Fit for Practice – Nutrition

RESTORATION PILLAR – NUTRITION

Food fuels the body and proper nutrition is right up there in importance level with sleep and exercise. Good nutrition is a key component to your overall health and can aid in disease and injury prevention.

But following a balanced diet and making healthy food choices can be confusing and overwhelming.

It can also be difficult to eat well with a fast-paced lifestyle that is typical of many adults and clinicians.

Whether we are squeezing a patient in during our lunch hour, or taking the opportunity to get outside for a little exercise during our lunch breaks, most healthcare providers don’t have a lot of time on their hands to devote to cooking up an elaborate lunch or dinner.

We need quick options, but also delicious and nutritious!

Here are a few tips to help ensure you are eating well:

• Follow the MyPlate Plan. The ChooseMyPlate model replaced the Food Pyramid model of nutrition recommendations in 2011. This model visually breaks down how your plate should look, with balanced amounts of fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, and dairy.
• Meal prep ahead of time (can vary from just chopping and prepping your vegetables, to creating a fully cooked meal that you just need to warm up when ready to eat).
• Make enough dinner to have leftovers for lunch the following day.
• Don’t drink your calories.
• Shop the perimeter of the grocery store.
• Check your food labels.
• Check out a new food blog (a couple of my personal faves are www.skinnytaste.com and www.cookprimalgourmet.com) with 30 minute or less meals.

For more information on opportunities with Upstream Rehabilitation, click here!