Prioritizing Nutrition and 5 Pitfalls to Avoid

Our colleague Andrea D’Ambrosio has this amazing post on 5 Pitfalls to Avoid When Prioritizing Nutrition, we thought it was perfect timing with it being a new year so we decided to guest feature it on our blog!

This time of year, people often prioritize healthy eating but struggle with some of the barriers. Andrea D goes through her 5 common pitfalls she sees patients run into when embarking on improving their nutrition!

5 Pitfalls to Avoid When Prioritizing Nutrition

1. Skipping meals or delaying eating: If you skip meals or delay eating that is a clear sign you are not prioritizing nutrition. Yet we often see it as a way to control intake, or possibly because we’ve prioritized other things ahead of eating – See the full post for why we do it and your reality check to get on track and put fuelling your body first (we promise whatever you’re doing can wait – you’ll be better focused and fuelled up to take on your tasks!)
2. Avoiding cooking: Cooking can be a lot of work, but when you don’t take the time to plan and cook your meals you’re not making nutrition a priority. It can take too much time, and many times people lack confidence and competence in the kitchen.  Here’s some solutions to get you started!
3. High Stress: Oftentimes in a stress state we are in survival mode and not usually making the healthiest choices. Here’s some tips to reduce your stress.
4. Resisting Planning: Nutritious meals don’t just happen, they require a little planning. Many think ‘meal planning’ is 1 skill when in fact its many tiny little skills we have to tie together! To learn some basics of meal planning, read this!
5. Perfection Paralysis: Maybe you have tried before and failed and now you think it’s not even worth trying if you don’t do it perfectly the first time. One step at a time, click here to get started!

Bottom Line:

Only you can decide if nutrition is important enough to prioritize. What will prioritizing nutrition look like in your life? If you are having a hard time prioritizing nutrition, you may have fallen into one of the Top 5 Pitfalls for Prioritizing Nutrition. 

Work with a dietitian to help you prioritize your nutrition and avoid these 5 pitfalls!