3 Steps to Make Changes in Your Nutrition
You want to make changes in your nutrition, but you’re not sure where to start. Should you go 100% into tracking macros? Maybe try Keto or cut out carbs? (Probably not).
Here are 3 steps to make changes in your nutrition that don’t involve drastic changes:
#1. Start recording your food.
If you’re not aware of what you are consuming and how much, you’ll have a hard time knowing where to adjust. So logging your food for a week or logging at least 3 typical days of eating for you, including a weekend day, can be insightful. You can write this down in a notebook. You can log it in the notes app on your phone or use an app like MyFitnessPal.
#2. Add protein.
Once you record your food and get an idea of what you’re eating, take a look throughout your meals. Is there a source of protein at each major meal? Adding protein is usually what my clients focus on first after logging their food. Maybe you are eating protein throughout the day, but not very much. Try increasing your serving sizes like have another egg or add egg whites to breakfast, add more turkey to your sandwich, or have a bigger serving of ground beef in your tacos at dinner. If you’re not sure if something has protein in it or not, look up the nutritional value online or in MyFitnessPal. You’ll quickly find that peanut butter doesn’t actually provide as much protein as you think!
Not sure what protein is? Head back to my “What are macros” blog post!
#3. Add veggies.
Start with 2-3 cupped handfuls overall in your day. One side of veggies at each meal at least. The more veggies, the better!
Focus on adding one thing at a time. Stick with that one thing for one week. Two weeks. Maybe an entire month before adding something else. Overwhelm creates confusion and leads to quitting altogether. Start small and take small actions each day. You don’t have to make drastic changes to improve your nutrition. The tips I shared are common things I have my nutrition clients start with when they first start working with me.