What does healthy eating really mean?

You may be surprised to hear a Registered Dietitian tell you that there is no one definition of healthy eating, there are many interpretations of what healthy really means.  Create your own definition, what does healthy eating mean to you? How do you nourish your body and feel your best with the food you eat?  When it comes to defining healthy eating, I think the most important thing is to focus on what it is not.  Healthy eating is NOT restricting your food intake or following the latest fad diet, its not following a set of “food rules” or counting every calorie or every carb.  Eating a healthy diet doesn’t mean you are only eating fruit, vegetables, lots of protein and no carbohydrates.  It certainly doesn’t mean you can never have salt, fat or sugar.  Developing a definition for healthy eating includes listening to your body and finding the best balance of nourishing food for you.  Which foods make you feel your best, give you the most energy to play and help you concentrate to get work done?  Those are the foods that make up healthy eating.  Which foods do you enjoy the most and make you happy?  Those foods are included in a healthy diet too. 

So how can you work towards eating a healthy diet and developing that definition for yourself?  First off, healthy eating includes enjoying your food, not judging. There is no moral value associated with food so calling a food “good”, “bad” or “clean” just doesn’t make sense.  Food is just food.  To enjoy your food, it means not labelling your food, but being mindful and present when you eat, enjoying the flavours, aromas and textures without distraction, judgement or guilt.  Healthy eating can include enjoying a variety of whole foods, which includes fruit, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, plant based proteins (such as legumes, nuts and seeds) as well as those with sugar, salt and fat (hello cake, ice cream, chips and chocolate).  Listen to your hunger and fullness cues, easier to do when you are not distracted by screens when eating, or even distractions from your own thoughts and judgements about the food in front of you.  This is also easier to do if you are eating for nourishment and enjoyment rather than counting calories and nutrients.  Other healthy habits can include choosing minimally processed foods with very few ingredients and preparing meals and snacks at home as much as possible.  When you do this, you’ll likely be eating more fruit, vegetables and whole grains just by virtue of choosing whole foods.  Eating this way and with no judgement or counting you’ll get all the nutrients and energy you need to help your body feel and function at its best.  Including a variety of foods, flavours, textures and colours is nourishing and increases your enjoyment of every meal and snack.

So what is the take home message here?  Healthy eating can mean so many different things, you can create your own definition of what healthy eating means to you, just remember that healthy eating is not about choosing “good” food over “bad” or following a set of food rules, its about eating a variety of foods to nourish your body and your soul.