It’s safe to say we are experiencing surreal feelings at the moment as we continue to work together to find a new normal.

During this time you might be noticing changes to your thoughts and emotions which is expected and completely valid.

Our instincts might be to look out for those around us, especially those most vulnerable. Which while that is so important, in the long-term it will become difficult to do so without taking time to support yourself as well.

This is why I feel the need to bring up self-care.  Below is a list of ideas for self-care and what it could look like during these times:

• Allow yourself to be human and acknowledge your changing capacity to handle situations day by day.
• Allow yourself to acknowledge your needs and boundaries for how much you can tolerate. This may continue to change.
• Remind yourself that it is OK to not want to engage in social media. One way to get a feel for that is when using social media, invite yourself to increase awareness about what it is providing for you.
• Encourage self-compassion and kindness towards yourself as we go through a time of change. It is OK not to be OK.
• Keep a note of support networks you have access to in such a time. If you are concerned about reaching out to others, one helpful tip can be the ask permission to speak to them first. “I am struggling at the moment, do you have capacity for me to talk to you about what’s going on at the moment?”
• Allow time for yourself to stay nourished. It is expected that the food we have access to is likely to change and that is OK. It is still important to keep your body and brain fuelled to continue your day.
• Allow time to honour your body with movement however you can.
• If you feel you can, think about taking time to slow your thoughts and re-connect with yourself. This can be done with mindfulness, meditation, going for a walk and even yoga if that’s your thing.
• If appropriate, taking opportunities to find humour in situations can help take the edge off. After all we are all in this together.

There is no right or wrong way. These are thoughts that I’ve had shared with me by my clients and colleagues and I’d like to share them with you as options for self-care.

I invite you to think how they might resonate with you and also how you would like to make some additions to this list to suit your needs.

Almost anywhere I go as a Dietitian, I hear peoples concerns about food and their bodies. There is an overwhelming amount of information out there, and so much of it is misleading.

I really hold a lot of compassion when I hear peoples confusion, concern or even fear that has been created by the culture we live in today. It’s such a shame to see it get this way.

So I decided to answer a few common questions I get asked. If you like these Q&A’s then let me know, I would be more than happy to continue writing them.

Also note that this is general information. It’s best to speak to a trusted Non-Diet Dietitian for more personalised advice or even assistance unpacking some of these thoughts.

What are the best diets to follow??

There is no such thing as a perfect diet. Only you can really appreciate if your food and lifestyle habits are serving you. Some useful questions to ask are:

How is the way I’m eating impacting my social and emotional health?

Do my meals feel satisfying?

Where are my food beliefs and rules coming from?

Intentional efforts to lose weight such as dieting may appear ‘successful’ in the first 6-12 months as weight loss is achieved. However, after this time period and due to no fault of the individual (regardless of whether they continue to follow the diet or not), at least 95 per cent of dieters regain the weight they lost and often more.

Such an act of rigid dieting in the name of “health”, especially for people who are chronic dieters (e.g. yo-yo dieters) can often spiral into a range of health problems including slowed metabolism, low energy levels, nutrient deficiencies, gut health concerns, risk of osteoporosis, and increased risk of heart-disease to name a few.

2. What do you recommend instead of following a diet?

Firstly to address why we don’t encourage a diet plan…following a diet usually means following a set of rigid rules decided by someone external. This may be a health professional, your Doctor, Dr. Google, a celebrity, a family member or friend or even a colleague. Following such a rigid way of eating not only is unsafe as mentioned earlier. It is often difficult to maintain (due to life naturally not being so rigid and structured) and takes away autonomy from the individual to determine foods they might enjoy or find satisfying (physically and emotionally).

So as an alternative instead of relying on food rules from external sources for the rest of your life. We aim to support you to re-connect with your innate wisdom on how to care for your health and well-being. One practice that Dietitians at Glow Group Health and Wellbeing support clients with is Intuitive Eating. This is a set of of 10 principles developed by Dietitians Evelyn Tribole and Elise Resch designed to empower individuals with skills to build a positive and respectful relationship with food and their body.

3. Can you write me a diet plan?

As Dietitian’s it is probably safe to say that we are the most qualified health care professionals to write a diet plan that adequately addresses your energy and nutrient needs as well as meet your goals and preferences. However, this is not necessarily appropriate or particularly useful for everyone. Diet plans are often rigid and restrictive and do not allow much space for intuition or just general thoughts and feelings associated with changes to the day. These plans also often lead into obsessive thoughts over the foods that do ‘not fit’ in the plan.

Instead for those people who crave structure, we collaboratively develop a meal guide that allows for variety, flexibility and ‘fun’ foods whilst also supporting people with their health goals.

4. What are your top foods that I should avoid eating?

Short answer is that there are no top foods to avoid, nor are there specific foods to eat more of. Unless you have an allergy or medical reason for eliminating a particular food, putting certain foods on a forbidden list is unhelpful and unnecessary.

In today’s culture of dieting it is easy to find ourselves commenting on whether a food might be “good” or “bad” for us. We have become accustomed to this black and white way of thinking about food without realising the harm this can have. As a consequence of placing such a moral value on food, we then transfer such values onto ourselves. In other words, food is either good or bad, and we are good or bad based on what we eat. Creating a toxic relationship with food and our self-worth.

It is very common for adults and children to find themselves feeling out of control around those foods that they have decided they are never allowed to eat or have around the house. This is what is known as the ‘forbidden fruit effect’, the more we tell ourselves we can’t have a food, the more we crave it. It’s simply human nature to rebel and defy ‘rules’.

Our roles as Dietitian’s is to help you unpack these beliefs around food and help you understand that nutrition science is not black and white.

5. Are carbs bad for you?

Carbs have a reputation in diet culture for being “bad” which is simply a shame. As discussed above, no food is straight up “bad” for you and in fact carbohydrates play a vital role in our day-to-day survival.

Carbohydrates are digested into sugars for our organs to utilise as energy. These sugars provide our body and brain with its number one and most easily accessible source of energy. Allowing us to nourish our vital organs and muscles and perform our daily physical and mental tasks.

Carbohydrates, particularly in the form of wholegrains and cereals are a rich source of micronutrients, such as B vitamins, magnesium, folate and iron. They also contain a range of fibres that can support healthy blood sugar and cholesterol levels and act as prebiotics which feed those microbes in our large intestine that improve our ability to absorb nutrients and maintain healthy immune and cardiovascular systems, to name a few.

Valentine’s Day is around the corner, and although I’m not the biggest romantic I do like to think of the occasion as another opportunity to celebrate love, however that might look for you.

Through a quick Wikipedia search –

“Valentine’s Day, also called Saint Valentine’s Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. Originating as a Western Christian feast day honouring one or two early saints named Valentinus, Valentine’s Day is recognized as a significant cultural, religious, and commercial celebration of romance and romantic love in many regions around the world.”

Culturally it is promoted as a day to celebrate with your significant other, however as it’s a day of love, why not celebrate it with those around you that are nearest and dearest to you.

So in the name of love, and in the spirit of giving and sharing and connecting with people around you, here are a few ideas on how to celebrate:

Head out on a movie date. You can even change things up with the Moonlight Cinema in Centennial Park. For an evening in the park, with a picnic watching a movie and your favourite snacks and drinks.

Head on out to play a game together like Holey Moley Golf… A chance to get a little competitive

Book an escape room to challenge your brains and test the strength of your relationship

Maybe organise your favourite outdoor activity? Like a bush walk, picnic, beach day, or just a stroll somewhere

Another classic that’s always on the list… Take your loved one to their favourite restaurant/cafe and share some food together. Here are some fancy options if that’s your thing.

Or better yet, cook a meal together at home. Get creative with the recipe and try something new. You might be surprised by your inner chef abilities.

These are just a few ideas to get the ball rolling, but I hope you have found some inspiration to celebrate love and connect with those around you.

Recently at Glow Group we were asked to comment on a magazine article about how to avoid a 3pm slump in energy. This got me thinking about the word nourishment and whether we are truly nourishing our bodies enough to keep them going throughout the day. So I put this blog together to help discuss this a little more.

Imagine yourself during a typical day. You might be busy getting tasks done or you might have a number of things on your mind that keep you distracted. You might have stopped for a few bites to eat along the way but you haven’t really thought about it yet. It gets closer to 3 o’clock and you start to feel your energy levels dropping, and even thinking about all the things you need to do in the afternoon which might exhaust you further.

Often during days like this we can forget to prioritise ourselves and can be less mindful about our physical and emotional needs. We can get caught up in our day to day and forget to nourish our body with the fuel it needs. Sometimes when we do remember to stop and eat it may be at a point where our body switches into survival mode and looks for quick energy fixes to satisfy extreme hunger. This is when we tend to find ourselves selecting food and drinks that don’t sustain us well, providing short bursts of energy or caffeine (hello coffee lovers). Unfortunately that burst is usually followed by an energy slump.

To help avoid this here are some things you could consider:

Try to adopt mindfulness based strategies that allow for more opportunities for awareness of energy and hunger levels throughout the day. For some, it can even be helpful to schedule in short break times or at least schedule in a lunch meal where this is your time to stop and care for your needs. Even if it’s only 10 minutes it’s a starting point.

While we believe all foods can fit into your everyday diet, it is definitely helpful to prepared with ready to eat snacks. Especially if trying to prevent that “hangry” feeling. Preparedness ensures food is available when the tummy calls or the energy levels start to drop. That way you are more likely to find a nourishing snack that can sustain you longer. Small frequent meals and snacks every 3-4 hours is optimal.

When thinking about snack options aim for a source of fibre and protein to keep you full and energised. For example yoghurt with muesli with berries and dark chocolate or popcorn and nuts.

Variety of meals and snacks is also important to stay inspired. While we have talked about nutritional value of snacks, it’s important to acknowledge the need to feel satisfied by our food both physically and through enjoyment. Keeping a record of recipes or snack ideas can be helpful to have endless options to trial.

It can also be easy to forget to drink water when we are busy or sitting in air conditioned rooms. When we are dehydrated our brain can become quite foggy and fatigued. Fun ways to drink water include adding a a squeeze of fruit juice, adding in some fresh or frozen fruit or trying a cold water tea infusion bag. ?It can help to have a water bottle by your side throughout the day too.

Lastly, food is important but so is looking at your overall health and finding a balance, however which way that looks for you. Whether that’s aiming for adequate sleep, more physical movement, staying hydrated, work life balance and/or managing stress.

Hope this helps provide more nourishment to your day and even helps reduce the afternoon slump feeling.