The Moderation Effect

This is perhaps the hardest aspect of nutrition to master—moderation. I used to be good at moderating my food intake…but then I discovered that cream cheese tastes good in everything. As does Nutella. And heavy whipping cream. But that is not the point of this post. However, if you have an abundance of these three ingredients, I have many ideas on how to integrate them into recipes. Because they are delicious…

Anyways, moderation kind of goes with last week’s post on treating yourself everyday with something that makes you happy. There are many dietitians who separate food into “good” and “bad” categories. To me, food is food; all foods are meant to make you happy! Otherwise we wouldn’t have food. So food isn’t “good” or “bad”—it is just food. However, there are “sometimes” and “often” foods. Clearly, you want your eating plan to consist mostly of “often” foods. And in case some of you don’t know what I mean by “sometimes” and “often” foods (which is totally fine because I didn’t know what they were until just a few years ago), here is a general list of each:

“Sometimes” Foods:

1.       Cream cheese, Nutella, and heavy whipping cream (sadly…)

2.       Processed foods such as chips, cookies (like Oreos), sugary cereals, etc.

3.       Dessert foods (not the new definition we applied last week, but the actual definition) like brownies, cookies, cake, ice cream, etc.

4.       Fast food

“Often” Foods:

1.       Fruits and vegetables

2.       Whole grains and seeds such as wheat, oats, flax, chia, etc.

3.       Low fat dairy products

4.       Beans and nuts

These are very rudimentary and generalized lists, but there is an obvious contrast between them. Sadly, “often” foods usually require more preparation and time before you can eat them. In today’s world, where speed seems to be more important than health, a lot of these “often” foods are bypassed due to inconvenience. In reality, about 90% of our diet should come from the “often” list—the other 10% can be filled with “sometimes” foods if you so choose. This is one of the nutritional suggestions I struggle with because let’s be honest…processed foods are delicious (besides Megastuff Oreos…the crème-to-cookie ratio is just all sorts of absurd). Clearly the inventor of the Doublestuff Oreo knew what they were doing.

Another reason moderation is so hard is because us humans are impulsive in our eating. Have you ever noticed that around 2 PM you start getting the munchies? You aren’t really hungry, but you aren’t necessarily full, and your stomach seems to keep yelling “GET ME SOMETHING SALTY. OR SOMETHING

CHOCOLATE” at the top of its lungs? (At least that’s what my stomach says to me…). This is when impulsivity is at its highest because if your tummy wants something salty, you’re going to feed it something salty just to keep it quiet. Then you feel guilty, eat more salty food, and the cycle continues. Which is how I end up with a half-gallon of ice cream in my freezer. And two movie-sized packages of Reeses’ Pieces in my pantry (my local grocery store only sells them for $1 per box…it would be a crime not to buy them, right?!)

But here is a way to avoid all that! Plan ahead. I know this requires effort and time, but do it. Every night before I go to bed I take 10-15 minutes to make my breakfast, lunch, and snacks for the next day. I wrote down what I ate the past couple of days as an example. You can even prepare while watching TV (I know most of us watch at least 10-15 minutes of TV every day, especially right before we go to bed). That way when 2 o’clock rolls around the next day, you have something already prepared in your fridge to curb the cravings your body says you need. This helps keep my diet in the 90% “often” and 10% “sometimes” range. You will also find, whether you are craving sweet or salty, that there is an “often” food that will do the trick.

Here are some examples of foods I eat when I’m craving salty foods:

1.       Trail mix (sometimes I throw in a few chocolate chips to reward myself for not eating chips…because that is very logical)

2.       Roasted vegetables (this obviously requires a bit of preparation)

3.       Crackers and hummus

4.       Crackers and guacamole

5.       Toasted bagel topped with cheese and dipped in marinara sauce (you would be surprised at how yummy this is)

Here are some examples of foods I eat when I’m craving sweet foods:

1.       Fruit (specifically melons because you can cut them days in advance)

2.       Apple and peanut butter

3.       Granola bar

4.       Yogurt and granola

5.       Smoothie

Most of these examples can be prepped entirely ahead of time with exception of the bagel and maybe the smoothie, depending on what you put in it. And if you are okay with pre-made smoothies. That is something I don’t like, so I always make my smoothie fresh. But if you are able to stomach a pre-made smoothie, more power to ya. That is a taste I wish I had. It would make life so much easier sometimes!

Anyways, I hope these lists helped you out. As I said before, moderation is something we all need to work on, but hardly any of us actually take the time to make it happen. Once again, this is something I struggle with all of the time. I want to make it clear time and time again that I am not a perfect eater! I know a lot of people have misconceptions about dietitians and think they are the “Nutrition Gods” who always eat what is good for them and reward their healthy eating with a giant bowl of broccoli at the end of the day. These dietitians do exist, but the vast majority, like myself, are different.

In fact, this past week I had a small bowl of ice cream every single night. Which, keep in mind, is not moderation in the slightest. I didn’t really feel guilty because ice cream is so yummy, but I recognized that I needed to make alterations to my eating plan. So my goal this week was to replace my nightly bowl of ice cream with something else (no matter how much I desperately wanted the chocolate peanut butter cup deliciousness inside of my freezer). Instead, I’ve been eating a bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats with a banana. Or some yogurt and fresh berries. That way, though I do not save on calories in the slightest, I get something sweet that also has some nutritional value to it.

No matter how intimidating, I know that the 90/10 ratio between “often” and “sometimes” foods can be met. It has not been an overnight change for me, and it most likely won’t be one for you either (but if you do find a way to make the change that quickly, please let me know so I can adopt your method). Just remember this important fact that changed my entire outlook on nutrition and how it applies to our lives: there are no “bad” foods—just some we shouldn’t eat quite as often.

However, I do have to confess something: the hardest thing about not eating too many “sometimes” foods is trying not to celebrate by eating too many “sometimes” foods.