you will start to notice the benefits. Bonus: these foods also feed the good bacteria in your gut, helping your microbiome.

RELATED: AM I GETTING ENOUGH PROTEIN? HERE’S HOW TO TELL

 

Goal: You want to live a long, healthy life.

You want to be around to play with your grandchildren and your great-grandchildren. Choose more whole foods. Eating foods as close as possible to their natural form, including fresh produce, nuts, seeds, and whole grains, can provide you with the most essential disease-fighting nutrients. Some components of these foods can fight heart disease, and they might decrease your risk of stroke, diabetes, and even some cancers. Bonus: if you eat these foods in place of less healthy, highly processed foods, it’s a double benefit.

RELATED: WILLPOWER AND WEIGHT LOSS: 3 TIPS TO OPTIMIZE YOUR LONG-TERM SUCCESS

 

Make these choices because you want to live the longest, healthiest life possible. Every time you choose to consume a fruit, vegetable, nut, seed, legume, whole grain, or other healthy food, you are giving your body a gift. You are providing yourself with vital nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals that help keep your systems running harmoniously. These are the foods that help to keep you looking and feeling amazing. Because you deserve it.

 

Do you have a nutrition or weight loss related question for Rebecca? Please let us know what you’d like to learn more about in the comments below!