March is National Nutrition Month

By Bethany J. Jameson, HFS, MBA, Director of Wellness for the Greater Naples YMCA

National Nutrition MonthIt’s National Nutrition Month, and possibly the time when you’ve possibly fallen off the proverbial wagon of good health habits you promised you’d fulfill at the beginning of 2015.  This month is a great time to take a look at your diet and make some adjustments.  It may also be time to get real and stop making resolutions and instead make a lifestyle.

Before the words Paleo, South Beach, Atkins, or any other diet name came around, what did you do in regards to diet?  I remember being at the dinner table when I was about 10 and my mother had a sheet of paper that listed all these food items and measurements next to them.  I asked her what they meant?  She said it was part of my dad’s diet.  I had no idea what a diet was, and when I pressed my father he said that he had to lose some weight.  My tween brain didn’t connect the dots of what that piece of paper had to do with losing weight?  As an adult, I still don’t get it.  Why have we become so focused on numbers?  Since when did it become such a chore to eat?  Why are we associating eating with shame?  What happened?

I’m not entirely sure where we went wrong except for the fact that marketing has made us “have to have” a certain product, food, experience, etc.  We “have to have” the bars in the box that are labeled with that diet name on them to be successful.  Of course, I can’t even tell you in full honesty that I’ve never succumbed to that same ploy.  Even respected professionals in the medical field are lured by the idea that one diet may be better than another.  This commentary isn’t looking to digest all the reasons behind what diet is better than the other.  I am writing it, instead, to remind us all of what we’ve seemed to forget:  You are what you eat.  You cannot out exercise a bad diet.  You also can’t improve your health and wellness through fake food.  If we look at the American diet 100 years ago, we ate from the earth, in smaller portions and less “stuff.”  We could still enjoy the treats in our lives because we ate better and had a much more active lifestyle.  So instead of thinking about a diet think about a lifestyle.  Eat to fuel your body and enjoy the food that is fueling it.  If you’re not sure how those dots connect, that’s where a professional (and not a marketing gimmick) can come in to help you.

This journey to health and wellness is one that you don’t have to walk alone.  In the epicenter of Naples on Pine Ridge Road at the Greater Naples YMCA we’re creating a healthy living center where we can work on teaching you how to combine all the elements in your busy life.  Our campus provides opportunities for the young and young at heart alike.

To keep our vision of a Healthy Living Center alive, we’re looking at each of you in the public to step forward to take a look at what we’re doing.  Your membership and participation in our programs will help us to help you live better.  We’re here to keep you balanced in spirit, mind, and body.  For more information, please call 239-597-3148 or email me at bjameson@greaternaplesymca.org.  The Greater Naples YMCA is hosting a Healthy Family Meals presentation by Registered Dietitian Carrie Bloemers on Saturday March 21, 2015 at 10:30am.  The event is free and open to the public!

Bethany J. Jameson, HFS, MBA, Director of Wellness for the Greater Naples YMCA.  
Certified Personal Trainer, Group Fitness Instructor, and Health and Wellness Professional.  I have a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science from Springfield College and a Master’s in Business Administration in Management from Florida Gulf Coast University.

Greater Naples YMCA  |  5450 YMCA Road, Naples, FL 34109  |  (239) 597-3148

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