It’s common knowledge that proper nutrition and regular physical activity are the cornerstones of maintaining an ideal weight.
However, there are reasons beyond weight maintenance that proper nutrition is vital to leading a healthy lifestyle. According to Tufts, eating properly can help:
- Reduce the risk of some diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, stroke, some cancers, and osteoporosis
- Reduce high blood pressure
- Lower high cholesterol
- Improve your ability to fight off or recover from illness
- Increase your energy level
In this article, we will explore what good nutrition is and ways you can incorporate it into your daily life.
What Is Good Nutrition for Workplace Wellness?
Eating food is how we provide fuel for our bodies. We use nutrients for our daily functioning, and food is the way we replace those nutrients to continue. Your body needs water, fats, proteins, and carbohydrates in order to maintain good health. In addition, it’s important to eat foods that will provide key ingredients and minerals such as vitamin D and calcium.
According to the 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, a diet that will keep you healthy and give you all the benefits mentioned above includes:
- Whole fruits
- A variety of vegetables
- Grains with an emphasis on whole grains such as oatmeal and brown rice
- Protein such as lean meats, poultry, and seafood
- Dairy products such as milk and yogurt
In addition to the above guidance, the dietary guidelines also encourage you to stay away from food and drinks that are high in saturated fats, contain added sugars, and are high in sodium.
Workplace Wellness: Nutrition Habits to Develop
Many of us have tried to drastically change our eating habits in order to achieve some kind of quick outcome. For example, a crash diet with nothing but cabbage soup might give you the numbers on the scale you’ve been looking for.
However, drastic and sudden changes aren’t going to help you on your quest for better eating habits. While you may see results quickly, you won’t see sustainable change at all.
To make habits that can last your lifetime and help you reap the benefits of eating healthier, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) encourages you to REFLECT, REPLACE and REINFORCE:
- Reflect on your current eating habits — the good, the bad, and the ugly — and identify the triggers in your life that lead to unhealthy eating.
- Replace your identified unhealthy habits with healthier ones.
- Reinforce your new healthier habits as you go along.
Once you’ve reflected on your current habits, there are several techniques you can use to create healthier habits.
Some techniques that will help you eat better include:
Find Some Balance
Your body needs a healthy combination of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates to run efficiently. Planning out your meals to make sure they have a healthy balance of all three will become a habit that helps you benefit from healthy eating.
Choose Nutrient-Dense Foods
These foods are going to give you more bang for your buck and keep you full longer. These foods include dark green and leafy vegetables, beans and peas, fruits, meat, poultry, and eggs.
Eat Slower
Slowing down when you eat can include pausing before taking a bite or being more intentional about chewing slowly. Slowing down will keep you from mindlessly eating more food than your body wants or needs.
Cook More
The best way to know what’s in your food is if you cook it yourself! Preparing your own meals will ensure that you have a healthy balance of all the nutrients your body needs to be in its best form.
Create a Routine
Try to eat your meals around the same time every day. When healthy eating habits become part of your actual daily routine, it becomes easier to stick to them.
Keep Your Leftovers
When you’re cooking for yourself, make a little extra to put away in the fridge for lunch or dinner (or both!) the next day. Having a meal that’s ready to eat will keep you from the drive-through on busy days.
Have a Healthy Attitude
Don’t beat yourself up if you eat something that might not be too healthy. Remember that food and eating can and should be an enjoyable experience and not a minefield of regrets. It’s okay to splurge once in a while.
Your eating habits should be like the kinds of foods you’re eating — all about balance. Remember, this isn’t a “diet.” Instead, this is adopting healthy ways to eat that will bring you the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that your body needs to be at its best every day.
Senior Star prides itself on its high standards of care and expert knowledge in its senior living communities. Senior Star has put together a helpful guide for CNAs and other caregivers: Self-Care for the Caregiver, which you can download here.
