By: Paige Valentik MPS, RD, LDN

Nutrition can be such a free for all, am I right?? Come on, admit it. You plan out every single part of your day except your nutrition choices. But, why do we let it be that way when it directly impacts our health and longevity?

If only we had a way to see ourselves in the future and see what our health and mobility is like as we age. Don’t we all want a high quality of life for as long as possible? If you could see yourself in the future and find that you have multiple health conditions and struggle to get off the floor, don’t you think that would motivate you to take control of your health habits now? If it were me, I would have way more of a sense of urgency to make nutrition less of a free for all and more purposeful.

How often do you find yourself making a decision about what or how much to eat in the moment? Meaning, you don’t plan or prepare anything specific let alone how much before you’re actually eating. If you didn’t see the video of Charlotte from earlier this week, head over to our Facebook or Instagram to check it out. That chick was just dumping the food and filling up her bowl. I’m sure it made you laugh, but at the same time, did it make you realize you do the same thing?

What if, instead, we took control. Instead of making decisions randomly, we were deliberate about each meal and snack. We planned and prepared so that we could eat in a way that’s in alignment with our goals and our longevity. How much better would you and could you feel? A wild concept, I know.

Let me know if you can relate to this scenario: you come home from work hungry because you tried to be “healthy” during the day and had a small breakfast, small lunch and no snack. Now you’re starving and have no real plan for dinner. Even if you do, by the time you have cooked something you’ve already snacked enough that it’s arguably been a meal. But now, everybody else needs to eat so you join them and essentially double your calorie intake. How good would it feel to have control over a situation like that?

All of this is not to say you need to food journal or measure/weigh every single piece of food that goes into your mouth. If those are strategies that work for you (cough John cough), then great! I’m just simply saying, STOP letting nutrition be a free for all and START taking control. Start planning ahead and meal prep if you can. Use smaller plates and bowls if the habit of filling them up is difficult to break. At a minimum, make a decision BEFORE you start eating. Decide to have one serving, decide to make half your plate vegetables, decide to not snack while you’re preparing your meal. Take control of your nutrition and feel at peace for once!