All the Meals are Important

by Dr. Theresa DeLorenzo, RD

We have all heard “make sure to eat breakfast, it’s the most important meal of the day.” Personally, it is also my favorite. I wake up and make my fried egg with a piece of oat nut toast with avocado and hemp seeds, or an omelet with all the veggies, turkey sausage and potatoes if I’m not running (I’ve learned there are foods that don’t sit well when I run), or a whole wheat English muffin with peanut butter, banana and honey if I’m doing a long run. Yes breakfast is important. It is the time to wake up our metabolism and tell our bodies it’s ok to start burning. But so are the others.

Here are some breakfast ideas in you need some inspiration

https://nutrition-4-op.com/breakfast

Lunch is probably the meal most people struggle with the most. We are all busy working and often have difficulty squeezing in some food between meetings. But, a simple sandwich, salad (as long as it contains some carbohydrates such as fruit, beans, quinoa, sweet potatoes) or leftover soup should suffice.

See here for some options

https://nutrition-4-op.com/soups

https://nutrition-4-op.com/salads

Then comes dinner. So many people lament that they try and avoid carbohydrates at dinner only to find themselves craving crackers and chips all evening, unable to stop. Then there is the constant notion that you should stop eating by 5 or 6 pm. Our bodies burn fuel all day. When we go long periods of time without eating, we decrease our metabolism because our body learns to hold onto vs. burn the fuel that it’s been given. No, I am not suggesting eating a gigantic fatty meal and then lie right down to go to sleep. But I am suggesting putting more emphasis on a balanced dinner including 30% of your plate as whole grains, 30% as lean protein and 30% as vegetables. See what happens to your evening cravings…..they just may go away.  Especially if you emphasize grains such as brown rice, potatoes (sweet or white but leave the skin on for more fiber), whole grain pasta, and quinoa to name a few. When you go to do that early morning run the next day your body will thank you for those dinner carbohydrates.

Check out these yummy balanced options

https://nutrition-4-op.com/main-meals

What about snacking!? Aside from breakfast, this is another one of my favorites. A balanced snack between breakfast and lunch and a balanced snack between lunch and dinner is the perfect way to manage your serving sizes at all of your meals as well as keep your metabolism willing to burn vs. hold on. So snack away but include a carbohydrate, a protein and some healthy fat so that you don’t need the whole bag of chips or the entire box of crackers.

Yup, I have a link for snacks too! https://nutrition-4-op.com/snacks-1


DeLorenzoEnd.jpgDr. DeLorenzo has been a Registered Dietitian (RD) since 2001.  She received her BS in Food Science and Dietetics from the University of Rhode Island and her MS and Ph.D.in Clinical Nutrition from the UMD/NJ.  She currently is the Program Director for the MS in Nutrition and Human Performance Logan University and serves as the team dietitian for USA Para Powerlifting at Logan. 

In addition to dietetics, Dr. DeLorenzo is a 200-hour trained yoga teacher and teaches online yin yoga and power yoga and provides yoga therapy for clients with anxiety, body dysmorphia, and pain.  

Dr. DeLorenzo specializes in working with athletes.

If you have a question for Dr. DeLorenzo, please click here!


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