– Healthy Food Patterns –
Developing a successful food pattern shouldn’t depend on prohibitions as diets often proclaim. This isn’t motivation that is sustainable for the long haul. The pattern I speak of is a balance of good sources of protein, fats and carbohydrates with every meal. Other than a couple of standouts such as high fructose corn syrup and trans fats, I don’t deny myself anything. But I limit some things, such as refined carbohydrates (sugar, white flour) and processed foods (what you find in boxes and cans in the grocery store: essentially anything with “ingredients” other than the food itself.)
The 90/10 Rule
I don’t count anything: calories, nutrients, etc. This is a lifestyle of healthy eating, not filling in a spreadsheet. ChefCentury’s meals subscribe to this philosophy. I live by the 90/10 rule: if I eat healthy 90 percent of the time, pizza or fried chicken on occasion won’t hurt.
Healthy Tastes Good
Every flavor profile in the world is available within the parameters of healthy eating, with the occasional substitution to avoid too much of this or that. Maintaining lifelong patterns is about loving your food and experiencing all of the incredible variety and taste sensations that various cultures have to offer us.
More than Food
I mentioned that nutrition starts with food. But nutrition encompasses much more than what we eat, including how we move, sleep, relationships, stress management, sense of meaning and purpose, etc. All these aspects of our being are related and integrated and you can’t separate out just the food component and say that you’re getting all the right nutrition. If you’re eating the right food, but your stress response is telling you that you’re in trouble, you’re still going to store it as fat for use in an emergency.
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