Keri Glassman celebrity nutritionist, registered dietitian, healthy cooking expert and published author is the founder and president of Keri Glassman, Nutritious Life. The interesting thing about the Nutritious Life program versus other health programs is its’ holistic model that’s all about listening to your body. Keri speaks candidly in our interview about paying attention to the signs and symptoms of what our body is telling us, the benefits of chocolate, and secrets to living a guilt-free healthy lifestyle.
She shares that being healthy is not just about what we’re eating or how much we’re exercising, but also taking into account our sleep and the amount of stress we have in our lives to get a clear picture of our health make up. As well as eating empowered, “Eating empowered means listening to your body. What are you craving? Are you satisfied? Not hungry? Eating for nutrition or just emotions?”
Now as a former emotional eater who is on a journey to make peace with food this conversation really hit home for me. Foremost, because I don’t wanna pass on those unhealthy habits to my one-year old daughter. Who must really not be related to her mommy nor daddy cause she doesn’t eat much at all! So I asked Keri how can a baby tell you if they’re hungry or not? She says babies are wayyyyyyy better at listening to their hunger pains than adults are cause they don’t come wired with all of the emotional gunk we have by age twenty, let alone thirty. “Babies naturally listen to the hunger cues,” Keri states. Parents should, “Let them eat when they’re hungry, never force anything on them and offer them healthy food options. As long as a child is thriving there shouldn’t be any issues.”
Since Keri’s a health expert I also needed to know how I could cure my sweet tooth that tends to creep up around a certain time of the month. We see lots of conflicting information about the benefits of chocolate, some says it’s great for you while other says it’ll send you into a sugar coma. Well I was adamant on getting Keri to spill the cocoa beans.
“Most of it is high in sugar and fat, so processed you’re not getting anything from it.” Big ole sigh. “Dark chocolate has less sugar if it’s high in quality and less processed.” But it’s still not that much better she shares. Wooosah, deeper breaths, ok not so bad. Keri’s favorite way to indulge is CocoaVia® a supplement, which delivers the highest concentration of cocoa flavanols in a cocoa extract supplement today. She adds it in things like smoothies, coffee and oatmeal.
Just like we’re not giving up chocolate we’re also not sacrificing the foods we love, therefore for her final tip Keri let us in on 5 ways she keeps up her healthy habits.
- There is always a way to make a recipe slightly healthier. For example, instead of eating a gigantic beef burger, substitute ground beef for turkey or veggie burgers. Remove the buns and opt for a lettuce wrap.
- Eat the pizza, but not all of it. Have once slice a pizza with a big plate of vegetables or nice garden salad. Get in those good fats with some avocado piled on top or a homemade vinaigrette.
- Eat empowered. Exercise or just move your body. Eat with intent. Eat more plant-based meals. Manage your stress. Go to bed!
- Drink water instead of the soda. Case closed. LET IT GO! We all know that soda has loads of sugar and isn’t good for you. Ain’t no way around it. Drink herbal tea, smoothies, fresh juice.
- Every meal is an individual opportunity to eat well. Just because you “cheated” or ate something you know you shouldn’t have don’t use it as an excuse to binge for the whole day or the rest of the week. Don’t let the following Monday be a starting over point to choose health, make it the following meal.
Keri Glassman can be found on on her website nutriouslife.com and on Instagram @nutritiouslifeofficial sharing practical approaches toward leading a healthy lifestyle.
Dominique Mack(@just_dmack) is a writer, counselor, and advocate who hails from Brunswick, Georgia. She’s passionate about people, food, and balling on a budget but, not necessarily in that order. She writes often on dominiquemack.com sharing her unapologetic wisdom, recipe tips, and DIY hits and misses.