Rules are meant to be broken right?? Since I’m a Registered Dietitian (RD) people often expect I’m a perfect eater and follow all of the nutrition rules out there. However, in my work as an RD (esp. my work with eating disorders) and in my personal experience, I’ve found that food rules are dangerous. They can lead to rigid eating, disordered eating, and are just not realistic. Food rules are meant to be a way to control yourself around food, but then food just ends up controlling us.
Nourishing my body as well as possible is a top priority for me, but I also want to live my life and enjoy food. Rigid food rules prevents food freedom, so here are a few of my favorite nutrition rules I love to break!
Rule # 1: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day
I actually think lunch is a pretty darn important meal and so is dinner. Skipping meals, or having unbalanced meals, can lead to overeating and cravings later in the day. Each meal is an opportunity to provide your body with important nutrients to fuel yourself and prevent cravings, binge eating, or being overly hungry later in the evening.
Rule #2: Make half your plate fruits and vegetables
My plate does not look like this. I try to sneak in veggies into my meals as part of the meal (not half my plate), but I also need a good amount of protein, fat, and carbs to feel full and satisfied. Vegetables are a huge priority for me of course, but some meals they are missing…and that’s OK! I try to make up for it next time.
Rule #3: Don’t eat past 7pm
Our bodies are not a store with a closing time. Our bodies run 24/7 to keep us alive, so eating times may vary depending on your individual schedule, nutrient needs, etc. Eating late can be an issue if you’ve skipping meals throughout the day and by 7-8pm your body is trying to make up for the nutrients it missed out on earlier in the day and this can lead to feeling out of control with food and overeating. However, having dinner at 7:30pm or a snack before bed isn’t the end of the world!!!!
Rule #4: Only eat food with less than 5 ingredients
Sure, the less processed and packaged food you consume the better. But, if you look in my pantry you will find plenty of snack foods with more than 5 ingredients and heck I probably can’t even pronounce some of those ingredients. Sometimes I need connivence for a meal or snack and this means I might have to reach for a packaged food item. I try to choose foods with quality ingredients, but it’s just not always possible. The priority is feeding and fueling myself and that is not always going to look perfect and I will live with some processed food in my diet 😉 I try not to stress about it, move on, and balance it out with my next meal.
There are so many nutrition rules out there…which ones bug you the most?!
xx, A
