Rethinking The 'Why' Behind Your Nutrition Goals
Kate Irwin • September 7, 2020
Replace Diet Culture With a Healthier Outlook on Food
Have you ever tried to make nutrition changes or go on a diet? What are some of the reasons you have gone on a diet or changed your nutrition in the past? Many of the clients I have worked with attempt ‘diets’ in order to see body composition changes, lose weight, lose inches and overall feel better. While this is a valid reason to begin focusing on your nutrition, it’s important that we take a step back and appreciate the fact that it is not the only reason one might focus on their nutrition.
GET STARTED WITH PERSONALIZED NUTRITION COUNSELLING TODAY
Diet culture is something that is very real, a culture where we comment on people's weight, tell them they look great when they have lost weight or make a mental note when it looks as though they have gained weight. Chasing a specific size or number on the scale has become widely accepted and even encouraged. What if I told you that the number on the scale is not directly correlated to your health? What if I told you that sometimes focusing on that number and making nutrition changes based on your desire to weigh a certain amount can negatively impact your health, rather than being a positive.
Yes there are certain situations where fat loss can be extremely beneficial. Examples include situations where the individual suffers from weight related high blood pressure, has type two diabetes, or high cholesterol. Outside of a medical reason, losing weight and getting to your goal weight may not be necessary. It’s important to note that even though it may not be necessary for your physical health, it can be important to you for other reasons and that is also okay. But I am here to tell you it is okay to not want to lose weight, even if you are 5, 10, 15 or 20 pounds heavier than what you have coined as your ideal weight.
That being said, if you decide to ditch the diet, ditch the scale and gain freedom from diet culture, I think that it is still important to focus on nutrition, but not for the typical diet culture reasons. Have you perpetually been on a diet or chasing a scale weight? If so you may forget that food can make you feel great! It can give you energy, help you improve digestion, help improve sleep quality (hello carbs!), improve workouts and increase strength and muscle mass!
When we start to talk about nutrition on a purely functional level it changes the voices we use to discuss it. It takes our mindset from negative (I can’t have that, I’m not allowed to eat that, that will make me fat) to the positive (This food will help fill me up, the protein in this food will help me build muscles, these carbs before bed will help me get better sleep, these veggies have tons of nutrients in them to help improve my overall health). When you begin to think about nutrition in terms of the great things food will do for you, it makes wanting to eat a variety of foods more appealing. It takes the focus off of the foods that we have typically deemed ‘bad’ for us and switches it to the foods that are going to do amazing things for our body!
Is ditching the scale and diet culture something that speaks to you right now? I always like to start clients with a few small steps.
Write down your why.
For me my why, includes being able to run (because it’s a passion of mine) and being able to keep up with my energetic children. I have always said I never want to be the mom that says “no running” because I don’t have the energy to run beside them.
Write down three positive things you want food to do for you from this list:
Improve digestion, increase energy, increase muscle mass, improve sleep, improve hormone regulation
Ditch the ‘NO’ rules and add some ‘YES’ rules .
There are no good foods or bad, but rather some foods do a lot of great things for you and some only do a little bit for you. Candy for example only gives you energy - and your body needs energy, and candy can have a place in your nutrition. On the other hand a potato gives you energy, but also has vitamins, minerals and fibre as well, it does a lot of good for us! By switching the focus to getting more foods that do our body lots of good it puts the power back in your hands and takes power away from the food.
Don’t restrict yourself from having any one particular food.
This may sound unhealthy but I promise it works, allow yourself to have foods you would normally restrict any time you want. This takes the power away from them and it becomes easier to just have a couple candies or a couple pieces of chocolate. On the other hand, when it’s a food you aren’t supposed to eat, it means that once you’ve had one cookie you’ve ruined the diet anyways so you might as well eat the whole box and start over again tomorrow.
Again, no matter what you decide your goals are, or how you want to approach your body, that’s for you to decide! I’m here to support our Nutrition Clients no matter their goal
but I thought it was important to make sure each and every one of us has the right to not chase a number, or want to lose weight. Health is an important factor in longevity, and health (both physical and mental) should be made more of a priority than fitting into a certain size or being a certain weight.
Andrew has been a Nova member for 9 years. One of his long standing goals was to do his first triathlon. He has been working towards this for years and just at the end of August he did it!
If you're doing all the “right things” — working out, eating clean, trying to stay consistent — but still struggling with stubborn belly fat, low energy and slow results, you’re not alone.
Tanya’s dedication to rebuilding her health after surgery offers valuable lessons and perspective for anyone facing setbacks.
Do Hard Things Now, So Life Becomes Easier Later Modern humans default to the easy way but it's not our fault... Throughout human history, we were wired to survive constant hardship - scarcity of food, threats from predators, harsh environments and manual labor for everything. Our DNA evolved for survival in these conditions, not for modern living. Imagine an early human stumbling across a fruit tree. It made sense to gorge - there was no telling when the next meal would come. The human who gorged had a higher chance of survival than the human who only ate a few pieces of fruit. Practicing self-control in an environment of scarcity would have been a death sentence. Likewise, if given a chance to rest instead of walking miles or hunting, rest was the obvious choice. The problem? Our genes haven’t caught up with modern life. Today, food is everywhere. We don’t have to fight to meet our basic needs. Technology does the heavy lifting, cars replace walking, entertainment is on-demand and calorie-dense foods are always within reach. Left unchecked, our instincts will always lean toward easy options like overeating unhealthy foods (that are so easily accessible) or driving to the store instead of walking. In other words, we’re still hardwired to take the path of least resistance. But here’s the catch: Choosing easy now often means a harder life later and choosing hard now often means an easier life later. Most modern humans are overweight, stressed, tired and dealing with chronic health problems because we’re following outdated survival programming that no longer serves us. It’s time to become aware of these defaults. To override them. To consciously choose the hard thing - because doing hard things is what actually makes life easier in the long run. Hard things like: Going to bed on time instead of watching another episode Preparing a healthy meal instead of grabbing fast food Moving your body instead of sitting all day Walking or biking to the store instead of driving Managing stress with deep breaths and fresh air instead of pouring a drink Looking at your habits instead of masking symptoms with medication It might feel uncomfortable because it goes against everything your biological programming is urging you to do. But that’s exactly why it matters. Don’t think of it as punishment or sacrifice. Think of it as an investment. Every time you take the stairs instead of the elevator, cook instead of order out, or put your phone down to truly rest, you’re building a life that’s easier, richer, and more fulfilling down the road. And remember: Do easy things, and you’ll have a hard life. Do hard things, and you’ll have an easy life. Most of the above information is probably not new to you. That’s because we live in the information age with the internet and now AI - we already know what it is we need to do. The problem however is implementation. This is where having a customized plan and accountability comes in. If you know the hard things you need to do more of but struggle with breaking past your ‘default mode’ then contact us for a complimentary consultation HERE .
Congratulations to Sonya Jeyaseelan, Our July 2025 SuperNova!
Congratulations to Liz Belford, Our June SuperNova!
We are back with our second series of 'Pod Calls' available exclusively to our Nova Health Club members. Don't miss these unique sessions to help you level up your health and wellness game! What is a Pod Call? A Pod Call is a live online (webinar like)_ session with a Nova coach, offering support and insights on key health topics like fitness, nutrition, recovery and overall wellness. Why did we create Pod Calls? Our goal is your success and your health goals can not be built on fitness alone. After delivering thousands of personal training sessions, we noticed a disconnect between fitness sessions we were delivering and the other pillars of health (and lifestyle habits that happen outside of the gym). To get the most out of your health and your fitness sessions at Nova we need to link other pillars such as mindset, nutrition, stress and recovery. Training coaches who care about your results will agree that a couple hours of personal training each week is not enough time to workout AND learn everything you need to know about maximizing those workouts... Things like how to eat before or after workouts, what recovery habits should be practiced or the link between stress and working out are all subjects that you need to know on your health and fitness journey. Pod Calls are dedicated sessions where we teach you essential health and fitness insights that we can't often cover during your gym workouts. We hope you take advantage of these expert-led sessions that will enhance your workouts, teach you new concepts about health and bridge the gap between fitness and overall wellness. Upcoming Pod Calls (all times in EST) Mon Jun 2, 2025 (6:00pm) Topic: How To Eat Carbs For Better Energy, Muscle & Fat Loss Coach: Josh Allen Wed Jun 4, 2025 (2:00pm) Topic: Hip Mobility Using the 'CARS' (active session) Coach: Kim Vo Sat Jun 7, 2025 (12:00pm) Topic: Benefits of Single Leg & Arm Training for Overall Strength Coach: Matthew Nadler Tues Jun 10, 2025 (6pm) Topic: Releasing Neck Tension Coach: Zack Fernandez Wed Jun 18, 2025 (1:00pm) Topic: Training The Backside of The Core Coach: Colin Soltesz Thu June 19, 2025 (7:00pm): Topic: Ayurveda for Healthy Ageing Coach: Kayla Hutchinson These calls are free for Nova members and Zoom links for each call can be found in the Nova Mighty Networks platform. If you are not a Nova member and would like to attend any of these please email Info@NovaHealthClub.com for a seat. We look forward to seeing you then!
Check out the interview with Beth to see the habits, mindset and lifestyle shifts that helped her reach her goals
Simon’s 6-Week Transformation: From Stressed & Stuck to Strong & Energized
Simon joined Nova through the LeanDads 12-week program in February. Like many busy professionals...
