A good look at the girl in the mirror: a little bit about being judgemental as a health professional

I must get the hang of 
this 'selfie' lark

Throughout my years on this course I’ve become really passionate about nutrition and I have such a strong drive for improving the health of the nation.  I notice that sometimes because of this I can sometimes become judgemental of other people who I perceive to be less healthy than me. 

Sometimes when I’m in a supermarket I’ll take a sneaky glance at other people’s trolleys & find myself thinking in my head ‘Man, people eat so much crap!.’ (Bad I know!) But then I think of the times when I’m glad there are self-service machines so that no one can judge the crap I’m buying!

I have to be really conscious of this because clearly I’m not perfect and when people feel judged they are less likely to be compliant. So I thought I’d take a good look at myself.

this is the kind of stuff 
I eat most of the time

10 of my positive and healthy habits:

• I eat mindfully and slowly (most of the time!) and take care not to eat until I’m uncomfortably full
• I eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.
• I cook from scratch and don’t really buy ready meals.
• I see alcohol as a treat, not something to have all the time and I don’t drink until I get sick (any more!)
• I get as much as I can out of food and only supplement what I think is necessary.
• I ensure I consume a variety of protein sources daily. 
• I like coffee but I don’t have to have it and am not dependant on it for energy.
• I rarely drink sugary drinks and drink mostly herbal or green teas, kombucha, home-made smoothies, water with lemon, and dairy alternatives.
• I buy predominantly organic food when doing my food shopping.



Thai curry bursting 
with green veg 
(& nutrients!)

• I also love to exercise (not just because it means I can eat more, it makes me happy!) and do it in some form every day.

Now for some of my not so healthy habits!

Foods I eat at least 5 times per week or daily:

• Biscuits
• Chocolate (all vegan, mostly dark 70+% cocoa).  Yes, it's high in antioxidants but it's still fattening!

Foods I eat more than once per week:

• CAKE! My favourite food in the world! I ate a whole cake by myself when I was 4!



oh yeah, that's the stuff!

• Baked goods generally: doughnuts, pastries, pies, tarts, cookies mmmmmmmmmm. Excuse me whilst I make some Homer noises.

Foods/Drinks I consume occasionally (less than once per week):

•  Chips! I love chips! Especially with chilli sauce and I add salt!
•  Chinese take-aways + Chinese buffets (including deep fried things like spring rolls & I don’t ask them if it has MSG in it! don’t care!)



mmmm greasy

•  Linda McCartney sausage rolls! Really not healthy but it’s very rare I’ll eat things like this. It will be when I feel sentimental or nostalgic for something British.
• Crumpets!  
•  Scones! 
•  Crisps! I like many kinds of crisps including tortilla chips      
•  Many white flour products: French sticks, garlic bread, focaccia bread, bruschetta, vegan pizza, hard dough (Jamaican) bread.
• White pasta! (wholemeal pasta is horrible & chewy if you ask me!) 
• Alcohol! Red, white & rose wine, Champagne, Prosecco, Rum cocktails (pina coladas, daiquiris, rum punches, mai tais,) midori, amaretto, martinis, vodka cocktails, brandy cocktails, caipirinhas, sangria, Pimms, mulled wine, ginger wine, sorrel (a Jamaican rum-based drink), Port, Muscatel, ginger beer, some kinds of lager, cider…… Basically all kinds of alcohol apart from ale, tequila, bourbon & absinth.
• Sweets. I don’t eat them often at all but I really like berry flavoured sweets, cherry drops, vegan marshmallows & cola bottles.  And fudge!
• Turkish delight especially pistachio flavour! (scarily high in sugar but I make sure I burn it off!)

  

  I am partial to a cocktail, me

  
  

Quite a few vices for a nutritional therapist!

Here’s some of my other general unhealthy habits:

•  Filling up on snacks because I’m too impatient to wait for my dinner to cook when I’m hungry. I do this ALL THE TIME and by the time my dinner’s cooked I don’t want it!
• I love to eat before I go to bed at night!
• I hardly ever go to the dentist (or the doctor for that matter!)
• I wear my contact lenses all day every day (my optician always tells me off for this!)
• I sit hunched in my bed with my laptop (which I am doing right now, lol) which is really not good for the spine.  Pilates instructors would be horrified!

So in short, although I lead a healthy lifestyle I am far from perfect & I should remember not to judge other people.  

I also am not mocking anyone who eats more strictly than me.  I can understand if someone has or has had a serious health condition and needs to eat a stricter diet but I don’t believe in strictly eliminating foods for no good reason. 

I can’t promise I’ll never be judgemental again but it’s always good to take a look at oneself before criticising others.

He without sin……………