Three of Sydney’s best accredited nutritionists share their top healthy eating tips.
How can you embark on a healthy eating plan in a way that is realistic and sustainable?
There are many ways to lose weight and fuel your body with nutritional meals, but committing to a realistic and sustainable healthy eating plan is a difficult thing.
Because of this, many women tend to fall prey to yo-yo dieting or giving up on weight loss goals because its “too hard” or life is “too busy.”
Bondi Beauty asked three nutritionists to give their best advice on avoiding dieting mistakes and creating a healthy eating plan that it’s easy to stick with.
NUTRITIONIST #1: JESSICA SEPEL
Jessica Sepel is a clinical nutritionist, best-selling health author, international blogger and founder of JSHealth. Jessica focuses on building balanced, healthy relationships with food and encouraging loving your body. Here are her top tips to get healthy and lose weight along the way:
- Join the un-diet movement:
JSHealth was born out of a deep desire to help women understand that they can still live a healthy life and feel good about their bodies, without being on a diet. The ‘un-diet’ method is about giving up dieting for life and finding a balanced approach to food. This is not about quick fixes or fads when trying to lose weight – it’s about adopting a sustainable lifestyle that supports wellbeing. Instead of focusing on a weight-loss plan, start focusing on health.
- Commit to balanced nutrition:
Every day, choose to eat plenty of nutrient-rich foods such as organic proteins, gluten-free grains, leafy greens, colourful vegetables, low-sugar fruits, nuts, seeds, beans and pulses. It’s important to ensure every meal is satiating to reduce emotional eating, increase energy and promote healthy weight balance. Here’s what your plate should look like:
- ¼ healthy carbs, e.g. sweet potato, quinoa or brown rice
- ¼ healthy protein, e.g. organic chicken or turkey, or tofu/tempeh for vegans
- ½ veggies, e.g. rocket, spinach, broccolini and asparagus
- ½ healthy fats, e.g. ¼ avocado, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp coconut oil or 1 tbsp walnuts
- Indulge mindfully:
Health is all about balance. Too many people view food as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and this creates stress within the body and can increase emotional eating. Instead, become a mindful eater who eats with joy, not guilt. I believe in the 80/20 approach. This means that 80 per cent of the time I eat well, and 20 per cent of the time, I indulge with joy. Giving yourself permission to indulge once or twice a week reduces the incidence of emotional eating.
Click here for more on Jessica Sepel and JSHealth visit.
NUTRITIONIST #2: JAIME CHAMBERS:
Jaime Rose Chambers is a Sydney-based, accredited dietician and nutritionist whose passions are food and cooking, and a focus on healing the body with food. Here are her best tips:
- Make your health goals small and achievable:
Setting one big goal like ‘I will lose 10kg’ can be daunting and overwhelming and often lead us to throw in the towel within a few weeks! Set small goals at several points over the year, such as ‘losing 3-4kg in the next 2 months.’ These are more attainable and we’re more likely to keep working towards them.
- Set goals that are about changing habits:
A healthy lifestyle requires healthy habits, and the only way to kick a bad habit is to replace it with a healthy one. Set goals such as ‘instead of chocolate after dinner I’m going to have a cup of herbal tea.’ Or, ‘instead of sleeping in, I’m going to go to bed half an hour earlier and set my alarm to exercise in the morning.’ Work on one goal at a time – once you have one new habit well-established, begin to work on the next one.
- Stay accountable:
This might be to yourself, a friend or a group! It can be as simple as keeping a food and activity diary to keep you on track. Or joining up with a work colleague or a group such as an exercise class, which can be a great way to stay on track because it’s social and lots more fun.
Click here to find out more about Jaime Rose Chambers.
NUTRITIONIST #3: ANNA KEUSGEN
Anna Keusgen is a qualified nutritionist and holistic health coach, trained in New York and now based in McMahons point, Sydney. Anna aims to empower even the busiest of women to eat and live in a way that encourages energy, mindfulness and vitality. Here are Anna’s top tips:
- Timing is everything:
Don’t just make a snap decision to start up a diet – you need to spend time thinking about the goals you are making to ensure that you are creating specific, measurable, desirable goals which matter deeply for you. Spend some time before the end of the year gaining clarity as to what you want to achieve and, more importantly, WHY. If the goal is meaningful to you, it is more likely to be achieved. Write down your resolutions. Stick them on your wall or fridge or somewhere you see them every day.
- Positivity matters:
It’s important that you get excited about not only what it is you want to achieve but about the input required to achieve these goals. Get excited! If all you focus on is the deprivation and willpower involved to get the result, chances are you’ll stop trying after a week or two. If you want to lose weight, instead of thinking “I’m going to give up carbs and stop going out until I lose 5kg,” which has a negative focus, approach the goal with the mindset: “I’m going to charge my body with rich, nutrient-dense, fresh foods and hydrate with 8 glasses of water per day.” or you could say “I’m going to give up carbs and stop going out until I lose 5 kg”. By focusing on positivity you are more likely to gain long term results.
- Show-up everyday.
In some form or another, commit to your goals each day and do at least something towards them. It’s not about perfection but progression. Instead of focusing on not eating processed foods anymore, instead focus on crowding these foods out by including lots of whole fresh real foods that nourish you. Each day, ask yourself what you can do that is positive and in line with what you want to achieve. Consistency and focus on your goals which you are excited about will inevitably result in the outcomes you are seeking. Show-up for your health and let the positive outcome.
Click here to find out more on Anna Keusgen.
