I love food.
I love everything about it, from how the smell of sizzling bacon brings me right back to my childhood, to the fact it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without a piece of pumpkin pie. I love food so much, I became a chef. I’m also a long-time member and former chair of the advisory board for the Atlanta Community Food Bank. Food has been a conduit to new friends, jobs, experiences and memories.
The rising epidemic of obesity has inspired me to help others understand what they are eating, and how that contributes to their quality of life. It’s no secret we Southerners struggle with our diets. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 64.8 percent of adults in Georgia are considered overweight.
As a trained chef and executive for Sodexo, I see how hard it is for people to make smart decisions. I’ve learned the best thing we can do as an industry to improve people’s quality of life is to help them. The Sodexo Mindful Healthy Dining Program is based on the premise that you don’t have to sacrifice great-tasting food to be healthy. We can deliver food that feeds the soul and the body.
Mindful Eating is in workplaces across metro Atlanta, including corporations, academic institutions, universities and soon k-12 schools and cultural destinations.
One of our program participants at Georgia Tech recently lost 120 pounds in part to the Mindful program. He learned it’s the small choices that have the greatest impact and longevity for his journey towards a healthier lifestyle. He keeps a blog on the Mindful website, “Grant’s Small Steps,” where he shares tips:
• Use tracking tools. The Mindful program and its website (www.mindful.sodexo.com) include tools and resources to help people focus on improving overall health including MyFitnessPal, an app to help track nutrition information for prepackaged products. Using a Fitbit or equivalent tracking tool helps you monitor your daily level of activity and allows you to set small goals.
• Cook more. It’s easier to maintain a healthy diet by controlling exactly what’s in food. The Mindful program has a community anyone can join for access to free healthy recipes and articles on well-being, and to ask the advice of a registered dietitian.
• Portion control. One of the easiest choices we can make is portion control. Say no to a second helping or extra dessert; pack your entrée to-go when you’re already full from an appetizer.
• Walk more. There are a variety of ways we can add to our daily level of physical activity. Grant, for example, chose to get off the campus transit bus a few stops early every day before class so he could incorporate more walking into his day. Mindful suggests mapping out a 1-mile route with mapmywalk.com. Ask your co-workers, neighbors or friends to join you.
Well-being is about a balanced mindset. As a community, we should encourage each other to achieve the best quality of life. So I challenge Georgians to practice a “mindful” approach to life. It’s simple: Make smarter decisions for smarter living.
Chris Weiser is vice president of culinary and retail systems for Sodexo.
