Let food be thy medicine and medicine thy food.

Hippocrates

We must eat to live, and food can either be nourishing for the body or quietly damaging to it. Unfortunately, diet and nutrition have become wildly over complicated by social media, influencers, and companies that are mostly just trying to sell you something. Let me assure you that good health and optimal nutrition is not rocket science. It is relatively easy to understand and to obtain.

If it has a mother or comes from mother earth, it is a great choice. The best choice.

What to Eat

When it comes to eating, I recommend you focus on whole, unprocessed foods. That means:

• Meats
• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Beans
• Legumes
• Rice
• Whole grains
• Potatoes, whether sweet, red, yellow, or white

Again, if it has a mother or comes from mother earth, it is a great choice. The best choice.

But what about dairy?

Technically, dairy products come from animals that have mothers. So if you can tolerate dairy, great. Go for it. Your girl loves her some cheese and butter, and I literally refuse to drink my coffee without cream. Half and half or whipping cream, every time.

But the key word there is tolerate. Dairy does not make me bloated, does not upset my stomach, and does not cause skin issues for me. If you deal with any of those things, it may be worth cutting dairy out for a while to see how your body does without it.

What about sauces and flavorings?

Same rule applies. There are brands making dressings and sauces from natural sources without the chemicals that wreak havoc on your body systems. Primal Kitchen is a solid option available in most stores.

An even better habit is learning to read ingredient labels. You should be able to recognize every ingredient on the list. If you can, it is probably a safe and great choice.

How Should My Plate Look?

Aim for roughly half fruits and vegetables, a quarter complex carbohydrates, a quarter protein, and one to two tablespoons of healthy fat.

As for how often, I recommend most people, and women especially, eat two to three meals per day with one to two snacks as needed. Most of us snack far more than we realize.

What about treats and splurges?

It is okay to splurge, but we have to do it in moderation. Special events and holidays are one day here and there across a whole year, and they will not destroy your health. Treating multiple days a week as a cheat day will. So practice being more selective about what you consider a special event genuinely worth the splurge.

Why Being a Woman Changes Things

Women, as a collective, are more complicated than men. Our bodies are different. Our hormonal cycles are different. So it only makes sense that our caloric and nutritional needs are different too. Our bodies rely on food for fuel, energy, and the nutrients they need to function properly.

Where men live on a twenty four hour hormonal cycle day in and day out, ours runs on a twenty eight day cycle, and it can be significantly affected if we are not eating well and giving our bodies what they need.

Calories, Simply Explained

A calorie is just a unit of energy. It is how someone a long time ago decided to measure food.

How many you should eat varies from person to person based on height, weight, lifestyle, and your body composition goals. The best rule of thumb is to eat when you are hungry and not eat when you are not. For a lot of women, though, that is genuinely hard. We are more emotional by nature's design and we often mask emotions through eating. That is where food tracking can be eye opening.

If you want to keep it simple, all you need is a pen and paper. Write down everything you eat for a week, then look back at the end of it and see where you could have made better choices and small improvements. That is where I start most of my clients.

Are all calories equal?

No. Half an avocado is obviously more nutritious than a doughnut even though they carry about the same number of calories. This is why someone can eat in a caloric deficit and still be unhealthy, still develop heart disease, stomach issues, or fatty liver. Quality matters, which is why I keep coming back to whole, unprocessed foods.

What Are Macros?

Macros is short for macronutrients, and there are three of them: carbohydrates, fat, and protein. As women we need all three to function well.

Your ideal ratio varies just like calories do, but a good general starting point for women is roughly 40 percent carbohydrates, 30 percent protein, and 30 percent fat. Those percentages can shift based on your goals, chronic conditions, or hormonal imbalances, which is exactly why working one on one with someone can be so useful.

If you are not crazy about carbohydrates like rice, bread, and pasta, you can still get enough by increasing your vegetable and fruit intake.

So What About Fasting and Keto?

I prefer the KISS method. Keep It Stupid Simple.

Fasting and keto can both have a role and can even be helpful in certain situations, but they are difficult to maintain and are best done with a health coach or medical supervision.

In Summary

• Track what you eat in a good old fashioned notebook.
• Focus on your plate. Half fruits and vegetables, a quarter complex carbohydrates, a quarter protein, and one to two tablespoons of healthy fat.
• Three meals daily with one to two snacks as needed.
• Whole foods, less sugar, less alcohol.

Nutrition isn't just about eating. It's about learning to live.

Patricia Compton