Well-being Investment: Nutrition
(NEW) TLDR at the bottom*
We are looking at your investment in your own well-being with the emphasis this go round on physical health. To date, we reviewed a helpful lifestyle change framework. We have also explored movement and exercise along with sleep. Today’s focus: That hot-button, often controversial topic, historically poorly taught in medical training that every influencer seems to have a strong opinion regarding: Nutrition
Disclaimer #1 - This information is for individuals without disordered eating who would benefit most from professional dietician and specialized mental health experts.
Disclaimer #2 – I’m writing about the common issues affecting physicians with room to improve their nutrition - specifically those who often overeat or eat mainly nutrient-sparse, calorie-dense foods. There are plenty of physicians I know who under-fuel - maybe I’ll offer a follow up blog down the road on that topic.
There is endless contradictory nutrition advice from strongly opinionate individuals out there (anyone take a deep-dive into the evidence of coconut oil – a plant based oil with lots of saturated fat?), even one or two controversies amongst evidence-based medical nutrition specialists (I’m looking at you lifestyle medicine and obesity medicine experts – have you all had your head-to-head debate on recommended protein intake?)
But don’t get overwhelmed or distracted by those: I’ve gathered enough practical tips that work for busy, goal-oriented individuals like you.
Most of these won't be new or unique to you. In fact, most of you reading could probably populate your own list. The value lies in revisiting such a list to discover ideas that resonate with you and inspire you to uplevel your nutrition.
Also, take a deep breath. Your nutrition doesn’t have to be perfect; every small tweak helps. It just needs to work for you. Progress is about small, consistent steps over time—just like we remind our patients. So, once again, let’s look through the lens of self.
Before we dive in, let’s see if we can agree on the goal of nutrition for this blog:
To fuel our bodies in a sustainable and even enjoyable way that allows our bodies to do all the things we want in our full lives and that aligns with and supports our long-term health goals.
If you’re in agreement with that, then define your long-term health goals and think through all the things you want to do in your lives that good fuel will support. Then, keep reading.
Common Challenges and Solutions
What makes great nutrition tough, especially for physicians? A few of the top-cited ones.
- Lack of time: Making a meal feels daunting when life is packed.
- Fatigue: By the end of a long day, ordering comfort food via Doordash is tempting.
- Lack of meal ideas: Staring into the fridge doesn’t always spark creativity.
- Diverse family preferences: Everyone wants something different.
- Erratic schedules: Call, float, swing shifts can throw off helpful routines.
Sound familiar? These are real challenges, but they’re solvable. It’s worth putting in the effort because your brain and body thrive on high-quality fuel and your future self will thank you!
Practical Nutrition Tips (in no particular order)
Pick 1–2 that resonate with you to try this week:
- Intuitive Eating: Listen to your body’s hunger cues (not stress or habit). This may have to be relearned for many of us who have ignored it for prolonged periods. This pares best with #2.
- Hunger Scale: On a scale where “0” is content and neutral, “-10” is willing to dig up bugs to eat and “+10” is lethargically full, eating at a “-3” (moderately hungry) and stopping at a “+3” (comfortably full) is useful. A timer may be helpful for those who are so engrossed in work they forget to eat and don’t tune in until they’re extremely hungry. Protip: eating slower allows your brain time to catch up with your body’s feedback loops.
- Attention to Portion Control: Using a salad plate instead of the growing size of an American dinner plate has been born out in studies and good cues – also the size of your utensil can also reinforce visual cues of abundance. Wait before going for seconds.
- Attention to Healthy Proportions: Harvard’s Healthy Plate is my favorite guide (an adapted version of the CDC’s). You can keep this in mind for soups, casseroles, and stews as well:
- ½ veggies/fruits, ¼ lean protein, ¼ whole grains, + healthy fats.
This was developed based on the preponderance of reproducible quality evidence withstanding time - the Mediterranean and Vegetable-forward/Vegetarian literature.
- Whole Foods > Processed Foods: Shop the perimeter of grocery stores; frozen & canned veggies (watching the sodium), legumes, healthy oil, and whole grain aisles are great too.
- Mindful Eating: Eat without multitasking. Chew slower, be intentional about tasting more, savor, and focus on gratitude. Even on a busy inpatient service – you can carve out 5 minutes of relative silence and focus on your meal. It makes a bigger impact than you can imagine. One Yale cognitive scientist calls this intentional simple act of a short break “time affluence,” the subjective sense that you have some free time and offers how it can have a disproportionate impact on well-being. Try it!
- Experiment: Find what fuels you. If I eat oatmeal and fruit it wears off by 10am and I often feel a crash; if I eat yogurt and fruit – it’s similar, but a veggie scramble or sous vide eggs, last me until lunch. I have friends that former works well for them.
- Plan & Prep: Pre-plan meals to avoid decision fatigue and last minute impulses that don’t align with your goals. This doesn’t mean you have to make Pinterest level meals for the week. At least know each night what your meal plan is the next day and take any steps to set you up for success. I will say that my med school study partner always cut up her veggies before storing them away and she benefited from it. That’s still an aspirational goal for me.
- Leverage your effort: Batch cook proteins and whole grains when you can. It takes minimal effort to throw extra chicken breasts on the stove, oven or instapot - or to cook an extra ½ cup of grains when you are already cooking. Those can be either left-over of the meal you are making or repurposed later in the week.
- Emergency Backup: Keep things on hand (backpack, hospital locker, office/station at clinic) so when your best laid plans get waylaid you can still support your choices easily. I like having a mixed back of nuts and dried fruit and a can or two of progresso low sodium soups on hand.
- No Restrictions: Food restrictions drive cravings along with other maladaptive issues. Avoid banning foods. Instead, I like Ali Novitsky’s categorize everyday foods, occasional foods (you decide how often that is), and celebratory ones (more indulgent occasions). For me, my everyday foods are from the list of things I enjoy that align with Harvard’s healthy plate. Occasional foods – are my weekly pizza night and Sunday bacon (hey – no judgment). And my celebratory ones are – cupcakes, mimosas, tropical drinks – are reserved for special occasions (not just when someone I know is having a birthday – that’s too often for me).
- Cook at Home more often: There is a lot of evidence that homemade meals are almost always healthier – even when cooking the same type of food.
- Hydrate: Don’t underestimate water’s role in feeling good. Related – form me, I choose non-calorie drinks for most of my hydration – primarily water and black coffee, tea, and flavored sparkling water.
- Pair Foods Wisely: Combine carbs with protein or fats to avoid glucose and insulin spikes and energy crashes.
- Let go of perfection/all-or-nothing thinking: Stick to your plan 80% of the time; allow flexibility without guilt. When you impulsively eat something not on your everyday list (maybe a doughnut that someone left in the break room) - give yourself grace. Self-compassion is much more productive. What set you up for it, what can you tweak next time if you don't want to eat a doughnut everytime they're in the breakroom (BTW - why are there always doughnuts in the breakroom?) And just make the next best decision.
- Meal Inspiration: Build a recipe binder, favorite website, cookbook or use tools like ChatGPT to spark meal ideas. (Last week I typed in what I had on hand and asked it to give me recipes that were nutritious and easy to make – the garlic chicken, veggie and brown rice stir-fry was great!)
- Diverse Preferences Ideas: The struggle is real when you have one or more family members with individual strong preferences (especially if they’re “picky eating” kids) or individuals with medically required specialized nutrition. 1. My favorite knowlegable influencer is “Kids Eat in Color” on Insta. 2. Ask for support – division of labor - so it doesn’t all fall on one person. 3. ChatGPT can be pretty creative to hit many requirements. 4. A registered dietician can be gold here.
- Limit Alcohol. You likely read the US Surgeon General’s advisory on this. We have known for years that even moderate alcohol intake (1 standard drink for a woman and 2 for a man daily) increases the risk of certain cancers such as breast.
- Identify & Combat Emotional Eating: When you realize you are eating from a place of stress, tune in, have a “go to” to eat while you are considering if it’s true hunger. Review my blog on feeling your feelings for processing emotions. Closely related is #20.
- Avoid the “deserve” slippery slope. Who hasn’t had a really tough day, week, or month and thought, “I deserve x, y, z.”? Almost all of us. And you do deserve great things. However, when we use food, alcohol or other indulgences as a comfort to a hard day – it is a slippery slope. The work we do is always challenging. What you really deserve is to invest in your well-being in the most helpful and rewarding ways that you decide.
- Future considerations. The microbiota of the gut and pre and post-biotics are really promising areas (though the supplements having panned out and the live culture by-products seem more important than the live bacteria themselves in some studies. Diversifying and increasing herbs and spices is as well.
What Works for You?
I know everyone’s lifestyle is different, so find what fits you. PDSA cycles for another win!
My personal favorites? A protein-packed breakfast – veggie scramble, fruit and coffee; good portion/proportion left-over from dinner for my lunch, pre-planned dinners – division of labor in my house means I’m the sous chef – husband is the idea guy and chef. On my designated cooking days – I use my binder and ChatGPT, a couple of favorite recipe sites, and reliable cookbooks. (I also now enjoy cutting veggies). I really like to aim for a variety of colors and lots of veggies and fruit throughout each day (and legumes and whole grains) – they really up my fiber game and are great for the gut microbiome.
My approach to a couple of controversies: I find that my protein intake works best somewhere above the LMS guidelines and below the Obesity and Performance Sports med goals. I like olive and avocado oil for most things, occasional canola, so don’t need to test out the coconut oil – I’ll stick with the proven positives. I try to eat my last meal 3 hours before bedtime and eat in the morning when hungry – consistently about 13 hours of fasting which has some evidence. The is some decent and some mixed evidence with IF to more extremes. I’d just say if I were to do it, I’d really pay attention to my total protein intake as that can go down and any weight loss in that situation can have a larger portion of lean body mass (if not adequate protein intake and strength training).
Also, let’s normalize sharing ideas—network with friends and colleagues to trade simple, sustainable hacks.
Related Quote:
I leave you with this quote from James Clear, habit expert:
"In theory, consistency is about being disciplined, determined, and unwavering.In practice, consistency is about being adaptable. Don't have much time? Scale it down. Don't have much energy? Do the easy version. Find different ways to show up depending on the circumstances. Let your habits change shape to meet the demands of the day.Adaptability is the way of consistency."
Reflection Question:
What’s you commit to take this week to improve your nutrition and fuel your well-being?
Have a joy-filled week! Tonya
Check out my Individual Physician Coaching Course on Enjoying Life and Thriving in your Career here.
*TLDR:
- Nutrition challenges: Time, ideas, cost, preferences, and fatigue—but they’re solvable!
- Key principles: Small, sustainable steps; focus on fuel quality, not perfection. Revisit lists to continue to uplevel your own nutrition.
- Top tips:
- Practice intuitive eating using hunger cues and scales.
- Balance your meals: ½ veggies, ¼ lean proteins, ¼ whole grains, plus healthy fats.
- Shop the perimeter of the grocery store; opt for whole foods.
- Plan and prep meals to reduce decision fatigue.
- Keep backup snacks handy for unpredictable days.
- Allow flexibility—ditch "all-or-nothing" thinking.
- Build a personal "go-to" recipe system, or get creative with AI tools!