#303 – Good Nutrition Habits in the Time of Crisis with Dr. Krista Scott-Dixon

Matt and Dr. Krista Scott-Dixon, Director of Curriculum at Precision Nutrition, discuss a challenge many are facing right now — practicing good nutrition habits in this time of crisis. With families locked down and cutoff from their normal eating and exercise schedules, some have struggled to make healthy food choices. Dr. Scott-Dixon offers some advice for staying grounded, nutritionally and mentally, while on coronavirus lockdown.

Krista’s tips:

1. Write down your intent for the day, at the beginning of each day. Krista actually likes to call it your commitment. This includes your to-do list, but it’s not limited to it. A commitment could be something broad like, “I’m going to be supportive of someone else today,” or “I’m going to be optimistic today.” Committing to one small thing each day can help you build a more positive mindset.
2. Develop a structure, with small habits. Pick one small thing everyday that you can do to create a sense of order and structure to your day. It can be something as simple as “I’m going to eat lunch at 12:00pm today.” Constructing your routine slowly results in lasting habit changes.
3. Think like a restaurant, and set hours for your kitchen. Krista closes her kitchen between the hours of 2 and 4pm, because in her experience, no good snack decisions are made then! It’s only two hours, she says, so you can hold out until dinner.
4. Create a feedback loop for evaluating your day. Every day, spend a bit of time analyzing what went well (don’t focus on the struggles) and why. Then try to do a little more of that the next day. By bookending your day with a statement of intent and then an evaluation of the positives, you can learn to stay positive and bring some order to an otherwise chaotic world.

You can find Dr. Krista at:

Precision Nutrition: https://www.precisionnutrition.com

Coalition of Health and Fitness Leaders: https://healthandfitnesscoalition.com

Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl:

https://www.amazon.com/Mans-Search-Meaning-Viktor-Frankl/dp/080701429X