“Food brings people together.” Going out with friends, a big Thanksgiving dinner with family, summer cookouts, or your baby’s 1st birthday “smash cake”: our experiences prove this phrase to be true! When a group of people are together, there tends to be food too (and coffee, if they’re anything like me).
In the nutrition world, these kinds of community gatherings get a bad rap, and it’s understandable. Commercially prepared birthday cake contains an incredible amount of added sugar. Holiday foods tend to be higher in fat than everyday foods. But in the grand scheme of things, our relationships are vitally important to our health, and relationships often happen around food. And, these kinds of celebratory events with food happen regularly, but not every day. 90% of our nutrition choices happen in the day-in-day-out times in life.
If most of our food choices happen on the “normal days,” it makes me wonder: what kind of community do we have around that kind of food? If you’re reading this article, you likely have some health or fitness goals. But maybe you do all the shopping and cooking for your family by yourself, and it’s up to you to figure out what healthy choices to make. Maybe you are so busy with work that you end up grabbing breakfast and lunch out every day. Maybe you’ve tried every diet out there but they just don’t stick!
As a nutrition coach, one of my goals is to be part of your community, and to connect you with others who have similar goals. When you spend time with people who also value a healthy lifestyle, your sense of what’s possible changes. It becomes more possible to eat veggies every night with dinner, or to enjoy your treats more mindfully. When you have a community gathered around healthy, nutritious food, you’ll find you’re capable of much more than you realized. And that’s worth celebrating!
Emma Rains
Nutrition Coach
Prowess Fitness + Nutrition
