The Meals Maven
  • Home
  • About
  • The Meals Maven Blog
  • Products and Services Available
    • The Meals Maven Nutritional Coaching Services
    • The Meals Maven Guest Speaking Services

Because health and nutrition Can Make Us Happy!

And I want to share my thoughts with you

How Too Much can Still be Not Enough

8/31/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
This bird is enjoying people food...tortilla chips dropped while someone was eating lunch. It's calories for the bird, undeniably. It's an easy meal, and this bird and a few friends spent quite some time eating these crumbs. But while this bird may have gotten some carbohydrate energy from these crumbs, that's about all it got. To be honest, I don't know what the nutritional requirements are of this bird. It lives in Victoria, BC. It's got a pretty cushy winter compared to birds here in Alberta, so I would hazard a guess it doesn't need the same energy reserves that birds here would need to stay warm if they don't migrate. But still. I would be astonished if tortilla chip crumbs offered the same nutritional benefits as more traditional wild-forged food.

Here in the West we are most assuredly over-nourished. There has never been a time when food wasn't available for us in my lifetime. It may not be our favourite foods, or what we want to eat at the moment, but it is available. Consider famines that have stretched on for years in many parts of Africa. A complete and utter lack of food and drinking water have killed thousands of people, and yet we in the West throw out a third of what's produced and waste water like it's an endlessly renewable resource. It's heartbreaking and horrifying, and one of the reasons I started meal planning- food waste is something I'm very passionate about.

Just because we are over-nourished doesn't mean we are healthy, however. It's a common understanding that malnourished looks like skin stretched over rib cages and distended bellies such as this first picture of famine in East Africa.

Our malnourishment in North America takes on many different forms. We can look overweight or obese, we can look "average", or we can look thin or skinny. You won't necessarily see malnourishment on a person until it progresses past a certain point.

A person becomes overweight or obese due to our propensity to overeat and the easy availability of food. Serving size increases, a largely sedentary lifestyle, and the evil triplets of perceived affordability, convenience, and focused advertising have led to this growing issue. Sometimes this can be due to an eating disorder. You can read more about that here. Other people suffering from malnourishment look like everyone else, or are thin, underweight, or skinny. If they, too, aren't eating the variety of foods that our bodies require for optimal health, they can also suffer long term damage.

To return back to the example of that little bird, he may be eating too much of a single food, and not receiving the nutritional variety he requires to be a healthy little bird. Like him, we can eat too much of the same sorts of foods and prevent our bodies from acquiring the right kinds of nutrients. We may be suffering from a malabsorption disorder such as Crohn's or Celiac disease, or we may just be neglecting variety in our diets. Whatever the case, malnutrition is a serious concern that can lead to long-term quality of life issues.

I encourage you to take stock of your diet. Keep track of what you're eating, how much you're eating, and when you're eating. Log everything for a few weeks, a month. Make note of any physical symptoms you may experience but haven't noted before, and see if there's a pattern. Notice if you've got a well-balanced diet, or if you're overloaded in fats and refined carbohydrates. Once you have started tracking your intake, you will be better equipped to see changes you may need to make to your overall diet.

And like diet, movement is essential for our quality of life. If keeping track of your diet has you feeling motivated to continue with positive changes, you might want to consider a movement tracker. This article contains a link to one that is easy to use and comes with a plethora of helpful tips to begin your journey.

I wish you all the best, and have a great weekend, friends. 
Stacy

If you enjoyed this post, sign up for my newsletter here. I offer exclusive content, contests, and offers for my subscribers.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    The Meals Maven
    Picture

    Archives

    February 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014

    Category

    All
    Added Sugar
    Adrenal Glands
    Anaheim Eateries
    Apples
    Appliance Energy Discussion
    Bees
    BMR
    Breads And Cereals Servings
    Breakfast
    Business Partnership
    Call For Ideas
    Calorie Counting
    Canada Food Guide
    Change
    Charcuterie
    Chia Seeds
    Childhood Nutrition
    Christmas Meal Plan
    Cold And Flu Help
    Comfort Food
    Community Initiative
    Composting
    Cookbook Authorship
    Cooking Ahead
    Cooking Therapy
    Courses
    Creating Less Waste
    Curveballs
    Customer Review
    Daytimer Kitchen Plans
    Dieting
    Disneyland Vacation Food
    Easter Dinner
    Eating In
    Events
    Fiber Intake
    Folate
    Folate Deficiency
    Folate RIch Foods
    Folic Acid
    Food Allergy
    Food Budget
    Food Waste
    Freebie
    Freezer Organization
    Fresh Mint Recipe
    Fresh Raspberry Recipe
    Fridge Organization
    Fruit And Vegetables
    Fruit And Vegetable Servings
    Garden
    Getting Started With Freezer Meals
    Giving Up Caffeine
    Global Nutrition
    Grocery Shopping
    Health
    Health And Wellness
    Healthier Food Choices
    Holiday Decadence
    Holiday Dinner Strategies
    Hot Drinks
    Hot Weather Meal Ideas
    International Womens Day
    Interviews
    Iron Rich Foods
    Judging Portion Sizes
    Kitchen Efficiency
    Kitchen Gadgets
    Kitchen Organization
    Leftovers
    Less Fast Food
    Less Processed Food
    Less Stress
    Local Business
    Local Eateries
    Malabsorption Disorder
    Meal Planning
    Meal Planning Services
    Meal Preparation
    Meal Starters
    Mealtime
    Meat And Alternate Servings
    Milk And Alternate Servings
    Mothers Day
    Newsletter Launch
    New Year Resolutions
    Niacin
    Online Course
    Overall Nutrition
    Over Nourishment
    Pantry
    Pantry Organization
    Passion
    Personal
    Personal Growth
    Picky Eaters
    Presentation
    Processed Foods
    Pumpkin Seeds
    Recipe Development
    Reducing Energy Use
    Reducing Water Consumption
    Refrigerator Organization
    Rickets
    Saving Money
    School Lunch Ideas
    Scurvy
    Seafood
    Snacktime
    Sore Throat Remedy
    Speaking Engagement
    Special Pricing
    Spice Blending
    Stocked Freezer
    Stocked Fridge
    Strong Bones
    Strong Immune System
    Summer Drinks
    Summer Holiday Memories
    Sunshine Vitamin
    Supplements
    Talking To Kids
    #testkitchen
    Thanksgiving Challenge
    Things To Do In Victoria
    Time Management
    Travel
    Trying New Foods
    #TuesdaySandwichSeries
    #tuesdaysoupseries
    Using Up Leftovers
    Vacation
    Victoria Eateries
    Vision
    Visual Appeal
    Vitamin A
    Vitamin A Rich Foods
    Vitamin B
    Vitamin B12
    Vitamin B12 Deficiency
    Vitamin B12 Rich Foods
    Vitamin B2
    Vitamin B3
    Vitamin B5
    Vitamin B5 Rich Foods
    Vitamin B6
    Vitamin B6 Rich Foods
    Vitamin B7
    Vitamin B7 Rich Foods
    Vitamin B9
    Vitamin B Rich Foods
    Vitamin C
    Vitamin C Rich Foods
    Vitamin D
    Vitamin D Rich Foods
    Vitamin E
    Vitamin E Deficiency
    Vitamin E Foods
    Vitamin K
    Vitamin K Rich Foods
    Vitamins
    Waste Reduction Week
    Weight Loss
    Wellness Wednesday
    YEG

    Picture

    RSS Feed

Privacy Policy
Terms of Service
​Disclaimers
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • About
  • The Meals Maven Blog
  • Products and Services Available
    • The Meals Maven Nutritional Coaching Services
    • The Meals Maven Guest Speaking Services