What lurks in a dietitian's lunchbox?

Have you ever wondered what a dietitian eats? Do you think we dish out advice from our healthy food pedestal and eat like saints? Sometimes, yes, but It tends to be forgotten that we are still human We still have cravings, enjoy celebrating birthdays with cake, and we’re still girls who want to have fun without having to buy a pair of bigger jeans.

As dietitians we are trained to know the ins and outs of a healthy diet- one that is complete, balanced, varied, and contains foods from all the food groups and in the prescribed amounts. What a stressful experience I had the first day I had to expose what I eat to a class of eager-to-impress dietetic students. With hunger pangs eating away at my stomach, it felt like all eyes were fixed on me as I was about to reveal the contents of my lunchbox. I suppose this sums up more or less how intimidating you feel when eating with us, or how difficult it is to truthfully describe your diet to a dietitian.

So where to start? Breakfast, of course.

Breakfast

Dietitians always stress that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Most dietitians are on the breakfast bandwagon and you will struggle to a dietitian that is not in love with one or another breakfast cereal. From kiddies’ cereals to good ol’ oats, breakfast kick starts your metabolism for the day and helps get your blood glucose levels back on track after dropping overnight because of the 8 hour (or more) fast. Good breakfast options to include:

§  Oats

§  High fiber cereal with low-fat milk

§  Low-fat yoghurt with muesli

§  Whole-grain toast with boiled or poached egg/ peanut butter/ avocado/ low-fat cottage cheese

Lunch

Lunch should be more a matter of grazing rather than eating. Always keep a little snack on hand to nibble on here and there. Our lunchboxes are filled with small, easy-to-eat snacks to graze on in between hospital duties and private patients. Fruit and veggies in various forms are always high on the priority list, and no lunchbox is complete without something sweet! (have you met a dietitian without a sweet tooth? Because I would like to meet her too!)

We base our lunch eating on a few simple principles:

§  Buy yourself a cute lunchbox and pack lunch for yourself daily. Be creative and include foods such as sandwiches, wraps, salads, fresh fruit, nuts, biltong, dried fruit, yoghurt, and sliced vegetables.

§  Small frequent meals spread throughout the day will help stabilize blood glucose levels and encourage sustained energy.

§  Going for long periods of time without food will leave you feeling overly hungry and you’re more likely to over-eat at the next meal.

§  If you deprive yourself of something sweet, you might just eat the whole cake at your friends’ birthday party. They might look at you strangely, as will you teeny tiny dress the next time you try it on! Allow yourself a small sweet treat in a controlled portion to kick cravings.

§  Keep a bottle of water on hand to sip on throughout the day.

Dinner

I have met only a handful of dietitians who can REALLY cook. After years of foods practical classes in the kitchen, I can tell you a few still need a cookbook, and most shouldn’t give up their day job. But in general, dietitians are eager to experiment with never a dull moment when it comes to food.

Dinner times are usually more traditional, home-cooked meals, especially for those who live with family or friends. All dietitians appreciate a warm cooked meal, snazzy salad or a hearty soup including proteins, carbohydrates and stocking up on the vegetables.

Eating principals of evening meals are as follows:

§  You’re not allowed to eat starches after 5pm? What???? This sounds hard! In the end, it is about the amount of food that you eat in24 hours, not when you eat it. Excluding starch in the evening meal may work for you to control your portions, but there is no evidence suggesting that eating certain foods at certain times of the day leads to weight gain.

§  A good idea is to fill up your plate with veggies, especially raw, uncooked vegetables to add bulk and loads of fiber. Vegetables are naturally low in calories, so this will help you eat less of the other foods while still feeling full, thus helping you to control your total energy intake.

§  If you are trying to lose weight, eat off a smaller plate. Not only will you eat less off a smaller plate, but this also tricks the mind into thinking that you are eating a full plate of food despite the smaller size.

When studying individual dietitians in their natural habitat, you will find many imperfections but in the end it is about what works for YOU. By the end of that first day at varsity, the rest of the class did in fact want to judge the inside of my neatly packed lunch, but more because they were anxiously waiting to see if something sinfully sweet and decadent could be shared. Stick to the basic guidelines, know YOUR body, and please do share your cake with a dietitian.