On Mother’s Day, we’re supposed to reflect on all our mothers have done for us and be thankful for having them in our lives. Honestly, we should probably be reflecting on this year-round, since being a mom is no easy task. Over the years, our mothers (and fathers) teach us a lot to help us become the people we are.
But as we get older, it’s a two-way street: The child starts to teach the parent. So with this Mother’s Day approaching, I thought it would be interesting to see what nutritionists have taught their mothers about health.
Personally, my mother really doesn’t listen to much I have to say (I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree). However, she did take my advice to start taking a daily probiotic (with her doctor’s seal of approval), which has helped manage her symptoms from ulcerative colitis. Also, upon my urging, she has learned that using props in a yoga class does not make her a beginner (she’s been practicing yoga for 30 years), but rather a smart practitioner. Props can help avoid injuries from straining.
What else have nutritionists taught their moms? I talked to eleven of my colleagues to find out:
1. ‘Move it to lose it.’
“I taught my mother to simply ‘move it to lose it.’ To help her, I bought her a personal training package on her 65th birthday and since then, she has lost 20 pounds and increased her strength, confidence and energy levels. She now does two days a week of weight training with six days of swimming and has kept the weight off ever since.”
— Jim White, registered dietitian nutritionist, certified personal trainer and spokesman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
2. Cut the fat when cooking.
“First of all, I taught my mother that she needs to exercise — period. Then I taught her that her exercise must progress (doing the same exact thing for one year is not optimal) and must include weight-bearing exercise (and weights) that help her to continue to perform her activities of daily living as she ages, especially with osteopenia. I also taught my mother that the benefits of the daily glass of wine may not be beneficial for her waistline. Most importantly, I have emphasized the need to cook with less added fats and to include many more fruits and vegetables in her daily food intake.”
— Felicia Stoler, registered dietitian nutritionist and author of “Living Skinny in Fat Genes”
3. Healthy food can be delicious.
“My late mother, who was a caterer, was a tough nut to crack — which was actually one of her strengths! She loved sharing my advice, articles and cookbooks with others, but rarely put my nutrition or health tips into practice for herself. The one thing I was able to convince my mother of was that healthy food can be absolutely delicious!”
— Jackie Newgent, chef, registered dietitian nutritionist and author of “The With or Without Meat Cookbook”
“I taught my Italian mother how to make healthy foods look and taste good. While she was a great baker, making a tasty dinner daily wasn’t among her culinary skills. In fact, it wasn’t until I was in graduate school and away from home that I finally learned that cooked broccoli isn’t supposed to look the color of ‘combat’ green on the dinner plate. She would boil the life and taste out of all the veggies we ate. But she made some fabulous Italian cookies.”
— Joan Salge Blake, registered dietitian nutritionist and clinical associate professor at Boston University
4. Glycemic index 101.
“When my mother was first diagnosed with diabetes years ago, I taught her about the glycemic index and glycemic load. To this day, she tells me it has been the single most helpful tool to keep her blood sugar in check.”
— Ellie Krieger, registered dietitian nutritionist, TV host and author of “Weeknight Wonders: Delicious Healthy Dinners in 30 Minutes or Less.”
5. Don’t skip meals.
“My mom said that the best advice from me that she is finally following — and successfully losing weight with — is to eat regularly. In other words, no skipping! She is eating three meals and an afternoon snack regularly, and the most positive change of all is not skipping breakfast. This has helped her to not overeat at night and pick and pick all throughout dinner prep!”
— Suzanne Farrell, registered dietitian nutritionist and owner of Cherry Creek Nutrition, Inc. in Denver
6. Cheese is not a carbohydrate.
“My mom says I’ve taught her more than nutrition facts, I’ve taught her nutrition strategies, such as:
— Make sure what you buy at the grocery store works for you and not against you. For example, buy more fruits and vegetables and fewer ‘tempting’ foods.
— Cheese is not a carbohydrate, therefore you cannot treat low blood sugar with it. (Important for my dad, who had Type 2 diabetes.)
— If you skip meals, you may be more likely to binge or overeat because you let yourself get too hungry.”
— Melissa Dobbins, registered dietitian nutritionist and host of the “Sound Bites” podcast
7. No foods are forbidden.
“I’ve taught my mother to not feel guilty about eating foods she enjoys, even if they aren’t that nutritious. Instead of thinking, ‘a minute on the lips, forever on the hips,’ I’ve taught her to plan indulgences ahead of time and to mindfully treat herself to smaller portions — especially of high-calorie, fatty and sugary foods — so that she can feel satisfied and not deprived. She has also learned from me that while there are no forbidden foods, it’s important to spend calories wisely and try not to waste them on things that aren’t worth it.”
— Elisa Zied, registered dietitian nutritionist and author of “Younger Next Week.”
8. Don’t take ‘I don’t like it’ for an answer.
“I taught my mom that sometimes it’s best if a parent exerts a little influence in encouraging her kids to try new foods. Growing up, if I said I didn’t like something, I didn’t need to eat it. Period. When I had my own children, she observed that preparing a rejected food in a fun fashion turned some of those ‘I don’t like that’ conflicts into ‘OK…I’ll try that’ discoveries. In fact, she even learned to try new dishes, since, unlike me, she was willing to try anything I put in front of her!”
— Bonnie Taub-Dix, registered dietitian nutritionist, blogger for US News and author of “Read It Before You Eat It.”
9. Switch it up.
“I taught my mom how to punch up her exercise routine. She used to just do steady-state exercise, and I taught her how to incorporate intervals of more intense time with periods of recovery. She’s also into doing planks, but she just did one kind of plank, so I showed her variations to shake things up as well as use different muscle groups.”
— Tara Gidus, registered dietitian nutritionist and co-author of “Flat Belly Cookbook for Dummies.”
10. Amp up the omega-3s.
“My mother has genetically high triglycerides and, when she was pregnant with me, they peaked at 5,000. She’s in great shape, exercises regularly and eats really well, but in her 50s, those triglycerides still hovered in the 700s and 800s. In college and when I was studying nutrition, I started learning about the importance of omega-3 fats for lowering triglycerides and had her start adding those to her diet. She now takes 5 grams daily of Nordic Naturals Omega-3 fats and this cut her triglycerides in half, while still maintaining all the other healthy habits.”
— Christopher R. Mohr, registered dietitian nutritionist at MohrResults.com
More from U.S. News
What 10 Nutritionists Learned About Cooking From Their Moms
What to Say and Do If Your Daughter Thinks She’s Fat
10 Ways to Make Your Childbirth Easier
10 Lessons Nutritionists Taught Their Mothers About Health originally appeared on usnews.com
