This month we’re trying another video installment. Let us know what you think. Transcript below video if you prefer to read.
Transcript
Hello dear viewers or dear listeners. Last month we tried a new format for our monthly blog-a video. Last month, Mike did a video post and this month I am gonna give it a try.
This month I want to share three nutrition tips that won’t have you spending hours in the kitchen. Maybe none at all, aside from putting your dish in the dishwasher or washing it when you’re done with it.
Today I’ll share three nutrition tips that require zero meal prepping, and unlike lots of others advising out there on the interwebs, these tips will require zero expensive supplements, and zero buying of new kitchen gadgets for some new food fad that influencers are all raving about. That may make it sound like these tips will be easy, and maybe for some they will, but I wouldn’t call these three tips easy. They will take practice. And practice. And more practice. Some of these things I am still working on-I’ll let you know which one(s)
Ready?
Alright let’s dive in!
Tip #1: Eat Slowly and Mindfully ( I know, I know…but hear me out)
Living in late stage capitalism, which thrives on keeping us occupied and distracted from ourselves, has basically turned eating into a pit stop. We scarf it all down, so we can get back to the grind, be productive, hustle, go go go. Lunch at your desk? Totally normal. Eating over the sink? Honestly, relatable. Inhaling a breakfast burrito in six minutes flat while answering emails? Who amongst us hasn’t done this?
But here’s the thing, It takes about 20 minutes for our stomachs to send the “hey, I’m all good here!” signal to your brain. So if we eat at warp speed, we’ve already crossed the threshold of our fullness cues and now we’re sitting there probably thinking, why do I feel like I swallowed a balloon?
So what can we do to eat slowly and mindfully? For starters, we can put our fork down between bites. Like literally, set it down on your plate or the table. Another way to eat more slowly is to chew your food more before you swallow. I know if putting the utensil down didn’t feel weird enough, now I’m saying to focus on chewing your food more. Chewing more not only slows you down, but it taps into the mindful part of this tip. When you chew more you may taste the flavors of your dish more, which equals more mindfulness and more enjoyment of your meal. Additionally if you tend to have digestive issues, slowing downing can help ease tummy discomfort.
In the mindfulness realm, try eating without a screen in front of you, even just sometimes. I know, I know this is hard and something I struggle with. I’m not saying never eat with a screen, but maybe one meal a week or one meal a day where it’s just you and your food. And to be honest this is a tough one for me and something I continue to practice.
Without a screen, eating can be a truly mindful experience of smelling and tasting your food which can equal more enjoyment, and a moment to slow down in this fast pasted capitalistic society. This way your meal becomes an experience instead of a transaction.
Tip 2: Hydration — and Not Just With Water (But Mostly Water)
Let’s talk about dehydration, because most of us are walking around mildly dehydrated and just… accepting it as our personality. Tired? Possibly dehydrated. Headache for no reason? Probably dehydrated. Brain fog so thick you could cut it with a knife? Yep good possibility you’re dehydrated. Dehydration is sneaky like that — it doesn’t always show up as thirst. Sometimes it shows up as fatigue, difficulty concentrating, constipation, or even feeling weirdly hungry when your body actually just wants a drink.
All of us will have slightly different hydrations needs. This will depend on our age, our body weight, our activity level, how warm our environment, do we tend to be a big sweat-er, plus certain medications or even certain health conditions, like EDS, which I have, can effect things like how thirsty or not thirsty you feel or how much hydration you need.
Hydration also doesn’t just mean drinking water, it also means some sodium and glucose for proper hydration. Now, water is the star of the show. It’s the best, most bioavailable, most straightforward way to hydrate. But for some folks, like folks who have EDS, we need more water than folks without this condition. We will also need to make sure our electrolytes stay in balance. This also doesn’t mean that most folks need to be thinking about electrolytes or drinking an electrolyte drink. Water is generally good. Aim for somewhere around half your body weight in ounces as a general starting point — and more if you’re sweaty, caffeinated, or it’s hot outside. And being extra sweaty or in hot weather is when those electrolytes drinks will be needed for everyone.
But listen — hydration doesn’t only come from chugging plain water. Because I know for some folks water is boring or tastes weird or tastes like nothing. There are options:
- Herbal teas — hot or iced, totally counts.
- Sparkling water — if still water bores you to tears, bubbles are your friend.
- Flavors are your friend — squeeze a lemon or lime slice into your water, or add a few slices of cucumber or mint to still or sparking water for a hint of flavor.
- Broth or soups — not only hydrating, but nourishing, a double win!
- Fruits and vegetables — cucumbers, watermelon, oranges, strawberries — these are basically water in disguise and they come with bonus nutrients.
- Electrolyte drinks or coconut water — great after exercise or other moments you get really sweaty.
The key is consistency throughout the day, not chugging a liter of water right before bed and then wondering why you’re up in the middle of the night to pee. Keep a water bottle nearby. Make it your little sidekick. Set reminders to drink. Pair having sips of water after you hit send on every email or some other repetitive task, or pair it with your drink of choice. One sip of yummy beverage, one sip of water, or maybe two sips of water. But again look at where else you can get hydration into your day? Can you have a soup with lunch? Or add some hydrating fruits to your snack?
Hydration is unsexy and underrated and it will absolutely change your energy levels if you commit to hydrating yourself.
Tip 3: Listen to Your Hunger and Fullness Cues — and Please Be Patient With Yourself On This One
Okay. This is the big one. And I want to be really gentle here, because this tip sounds simple — eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re full — and for some people, it genuinely is. But for a lot of folks it’s not that simple, and that is not a personal failure.
Here’s why this one can be complicated:
If you’ve spent years — maybe decades — dieting, you may have trained your body to override its hunger signals. You’ve told yourself hunger is something to fight, outsmart, or white-knuckle through. And now your signals might be foggy. Delayed. Or so quiet you can’t hear them anymore. This is what chronic restriction does to the body. Let me repeat that this isn’t a personal failing, it’s toxic diet culture.
Another complications is if you’re on certain medications — antidepressants, ADHD meds, steroids, just to name a few — those meds can affect our fullness and hunger cues. Some meds can blunt hunger cues, spike them, or warp your sense of fullness entirely.
And then there’s neurodiversity. If you’re ADHD, autistic, or both, your interoception — that’s your ability to sense what’s happening inside your own body — can work differently than someone neurotypical. You might not notice you’re hungry until you’re absolutely ravenous and shaky. You might hyperfocus on something straight through three meals. You might have a complicated relationship with certain textures, temperatures, or food rituals that make “just eating mindfully” feel like someone handed you instructions in a language you don’t speak.
So what do we do? We start small. Try checking in with your body before meals — not to judge, just to notice. Am I a little hungry? Pretty hungry? Running on fumes? Even if the signals aren’t clear yet, the practice of asking starts to rebuild that connection over time. This links us to that mindful piece from Tip #1. Which we can also use to check in on our fullness cues. Which again links back to Tip #1 with eating slowly. Taking that time to smell and taste our food and chew slowly not only is a mindful practice, and anti-capitalistic, it gives your stomach time to send that signal to your brain that you’re getting full. This way we have the opportunity to listen to that fullness cue. To eat just enough that we feel satisfied, but not stuffed.
And depending if it’s because meds, or neurodiversity or muted hunger and fullness cues, some people find it helpful to eat on a loose schedule while they’re rebuilding their awareness — not because the clock is boss, but because it reduces the chance of missing hunger cues altogether.
And if this feels really hard and really loaded, that is a completely valid reason to work with a non-diet registered dietitian or a therapist who understands disordered eating. You don’t have to untangle years of diet culture noise all by yourself. Find people to cheer you on and root for you.
The bottom line? These three things — slowing down at meals, staying hydrated, and tuning into your body — aren’t glamorous. There certainly not what influencers are trying to sell ya! ‘Cause there’s nothing to sell. But they are foundational. And foundation work, done with consistency and a little bit of kindness toward yourself, is where the real magic happens.
I believe in you. You’ve got this!
