Melissa Mitri, MS, RD
Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Health WriterMelissa Mitri, MS, RD, is a registered dietitian nutritionist, weight loss specialist, and expert health writer with over 15 years of experience in the health and wellness industry. Melissa has worked in a variety of healthcare settings where she helps clients improve their diet through an individualized approach.
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In this TedX video, exercise specialist Jason Kilderry sheds light on the common misconceptions around healthy eating and shares his top wellness tips to follow. He starts by explaining that most people overcomplicate their eating approach. He then offers a simplified summary of 5 health and wellness tips you can start to implement now.
Jason starts by sharing a story of when he was in the hospital for a kidney complication and overheard a conversation between a doctor and another patient. This patient had heart disease, and he told the doctor he was going to bring his wife to McDonald’s when he was discharged to celebrate.
The doctor said they didn’t think that was such a great idea, to which the patient responded “But I’m going to get the fish.”
The moral of the story – this man truly didn’t know McDonald’s fish was not a healthy fish choice, and that the calorie and fat content may be higher than simply choosing a plain burger. I can attest that many of my clients also do not realize this, as fish may appear to always be a healthy choice.
Where do our nutrition beliefs stem from?
Jason highlights the confusion on diet stemming from our diet culture, society, social media, and all of the different types of fad diets out there. These quick-fix types of diets are tempting, as they provide structure and a clear blueprint to follow.
However, most of these diets require completely eliminating an entire macronutrient such as protein, fat, or carbs, leading to a mentality of either being “on” or “off” your diet.
This restrictive approach to eating is not sustainable and typically ends with the person gradually beginning to eat the forbidden foods again. Once this starts, it often leads to overeating and gaining the weight back with a vengeance.
As a more sustainable alternative, Jason offers 5 wellness tips that bring you back to the basics by implementing good nutrition, an active lifestyle, and building mini-habits.
1. Follow a simple, back-to-basics approach to nutrition
The theme of this video centers around a simple, back-to-basics approach to nutrition – promoting the consumption of nutrient-dense whole foods including whole grains, a variety of lean meats, fruits, vegetables, and legumes.
This is contrary to following restrictive diets that demonize certain foods, which are not always backed by science.
2. Don’t avoid certain foods
Jason advises against restrictive dieting and instead suggests gradual changes in eating habits, which are easier to adhere to than sudden overnight changes. This is exactly the approach I take as a dietitian with my clients.
While this may take longer, in the long run, your body (and health) will thank you for it as it results in fewer weight fluctuations and yo-yo dieting.
3. Exercise daily
Next, the video emphasizes one of the biggest wellness tips experts recommend – daily exercise for optimal health. According to the research Jason shares, daily activity is recommended for at least 30-45 minutes each day. Some associations, such as the World Health Organization, recommend upwards of 60 minutes of exercise per day.
While most of us don’t meet the mark here, Jason encourages us to continue to aim for this amount and try to get as close to it as possible.
If you haven’t yet met this ultimate goal for exercise, start with one to two 10-minute workouts such as a morning and evening walk. Starting small helps build the habit, and breaking it up into two is more feasible if you’re just getting started or don’t have a long enough chunk of time to do more.
It doesn’t matter how you do it or when – as long as you get moving!
4. Stay active throughout the day
Jason shares a startling statistic that Americans spend less than 20 minutes cooking in a given day but over 160 minutes on a screen.
In addition to regularly scheduled exercise, staying active throughout the day outside of this is equally as important. Just because you exercised for an hour doesn’t mean that it is okay to sit for hours on end.
Prolonged periods of inactivity are therefore discouraged, and the goal should be to move around frequently throughout the day in addition to your scheduled exercise for maximum physical, mental, and emotional benefits.
Taking the stairs instead of the elevator, getting up from your desk and moving every 30 minutes, or investing in a treadmill desk are all ways to move more with your everyday tasks.
5. Build mini-habits, not drastic changes
Most diets nowadays encourage drastic overnight changes to produce quick results. While this may be tempting, you’re not really building lifelong habits in this way. If you want to stop yo-yo’ing in your progress, taking “baby steps” to build small habits over time is the key to staying consistent with these habits.
In this way, you’re building the habit naturally into your life and routine, rather than forcing the habits or avoiding situations in order to be able to “stick to your diet.”
We hope this video was helpful for you to start your own wellness journey. In addition to these 5 simple wellness tips, incorporating quality supplements into your routine can help round out your healthy habits and support your health goals.
As a Registered Dietitian, I recommend starting with a multivitamin, probiotic for gut health, and omega-3 supplement to reduce inflammation and support a strong heart.
Melissa Mitri, MS, RD, is a registered dietitian nutritionist, weight loss specialist, and expert health writer with over 15 years of experience in the health and wellness industry.
Melissa has worked in a variety of healthcare settings where she helps clients improve their diet through an individualized approach.
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