What I Wish Every Patient Knew About Nutrition and Healthy Eating

Hannah Brzozowski, a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist at Mosaic’s Redmond Health Center, shares simple, science-backed nutrition tips to boost energy, improve meal planning and build healthier eating habits.

The old adage, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day,” may have some truth to it—if you’re eating the right things.

Eat Breakfast

This sounds like boring information from the 1990s food pyramid. But so many of our patients skip breakfast and only have a caffeinated beverage. This affects energy level and cravings for the rest of the day. Studies show that skipping breakfast results in eating a larger lunch and dinner, yet not making up the macro- and micro-nutrient needs of the day. Caffeine is an appetite suppressant, so you are likely hungrier than you feel—making it even harder to listen to your body’s queues and needs. Women typically thrive with a higher protein breakfast, like eggs and veggies. Men do well with complex carbohydrates, like a bowl of oatmeal and fruit. I notice a lot of people who skip breakfast end up not having enough energy for any exercise or movement after work.

Meal prepping doesn’t have to be matching containers of the same meal every day this week

Consider prepping ingredients ahead. Can you roast a sheet tray of veggies and use in multiple ways this week?

Make once, freeze some, eat twice. Making a soup? A curry? A sauce? Make double the batch and freeze some. For example, making a chicken curry sauce and freezing a portion of it will result in you only having to make rice and some extra veggies on another night.

Make double the protein at dinner so you can repurpose it for lunch: maybe chicken salad, chicken in a bean bowl, or a chicken sandwich.

Planning out everything you’re eating is a lot of work. Can you spend 10 minutes per week thinking through what’s on the menu this week? Can you rotate in a new recipe once per week? Maybe you make the same recipe every Monday. That’s great!

Eat more legumes

Hannah Brzozowski, RDN, MS

I wish my patients ate more beans and lentils. They are protein-packed and one of the more affordable types of protein available.

Electrolytes

The latest wellness trend. You probably don’t need these. Most people get plenty of sodium, chloride, potassium and magnesium from food. Unless you’ve exercised for more than 60 minutes…Save your money and skip the fancy packets.

Interested in learning more about nutrition? Mosaic patients can see one of our nutritionists and community members can attend our Nutrition Kitchen classes. Happy eating!