What a Dietitian Eats

I will come back to the “eat healthy affordably” series next week, but wanted to touch on another nutrition topic. A lot of people ask me what I eat, expecting the answer to be “only healthy foods all the time”. The honest answer is “everything”! In my world, no food is off-limits. And I encourage you to adopt the same philosophy. Let me explain...

I am currently perusing through a cookbook called "The Food You Crave" written by Registered Dietitian, Ellie Krieger. She holds to the philosophy that all foods can fit into a healthy diet “frequently, sometimes or rarely”. In other words, aim to eat healthy foods frequently and less healthy foods either sometimes or rarely. This outlook allows you to enjoy the foods you love in the right moderation so you don't feel deprived.

In my experience, the minute I restrict myself, I seem to instantly want that food more. Ahh, so annoying! I once tried to stop eating chocolate (in the persuit of post-baby weight loss) and the minute I let myself have chocolate again, I ate half the bar! My husband watched in amazement, as this is not a typical sight at our house! 

Here is my refrigerator and the foods we consume “frequently”: 

Other foods not pictured that we eat “frequently” are whole grains (brown rice, whole wheat pasta, 100% whole wheat bread, oats, etc). I'll be honest, growing up my mom always had a candy drawer (sorry mom!). And yes, I admit I have one too. In it you'll usually find a stash of dark chocolate, but I only eat that “sometimes”. And the apple crisp I ate for dessert tonight? Oh yeah, that's a "rarely".

So eat freely and avoid restricting yourself too much. Understand that all foods can be a part of your diet but try to choose healthy foods the most "frequently".