OH! Magazine - Australian Version January 2016 | Page 13

THE J Y OF
EATING: PART 1

DR
JOANNA

www.drjoanna.com.au

( Nutrition )

Dr Joanna shares her tips to help you rediscover the joy of eating.
ptimum health relies on healthy
eating. So here are a few tips to
help you reignite the joy of eating.

O

Embrace a positive relationship with food
What emotions and words come into your
head and your heart when you think of
nutrition and eating for weight control? Are
you thinking boring, restrictive, flavourless,
hungry, sad, denial or other such negative
words? Your challenge today is to turn that
thinking on its head!
One insightful study showed that the mere
thought of going ‘on a diet’ actually made
participants eat more, because they
perceived that they were going to be going
without and therefore, compensated by
rewarding themselves with extra food
before that freedom was ‘taken away’. It’s
that ‘I’ll start on Monday’ mindset, followed
by the thinking ‘I’ll eat whatever I like until
then’.
To achieve long term results – not just in
relation to weight control but also to overall
health and wellbeing – a more positive
mindset is essential. Ultimately, we are all
pleasure seekers and food should be a
joyful part of life. By genuinely enjoying
healthy eating, you’ll be able to do it and
banish that ‘diet’ mentality forever.
So I challenge you this month to embrace a
positive relationship with food. Think of
nourishing your body with real foods that
taste delicious, rather than restricting foods
you think you shouldn’t be eating. Every
time you eat something, sit down at a table
and be present in the moment. Truly taste
the food and think about how that food
makes you feel, not just in that moment but
an hour or two later. Turn any negative

emotions about food into positive ones.
Guilt has no place with food – instead,
enjoy the food and if you do overeat or
indulge in less healthy foods, simply put it
in the broader context of your overall diet.
Savour whatever food you eat, and enjoy
every mouthful. Then, plan lighter more
nutritious meals for the rest of the day.

1. Eat plants. Make these mostly
veggies, with a little fruit. Breakfast
may be more fruit if having muesli
or cereal, or it could be veggies if
having a hot breakfast. Fruit may
also be in a salad or salsa with a
savoury meal. Otherwise your goal
is to make half your plate veggies.

Adapt a template for healthy eating

2. Add a protein-rich food. If it’s a
vegetarian meal this could be tofu
or legumes. Otherwise dairy, eggs,
meat and seafood all count here.

Of course, what we eat is important,
but there are many ways to eat healthily.
What suits you best depends on many
factors such as your culture (e.g., what
you ate growing up), your likes and
dislikes, any allergies or intolerances,
your ethical or religious beliefs, and so
on. So don’t be swayed by the diet a
friend follows, or what the latest
celebrity is espousing. Your healthy
eating plan is yours to enjoy and yours
alone.
To that end I created the Dr Joanna
Plate, to teach people how to put
together a healthy meal. It’s a template
for eating that allows you to have
autonomy over your own food choices
while being guided by me. You can be
vegan or an omnivore; follow a
Mediterranean style diet or an Asian
one; embrace kale, quinoa and green
smoothies or not! What is important is
that you base your plate on real foods
rather than highly processed modern
foods, and that you make your meals
really tasty and enjoyable.
So my second challenge this month, is
to create your breakfast, lunch and
dinner using the Dr Joanna Plate to
guide you. To view the Dr Joanna Plate
click here.

3. Add what I call a ‘smart carb’. These
are
essentially
wholegrains,
legumes (count these here if not a
vegetarian meal), or starchy veggies
like small salad potatoes, sweet
potato or yam.
4. Finally make sure you have some
good fats. Fat makes food taste
good and so we enjoy them more.
But fat also adds fat-soluble
nutrients, which helps us absorb
more of the phytochemicals
(including many antioxidants), and
slows down digestion so we feel
more satisfied after the meal. Extra
virgin olive oil is ideal, as are
avocado, nuts and seeds.
This information is extracted from Dr
Joanna’s ‘7-Day Joy Of Eating
Challenge,’ which was created in
conjunction with the Happiness & Its
Causes Conference where Dr Joanna
will be presenting on this topic in April
2016. For more information or to book
tickets click here. Or, to learn more
about Dr Joanna’s fresh, personalised,
research-based approach to getting
lean at www.drjoanna.com.au

( OH! MAGAZINE ) JANUARY 2016

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