Last week I shared my insight on why focusing on small details rarely pays off in this Don’t Lose Sight of the Big Picture by Focusing on the Small Details article. There is a lot of confusion of what it means to eat a healthy diet because the media bashes a food one week and celebrates it the next. Or, there are so many choices that you don’t know which is best. I get asked questions like this all of the time:
- Are potatoes good or bad?
- What do you think of beans? Are they good or bad?
- Can I eat bread if it’s gluten free? It’s gluten free so that’s healthy, right?
- I had 1/2 of a banana which is about 16 grams of carbohydrates. Is this ok? What if I ate the entire banana?
- Should I use refined or unrefined extra virgin olive oil?
- I’m not losing any weight. What else should I cut out?
If there was a straight answer to these questions, I’d give it to you. But, there isn’t.
Brooke, just tell me what I should eat then!
I am not going to give you a list of foods to eat and how much, or tell you to not eat a certain food group. You see, it isn’t about making the perfect choice, only eating “approved foods”, or saying no to “off-limits foods”. No matter your knowledge about proper nutrition basics you can still make healthy choices daily without all the questions and worrying about the small details.
If you want to know what you should eat, start viewing food on a continuum of eat more of this, less of that and some of this. This process will help you aim for progress, not perfection and allow for more flexibility, grace and control of your choices.
Whether you’re eating at home, out to eat with friends, at a work social or holiday gathering make choices for you that are “just a little bit better.”
The masterminds behind my Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification has created a 3-step guide for choosing the best foods for your body. In the image below, on top of learning to make healthy choices that align with your continuum of progress you will also learn how to:
- incorporate a variety of proteins, carbs, fats and vegetables
- strategically improve your food choices based on where you are right now
- customize your intake for your individual lifestyle and taste buds
- there is space to create your own personal continuum so you can build a menu you love of healthy foods that are right for you
Use this guide to learn how to make healthy choices that suite you, that taste good to you, will help you achieve your goals and how to sustain these choices for a lifetime.
