February, 2023 | Nutrition for Real Humans

February 22, 2023February 22, 2023

How much water do I actually need to drink?

How much water do you actually need to drink? Recommendations vary widely. I’m sure you’ve heard 8 glasses of water per day. I’m sure you’ve also heard 1 gallon of water per day, although I feel like that is more promoted by influencers selling giant water bottles.

mason jar full of water with a striped straw — Photo by Elliot Fais from Pexelshttps://www.pexels.com/photo/clear-glass-mason-jar-filled-with-water-1191312/

The reality is – the amount of water you need to drink varies.

The amount of water you will need to drink is different than someone else and will also probably change day to day

The amount of water you need to drink can depend on:

how old you are
what size you are
what your body composition is
how hot it is
how much salt you eat
how much water you are losing based on your activity level
how much you sweat
how much water you lose through the air, which depends on your climate (both geographically and based on climate control like A/C or heating)
how much water you get from other drinks or food
if you are breastfeeding or pregnant
if you have certain medical conditions

So, how do you tell if you are drinking enough??

The best way to tell if you are hydrated is that your urine is light-colored. If it’s dark, or even very yellow, drink more. This gauge is helpful because it will automatically adjust depending on the above factors.

It’s also important to hydrate consistently throughout the day because we can’t store water. We are not camels. If you drink your whole “recommended amount” of water at the beginning of the day and then nothing during the rest of the day, you will not be well hydrated. (And the color of your urine will reflect this)

Can you drink too much water? Yes, but it is difficult. Our bodies are pretty good about keeping fluid balance correct by getting rid of extra water.

Drinking too much water can be dangerous, but in healthy people without kidney problems this is rare and usually only will happen if you drink extremely large amounts of water in a very short amount of time or if you have lost a LOT of fluid and electrolytes recently – like during a marathon or if someone is rehydrating after severe dehydration.

Most of the time, erring on the side of more water (unless you have a fluid restriction from your doctor) is the way to go. Especially if you are drinking gradually as you go through the day.

The bottom line: drink enough water and other fluids throughout the day so that your urine is light colored, most of the time

Obviously, if you have more specific instructions from your doctor, dietitian, or other health professional, follow those, but if you are just looking for general guidance, that’s the way to go!

This post is intended to be informational only and is not medical or nutritional advice. If you have questions about your unique needs, ask about a custom meal plan or speak with a registered dietitian-nutritionist near you.

February 15, 2023April 19, 2023

Why I write about nutrition basics

I write posts about Nutrition Basics because nutrition terms get thrown around a lot. That can make words like calories, fat, protein, etc. seem familiar. It also means we can say the same words but be thinking of different concepts!

I write posts about Nutrition Basics because it’s important to me that my audience and I are thinking of the same things when I say protein, or carbs, etc.

I also write these posts because I want them in my voice. I want you to hear what I think and believe about carbs, or protein, or sugar, for example, and just to explain in simple terms what those things mean, with a little bit of basic background.

That way when I say, add some healthy carbs, or make sure you have enough calories! you know what that means.

Here are some nutrition basics I’ve written so far:

Protein

What is protein?

A list of protein foods
How much protein should you eat?

Plant-based protein

Hydration

How much water do I actually need to drink?

More to come!

Carbohydrates

Carbs, what are they good for?

What nutrition basics do you want me to write about? Add your suggestion to the comments or send me a message!

February 8, 2023February 3, 2023

Want your kids to try foods? Just be cool 😎

Listen, I see this mistake all the time and if you want your child to be an adventurous eater, it’s just self sabotage.

Stop telling your kids they won’t like a food! Stop saying in front of them that they’re a picky eater!

“You probably won’t like this”

“She won’t eat that”

“Kids don’t like this”

“Oh, this? It has [fill in the blank food], you don’t like [fill in the blank food]”

(This post is not about telling your child that they won’t like your favorite candy so you don’t have to share – that is a different issue altogether)

Why? Your kids will believe you!

You are totally allowed to think that your child probably won’t eat or like a food that is served and most of the time you will probably be right because you know your kid.

However, when you tell them they won’t like it, you’re saying “It’s not worth trying something you think you won’t like”. I mean, you might mean that, but most of the parents I work with do NOT want their kids to believe this. They want them to believe the exact opposite! (Which is “It’s good to try new foods and you shouldn’t say you don’t like it before you’ve tried it“)

It’s also totally possible to go too hard the other way and turn kids off trying a new food because you’re pushing it so much, but that’s not what this post is about.

So even if you think your child won’t eat something, just be cool and they might surprise you!

How to be cool, when you don’t feel cool?

Serve them a tiny portion without saying anything
You eat it, enjoy it and don’t make a big deal out of it
If they ask for some, give them some
If you feel like you have to talk about it, say something objective: “It’s crunchy” “Tastes like lemon” “It’s spicy”
It’s fine to express that you like a food! Just be genuine. Don’t exaggerate to get them to want some.
Ask them what they think (if they’ve already tried it) in a way that encourages them to describe it neutrally. “What flavor is it?” “Does it remind you of anything?”

What should you say to other people about your child’s eating? Feeding Littles shared this great post with some examples a while back:

If you’d rather watch or listen than read:

February 1, 2023January 25, 2023

Some reasons your meal plan might fail and ways to fix it

Like you, your meal plan is unique, and the reasons it fails are also unique. However, here are some common reasons it might not work out and some tips to make it more successful.

1 ) You are trying to make it do too much because you haven’t decided what you really want it to accomplish.

If you’re not sure what is important to you, you may try to do too many things at once and not really succeed at all of them. Read the Lazy Genius’s When Your Meal Plan Has House Hunter’s Syndrome (very quick read) for a great discussion of why this doesn’t work. This is why it is so important to know what you want your meal plan to do for you and why I wrote a whole post about it last week!

How to fix it: Decide the most important things (1-3) you want your meal plan to do for you and don’t worry about the rest

Narrowing down what you really need (e.g. time efficiency, variety, stability, nutrition, cost savings, comfort, ease of preparation) will help you prioritize and eliminate the effort of trying to accomplish what you don’t need (e.g. time efficiency, variety, stability, nutrition, cost savings, comfort, ease of preparation) See how what you need could be the same as what someone doesn’t need?

See What you need for your meal plan to be successful for some good examples of what this might look like in different situations, including what my meal plan was like in college.

2) You don’t take your real life into account

Sometimes when we plan meals, I think we imagine this separate time and place where we will have a clean kitchen and lots of workspace, plenty of energy, and enough time to leisurely and lovingly prepare new and delicious recipes maybe with some nice music to sing and dance around to.

Ah this GIF is just what I was imagining and – perfect – it’s from the Hallmark channel, known for their realistic depictions of life

Is that just me?

Anyway, we are realists here at Nutrition for Real Humans and I don’t know about you but that only sometimes happens. When it does, it’s great, but most of the time, at least one of the following is true.

It’s after a long day of work and I’m tired
I have very little time between work and another commitment so there’s no time to cook
There are enough dirty dishes from the day that I have to work around them
We don’t have that much counter space
I don’t feel like chopping vegetables
I’m really hungry and would rather just eat now
I don’t feel like eating what I’ve planned
I watch YouTube videos while cooking instead of dancing to nice music

Surely there are other things that make following a meal plan more challenging for you: kids are upset, there’s after dinner activities, an appointment unexpectedly went late, the ingredients you thought you had you don’t or they’ve gone bad . . .etc.

How to fix it: Look at your calendar and really imagine your day while you’re picking the meals to plan

Choose meals that will fit the day.

Don’t plan to try an involved new recipe on the day you have to leave early for choir practice – plan a slow cooker meal, sandwiches, or plan to get something to go

Don’t plan a meal that nobody really likes that much on a stressful day – choose a comforting, easy-to-make meal

Want to try a new involved recipe? Pick a day when you’ll have time and energy to enjoy the process!

Of course this doesn’t help for the unexpected. Another reason your meal plan might fail:

3) Your meal plan isn’t flexible enough

This one’s tricky because for some people, the whole reason they need a meal plan is for stability and predictability. Different people will need different amounts of flex, you might not want very much and that’s ok.

But I think more meal plans would succeed if they included a little flexibility for days when you are unexpectedly busy, or you’re missing a crucial ingredient, or just don’t feel like making what you planned because let’s be honest, it happens.

How to fix it: Plan 1-2 meals that can flex, or can easily be moved around

Flexible meals:

use ingredients you always have on hand (nothing special, they’ll get used even if you don’t use them for this meal) or won’t go bad (frozen stuff is GREAT for this)
are generally easy and quick to make
are generally always acceptable to eat
(This can also be planning to get takeout or go out to a restaurant)

Some of our go-to flexible meals are bean burritos made with canned beans, macaroni and cheese, eggs and toast, frozen fish and oven fries and frozen peas, pasta made with jarred or frozen sauce.

You can use a flexible meal to fill in for a planned meal that doesn’t work out

AND/OR

These meals can be skipped like no big deal because those ingredients will definitely get eaten eventually. This is useful for

unexpected spontaneous dinner plans (hey! meet us for Taco Tuesday!)
unexpectedly abundant leftovers that need to get used up

And if everything goes to plan and you make all your other planned meals, then great, your flex meals give you an easy and appealing meal to look forward to making!

4) You have picky kids (or picky adults ) 🙃

This is a whole other blog post. Stay tuned.

Watch below if you’d rather listen than read: