Top Ten Nutrition Mistakes, Pitfalls, and Opportunities for Success

1. Eating too many things made in plants and too few things grown on plants. 
1. As a whole, our society is very dependent on engineered foods.  Not that this is always a bad thing, but if you’re purchasing more foods in the aisles of the grocery store rather than on the outside, you’re daily nutrition probably has some holes in it.  Start consuming more things without a label – an apple, a carrot, a filet of wild salmon – and less things that have an expiration date. 
2. Not realizing the drawbacks of alcohol
1. True, red wine has good antioxidant properties, but how much?  One glass per day for women, two glasses per day for men.  Alcohol inhibits your body’s ability to use fat as fuel, therefore when you drink, you’re storing fat.  The beer gut isn’t a myth after all. 
3. Snacking on calorie-dense foods
1. There has been a late push for eating 4-6 smaller meals throughout the day rather than the 3 squares that were previously thought to be healthy.  While more consistent food may help keep your metabolism running, adding 3 snacks to the 3 square meals really just adds calories.  If you’re aiming for the mini-meal plan, make sure that you’re actually consuming mini-meals, probably 300-600 calories for most people, not simply adding a handful of chocolate chip cookies sandwiched between a big lunch and a big dinner.   
4. The “Good for You, Bad for You” complex
1. Very few foods (or exercises, or most things in life) are completely good or bad.  Realizing that foods do not have inherent properties, but rather can be “good” in the correct amount at the correct time or “bad” if consumed in the wrong amount at the wrong time.  Eating your weight in apples at midnight will still cause you to be twice as large when you wake up.   
5.  The truth about carbohydrates
1. Continuing with #4, carbohydrates are not inherently bad for you.  In fact, eating complex carbohydrates (sweet potatoes, vegetables, whole grains) can be an excellent way to recover from workouts and enhance your brain’s ability to function.  The best times for these carbohydrates?  Directly after your workout. 
6. Eating in reverse
1. It is way too common for us to go with little to no breakfast, a small lunch, and then a progressive dinner from 6-10pm.  We have a daily opportunity to eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper in order to really improve not only our health, but our energy levels and mood as well. 
7. Not knowing how much you’re consuming
1. The average American has no idea how many calories they’re eating, much less how much protein, fat, or carbohydrates.  Try taking a food diary for a day, week or month and really put a pencil to how much you’re consuming.  After all, what gets measured, gets done. 
8. Choosing a fad diet
1. The grapefruit diet?  The lemonade made with lemon juice and maple syrup diet?  Honestly?  Let’s look at what has worked for healthy people for hundreds of years – natural foods eaten in moderation.   
9. Calories while working out
1. How many times do you see someone having a Gatorade (or other sports drink) while walking on the treadmill?  The average person has to walk an extra 1.25 miles just to burn the calories in the Gatorade!  If that doesn’t help, let’s look at the name and marketing for Gatorade – it was made for the University of Florida football team and is marketed by professional triathletes, basketball players and tennis players.  So the next time you’re exercising as hard and as long as Tim Tebow, Chris Legh, Dwayne Wade, or one of the Williams’ sisters, feel free to have a sports drink, otherwise let’s stick to water.    
10. The sweet spot
1. Try substituting your weekly (or daily) chocolate chip cookie fix with fresh fruit.  My favorite – a small bowl of pineapple, peaches, kiwi, and mango.  The blend of sweet and tart satisfy the craving and the fiber helps fill me up.