Why do I know what to eat but not what to change?

Most women I talk to know quite a bit about nutrition.  We know protein, fruits and vegetables, fiber, water and movement matter.  In many ways, we probably know more about nutrition now than we did ten or twenty years ago.  Yet it can be frustrating when something changes in our bodies and we still don't know what to do about it.

Our clothes start fitting differently.  We're exhausted every afternoon.  A craving shows up at the same time every day.  We're bloated more often than we used to be.

That's when we start running through everything we know: more protein, fewer carbs, more fiber, less snacking, smaller portions.  There are plenty of reasonable things we could change.  The harder part is knowing which one actually has anything to do with what we're experiencing.

What's Behind It

Nutrition advice tends to be given as though knowing what is good for us automatically tells us what to do.

Protein is important, but knowing that doesn't tell us whether adding more protein will change an afternoon energy crash.  Fiber is important, but adding more isn't always the right response to constipation.  Portions matter, but eating less isn't automatically the best place to start because our clothes are fitting differently.

All of those recommendations can be useful.  They tell us a lot about what supports good health.  What they can’t tell us is which one matters most for what we’re experiencing right now.  That’s where nutrition becomes personal.

This becomes especially important in our 40s and 50s.  A softer middle can reflect changes in hormones and where our bodies store fat, along with changes in muscle, activity, sleep, stress, food, alcohol and the realities of a life that may look very different than it did ten years ago.

We can know a lot about healthy eating and still be unsure which of those things deserves our attention.  That's the step that is often missing.  Something gets our attention and we move immediately to the solution, without spending much time figuring out whether that solution actually matches what's happening.

One Useful Rhythm

This week, when something gets your attention, take a minute before deciding what to change.  Ask:

• What am I feeling?
• What happened before this?
• What deserves my attention?

The point isn't to solve the problem on the spot.  It's to look beyond the first obvious answer. An afternoon crash might lead straight to more caffeine, when looking back at breakfast, lunch, sleep or stress could tell us more.  Clothes fitting differently might be a reason to look at what's changed in food, movement, strength, sleep or stress before simply deciding to eat less.

Sometimes food will be the place to start.  Other times, something else deserves our attention first.  Either way, the nutrition information we already know becomes much more useful when we understand where it fits.  Healthy eating begins to feel simpler.

This is where we're starting with our very first Fuel Queen Live! tomorrow. We'll talk about why healthy eating can feel harder in midlife and walk through how to decide what deserves your attention before deciding what to change.

I'd love to have you join us.

Warmly,
Kim Stitzel, MS, RD
Founder, The Fuel Queen
Registered Dietitian Nutritionist
Helping women discover what deserves their attention and build rhythms that fit real life.

P.S. Fuel Queen Live! starts tomorrow, September 2 at 5 PM CT.  It's free, and registration is simple: sign up once and join us on the Wednesdays that work for you. Register for Fuel Queen Live! here.