Nutrition expert Joy Bauer says when you take care of yourself and eat the right food, you ultimately feel better psychologically, physiologically and emotionally. Photo provided
By Joyce Reingold
Joy Bauer says her fans and followers ask her everything. How tall are you? How can I get my spouse to eat more vegetables? But what she’s asked most, she says, is how can I get started living a healthier lifestyle, and how do I stay motivated?
And who better to ask than Bauer, the nutrition and wellness expert who inspires, educates and entertains from a dizzying number of platforms including the Today show, Amazon Live, best-selling cookbooks, social media and her website, https://joybauer.com. At 7:30 a.m. April 8, she will be the keynote speaker at the Meals on Wheels of the Palm Beaches More Than a Meal breakfast fundraiser at the Kravis Center.
“Those are really big questions from a behavioral standpoint, because I think 50% of starting and staying with a health plan is your attitude, without a doubt. And so, maybe finding your reason: Why do you want to get healthier and start eating better and exercising more? Everybody has to do some soul-searching. You want to make sure that your reason is significant and personal and enduring,” she says.
“It can’t be a flimsy little, ‘I want to fit into a certain dress.’ I think like the bigger reasons are: I want to be around for my grandkids, or I want to reduce the risk of a breast cancer recurrence, or I want to lower my cholesterol so that I live a long, healthy and energetic life.
“And also, I think a really significant one is, I want to be able to go into my closet and wear anything I want to wear and feel more comfortable in my skin and have more energy.”
After that, Bauer, a registered dietitian nutritionist, suggests creating a series of smaller, short-term goals that are “tangible and concrete” to fuel your journey and keep you tracking toward your goal.
“I love the action-oriented goals, like I’m going to try two new dinner recipes this week, or I’m going to walk 30 minutes every single day this week, or I’m going to think ahead and brown bag my lunch for work. … Or maybe it’s, I want to try two new fruits or something like that.”
Each week pick as many as you think you can accomplish — even one — and make sure to celebrate your wins, she says.
“Obviously, give yourself a great big hug. But maybe you also want to come up with some sort of fun, non-food reward system. Like manicures, pedicures, massages when you accrue 10. … It’s so well worth taking the time to plan the format for these short-term goals, because at the end of the day, the payback is ginormous. It’s your health, it’s your energy, it’s your feel-good attitude,” Bauer says.
Food should be easy
Eating for good health should be joyful, too. And if all the at-home cooking during the coronavirus pandemic has depleted your cooking mojo, “you can learn to love it again or learn to love it a little,” Bauer promises.
“People really want easy, delicious. They want to be healthy … but they don’t want to compromise on the foods that they love. So, what I try to do is figure out how to make all of these foods that we crave, and we obsess over, in a healthier and a lightened-up fashion. And it’s so fun because really, you can make just about anything better. You really can.”
Bauer mentions her spinach artichoke dip and smashed Parmesan Brussels sprouts, which are a new family favorite. Her BBQ salmon bowl hit a home run when it made its Today show debut.
If you have a sweet tooth, she even has a healthier take on a classic candy bar. Bauer calls her chocolate peanut butter dates “copycat Snickers bars.” She stuffs medjool dates with peanut butter and salted peanuts, drizzles them with melted semi-sweet chocolate chips, sprinkles chopped peanuts on top and chills them in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
“I dare you not to think that it has similar flavors as a Snickers bar,” she says. “And when you use medjool dates, it’s about the same size as the fun-size Snickers. It’s so good. It’s got all the candy bar feels.”
Bauer, whose books include Joy Bauer’s Superfood! 150 Recipes for Eternal Youth and From Junk Food to Joy Food, publishes these and a host of other recipes on her website. You’ll also find Joy Bauer’s Food Cures, articles about “food as nature’s medicine.”
“You know, when you take care of yourself, you ultimately feel better psychologically, physiologically, emotionally. It really elevates every single aspect of your life. And the best part is, it’s just food. It’s so easy. We eat several times a day and just by being more thoughtful and selective over what we put into our bodies and on our plate, we have the capability of feeling markedly better,” she says.
“And with so many things that are out of our control these days, I think it’s so empowering that food is really within our control.”
Joyce Reingold writes about health and healthy living. Send column ideas to joyce.reingold@yahoo.com.
If You Go
What: More Than a Meal breakfast to benefit Meals on Wheels of the Palm Beaches.
When: 7:30 a.m. April 8 Where: Kravis Center
Tickets: Start at $175, with a limited number available through April 4. Call 561-802-6979, ext. 5, or visit www.MOWPB.org.
Guest speaker: Joy Bauer, whose mother was a Meals on Wheels volunteer, says she feels “super connected” to the organization, which delivers nutritious meals to homebound seniors.
“I have so many fond memories,” she says. “I used to go on a lot of the runs with my mom. … This has always been an organization that’s near and dear to my heart.”
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