This week, we are talking about self-care and our topic is healthy diet. Your eating habits can greatly affect your mental health. People often connect diet with weight and weight loss, but they are separate things. The problem is that when a healthy diet is so focused around weight loss, you might miss the importance of just looking at it in terms of healthy habits for optimal functioning.
Not making sure you are getting enough sustenance makes you more vulnerable and irritable. It’s hard to be at your best level of functioning without physically nourishing yourself. At the same time, eating too much of things that make you feel sluggish and have less energy also create difficulties with mental functioning. This week we are going to break down how to prioritize a healthy diet so that you can feel your best and reduce vulnerability due to poor eating habits.
Today, ask yourself:
“How would I describe my current eating habits?”
“What about my eating habits do I feel work for me and what do I want to change?”
Often times, we are just not mindful of our eating habits or think there are more important things to focus on. This is a faulty way of thinking. There are many vulnerability factors that affect how we feel and how we function. Eating is one of them. Taking a little time to be more mindful of our eating habits can have a huge positive impact on our mental health. This in turn will help us operate on a happier, less stressed level.
Make sure not to judge your current eating habits or when you “slip up.” It’s not necessarily realistic to always eat in the healthiest way. Even if you are generally strict with your meal planning, sometimes you might eat things outside of that plan. Know that that is ok and does not ruin the whole week or day. A lot of times we let everything go to hell because of one “poor” eating choice. This only makes it more difficult to stay on top of a healthy diet. Move away from this kind of judgemental thinking. Look at it as planned and unplanned eating. Cut yourself a break for those unplanned eating moments and remember that the rest of the day and week can still be on track.
TIPS TO A HEALTHY DIET
- Prioritize healthy eating. Remember that it is important to be mindful of your eating habits. Don’t let your diet fall off the list of what is important due to everything else on your plate. Don’t allow yourself to get too busy to eat. Schedule in eating times if necessary.
- Take time each week to meal plan. Giving yourself just 5 minutes to plan your meals makes it much easier to prep for eating and stay on top of maintaining a healthy diet. Don’t let not knowing what to eat or not having the necessary ingredients around keep you from healthy eating.
- Pay attention to what foods energize you and what foods make you feel more sluggish and tired. In the first few weeks of staying on top of a healthy diet, it can be helpful to keep a food journal and rate your energy level each day. This will help you find patterns between what you eat and how you feel. Try to stay away from the foods that drain your energy and eat more of what energizes you.
- Drink 6-10 cups of water a day. Drinking water is a big part of eating. Not staying hydrated can make you feel more exhausted and not well. Buy a big water bottle to carry around to help you stay on top of your drinking.
- Eat Breakfast. Breakfast is the most skipped meal of the day. Not starting your day by giving yourself nourishment negatively impacts your functioning for the rest of your day. It is easy to say that you are used to this pattern and you function fine. However, you miss how much more you can effectively function by taking time for a small meal in the morning. It does not have to be anything lavish. A piece of toast, some fruit, eggs, etc. can do the trick.
As a first task towards a healthy diet, ask yourself “how can being more mindful of healthy eating benefit my mental health?” Think about how you can implement the above tips and what changes you can make in your eating habits to works towards a more healthy diet.
Alyssa Mairanz, LMHC, DBTC
Alyssa Mairanz provides counseling and therapy services for life transitions, relationship issues, self esteem, depression, anxiety, and DBT and Psychodynamic therapy in a NYC group practice in the Flatiron District near Madison Square Park. She also serves the Village, Chelsea, Union Square, the Financial District and the surrounding areas.
Empower Your Mind Therapy’s mission is to helps our clients build the life they want and find more happiness and satisfaction.
