• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

A Grateful Meal

  • Home
  • About
  • Nutrition Coaching
  • Blog
  • Recipe Box
  • Contact Me

The Benefits of Eating Healthy Without Worrying About Weight

March 3, 2020 by Melissa Leave a Comment

The Benefits of Eating Healthy Without Worrying About Weight
Woman eating fruit with text "the benefits of eating healthy without worrying about weight"

What does healthy eating look like to you? It conjures up images of something different for everyone, but most of the time, what people picture boils down to the same thing – less calories to lose weight. Weight is central to almost everyone’s idea of what “healthy” means. There are benefits of healthy eating that have nothing to do with health. Given that long-term intentional weight loss studies indicate that the majority of people will gain back the weight loss, it begs the question, what would your eating habits look like if you weren’t trying to lose weight? 

Enjoy the benefits of healthy eating without the guilt

Weight isn’t the end-all, be-all of health. Let’s imagine for a moment that your weight will remain exactly the same forever. Or, better yet, let’s imagine that weight or the scale doesn’t exist. What would you eat? Would you go crazy and eat boxes of doughnuts, dozens of fries, and wash it all down with a nice, cold soda? Maybe. We are wired to like highly-palatable foods. But for how long? Everything gets old after a while. And, there are still foods that have more nutritional value like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, proteins, etc. The fact remains that you need to take care of your body and eat and well to feel good. You still need vitamins, minerals, fiber, and water, independent of your weight. 

Overview of a meal shared with many people

Finding ways to nourish yourself without worry about weight

Worrying about your weight and micromanaging your food choices can be a risk factor for health issues all by itself. Here are a few ways to nourish yourself without the worry:


  1. Eat when you’re hungry. Sounds obvious, but think about it – how many times have you pushed your hunger aside because it “wasn’t time to eat” or you “shouldn’t be hungry”? Hunger is a natural cue that your body needs nourishment.  
  2. Eat by addition, not subtraction. What can you do to enhance the nutrition composition of a meal? Can you add in some broccoli to your favorite pasta bake? Can you include some fruit in your morning cereal? Crowd out some of the lower nutrient-dense foods with higher nutrient-dense foods. There’s only so much room in your stomach before you begin to feel full, so make sure that the nutrient-rich foods have some prime real estate. 
  3. Nourish your soul. It sounds cheesy, but you know what I’m about here. Find what fills you up. Listen to your favorite music or podcast, spend time outside, grab some coffee with a friend – find time for things that light you up. Mental health and stress management is paramount to overall health. 
  4. Get support. Not only does it take a village to raise a child, but it takes a village to stay healthy. Invite the support of your family, friends, and community to help you find ways to better care for yourself. Find a Registered Dietitian for nutrition coaching. I offer coaching and nutrition counseling for those in the Charleston-area, as well as virtually through video chat. Schedule an introduction call to see if this might serve you well. 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

logo
Health Ads by

Meet Melissa

Melissa Macher, RDN

Recent Posts

  • Potato, Leek, and Kale Soup
  • Hibachi Shrimp Rice Bowls
  • Instant Pot Marinara Sauce
  • Understanding the Different Types and Signs of Hunger
  • Buffalo Chicken Rice Bowl

Looking for something specific?

logo
Health Ads by

Categories

  • Air fryer
  • Appetizer
  • Baking
  • Beef
  • Breakfast
  • Brunch
  • Burger
  • Chicken
  • Christmas
  • Citrus
  • Cocktail
  • Dessert
  • Dinner
  • Fall
  • Father's day
  • Game Day
  • Gluten free
  • Grilling
  • Halloween
  • Instant Pot
  • Meal Prep
  • Mother's day
  • Nutrition
  • Pork
  • Seafood
  • Side dish
  • Snack
  • Soup
  • Spring
  • Summer
  • Thanksgiving
  • Uncategorized
  • Vegan
  • Vegetable
  • Vegetarian
  • Winter
logo
Health Ads by

Before Footer

Footer

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Photos by Adrienn and Ogo from Pexels

Copyright © 2021 · Grateful Meal Nutrition, LLC | Privacy Policy & HIPAA Privacy Practices

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.