How this midlife dietitian can help you find your healthy in midlife #FindYourHealthy

March 1, 2021

In midlife, you’ve tried various food and nutrition approaches over the years. Some worked, for a time, others didn’t. What is good for others may not be “good for you”. Now what?

In midlife, it’s time to find your healthy. This year’s Nutrition Month theme is Good for you: Dietitians help you find your Healthy.

You know that there is no one-size fits all approach to healthy eating. Your needs are unique to YOU. If you started looking at food and nutrition information, and wisely applied that information to your life, you might start to find your own version of healthy.

Healthy eating looks different for all of us. Food traditions, culture, health profile, preferences and your unique circumstances will all determine what healthy for you might look like.

Health means different things to all of us. What does healthy mean for you? How will you know when you are healthy? How will it feel? When was the last time you felt healthy? What are the specific and realistic habits that help you feel your best while also having a life outside of food and nutrition?

What affects YOUR version of healthy?

Culture and food traditions

Culture and food traditions shape how we eat. Our culture and food traditions are influenced by our own personal history as well as our current culture.

What was the nutrition and food culture in which you grew up? How was food talked about? Was food a priority? Did you have access to food? Did you have access to different types of foods? What did your parent or caregiver model to you around food and nutrition? How does this impact you today?

Dietitians can help you find what is good for you and help YOU find YOUR healthy.

Your health profile

Our nutritional needs change as we go through life. Our health profiles change. Medical nutrition therapy is a research-based, evidence-based approach to help support and/or improve people’s holistic health through food and nutrition. As we go through life, our bodies change. And so can your approach to food.

Dietitians can help you find what is good for you and help YOU find YOUR healthy.

Preferences

While there are foods I love, there are foods that I don’t especially like (there are lots of fruits that I don’t especially love. I can eat them, but not every day). There are preferences I have around how I plan food, how I get food on the table in our house, my tolerance for leftovers, my tolerance for how frequently I grocery shop, my preference for where I spend my food dollar.

You don’t need to eat poached chicken and steamed broccoli to be healthy. You don’t have to do Sunday meal-prep to be healthy. You don’t have to love kale or green smoothies to be healthy. You can find satisfaction in the foods you eat. You can have your cake and eat it too.

Personal Circumstances

We all have our life story of where we have been. This story has impacted our personal circumstances. We cannot change our past. But we can respectfully influence our future with our own version of what is good for us, and work toward our own unique vision of health.

Sometimes there is a gap between where we are now and where we want to be. Finding our own version of healthy means creating an energizing vision of our own well-nourished life. And then start living out this vision each day, from where we are today. It means exploring what we could do today that would help us feel just a little bit better. And then doing that the next day…and the next. Start slowly and build momentum. Seek support. And if you are tired, learn to rest, not quit.

In midlife, it is time to find YOUR healthy

In midlife, it is time to find your own version of healthy. Stop letting other people define what is good for you. Only you will know what is good for you.

As a dietitian, I am not your food cop. I will not micromanage your food intake. I will offer you guided discovery and help shine a light on areas for growth and development. I blend together evidence-based information with your own unique body, values and wisdom. As a midlife dietitian, I create a shame-free space to talk about your food and nutrition struggles. I will stand alongside you to support and guide your change.

In midlife, it is time to define your own version of health. Get out of food rules jail. Get healthy your way.