5 Nutrition Mistakes I Have Made (That You Can Learn From)

People see me as a Dietitian and assume I can never do any wrong (or have never done any wrong) with my own food game.

The truth is, no diet is perfect and I have made some mistakes with nutrition in the past that I hope can help you feel normal about it and also help you learn from it so you can avoid the same pitfalls and common problematic food mindsets.

Just as I used my own mistakes to learn from and only get better, so can you! 

In this blog, I share 5 mistakes I have made with my own nutrition in the past (and how you can learn from these yourself).

I hope you find value from these admissions so you can clock some wins under your nutrition belt. 

1) Thinking that drinking a protein shake was going to build me a bunch of muscle

My first experience with supplements was when I got my first tub of protein powder when I was around 15 years old.

It felt exciting. New. And even a little taboo, as my parents weren’t that fond of the idea of supplements - back then, they were not as commonplace and accepted in the general populace as it is now.

The reason I got the protein powder was that at the time I (incorrectly) believed that simply taking whey protein would build muscle and make me jacked.

I was wrong. Protein is only one piece of the muscle-building puzzle and even then, protein powder is just a source of protein, not protein muscle-building magic!

So my mistake was putting too much emphasis and belief in the power of protein powder simply because of bro science and the allure of supplements.

2) Identifying food as either good or bad (aka putting unnecessary labels on it)

The unfortunate truth is that so many people label foods as good or bad (and everything in between). On the surface this may seem innocuous and no big deal but when you look at nutrition from the professional lens I have been equipped with, you see the potential harm.

Oh and I too fell into the trap early on and actually into my early years as a Dietitian I believed foods are either good or bad. Letting it influence my own food relationship and also affected the way I consulted and coached clients.

The truth is that now I see food as food - some is better, some should be moderated, some is healthier, others are more for enjoyment in moderation. No black and white situation, but plenty of grey and nuance. 

I let diet culture influence me and I don’t want the same for you.

So don’t make the mistake like I did and so many others, and instead avoid creating food guilt by seeing food with more flexibility and less critique. It can be a fine line but if you feel your food mindset is negative, working with a Dietitian can help.

Click here to contact me now to discuss nutrition coaching.

3) Focusing too much on specific ingredients rather than the whole puzzle

Nutrition is a puzzle of sorts. A few pieces individually or loosely completed is not enough to form a real consensus.

So it makes sense then that it is wrong to just look at individual nutrients of a given food and make a judgment or firm decisions based on this.

Yet, I made this mistake myself like so many others and now it is your turn to learn from this.

Fixating on the fact a food has some sugar, some salt, some lil bit of this, little bit of that…well it is like make a decision on a holiday by just seeing the country on a map.

It’s not the complete picture! Look beyond nutritional singularities and form a decision on the whole puzzle. The bigger picture.

A Dietitian can help you decipher nutrition and figure it out with less guesswork…interested? Contact me today to have a chat about nutrition coaching.
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4) Trying to eat too "clean"

Eating “clean” means eating only whole foods, the foods we know are natural and healthy and should form the basis of the majority of our diets.

In other words, not eating anything indulgent or “junk food” like. Eating a very rigid, strict diet with no semblance of “naughty”. 

This created a food mindset that is familiar to so many…the thought and belief that anything indulgent deserves a guilt trip.

One of my memories of this was in high school, coming back from a friend's party and grabbing the jump rope to burn off the calories because I felt guilty I overate on fun foods and couldn’t “let” it put on weight.

I broke this thought process and eventually adopted a flexible nutrition approach into my client coaching and consulting work, but there was a time I too made this mistake and I want you to avoid this too.

Know what is okay to eat “clean” but only if you genuinely want to and prefer it. Otherwise, it is ok not to eat fully clean and have some spice in your life. It comes down to context and preference among other things.

Food for thought.

5) Not listening to hunger cues and natural satiety

This is one that I am still guilty of from time to time…I still tend to have moments when I eat more with my eyes than with my intuition.

However, this started and was more prevalent when I was much younger. My mum tells me the funny stories of how I would eat for the sake of eating, simply because I liked to eat delicious food and didn’t exhibit natural, intuitive eating at times.

While hard to classify as a true mistake in itself due to the multifaceted way that this can happen and because we all have lapses in hunger and satiety regulation as part of the condition of being human…

It is still something to be aware of and work on. Building better habits, behaviours, and mindsets around food and eating will serve you well and the earlier you start the better.

Once you have stronger intuitive eating and can regulate hunger and satiety better, the world's your oyster as far as nutrition strategy and control.

So try and listen more to your body and tell me you don’t feel better and more in control for you it!

Recapping It Up!

There you go!

Now you know 5 nutrition mistakes I have personally made that you can learn from. While most of these were before I became a Dietitian, I still make mistakes, and that is normal.

No diet is perfect, and learning from these is part of the process. Embrace it!

I hope you found value in this - now go and keep improving. It’s not the setbacks that define you, it’s your journey (as cliche as that sounds hahah). 

Need to figure out this nutrition thing and remove guesswork?
May be time to speak to a Dietitian and I am open inbox and open ears!
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If you’re ready to take the guesswork out of nutrition and want expert support that’s practical, tailored, and grounded in real science, reach out and enquire about my services and we can see if we are a good fit. 

Click here to enquire now about working together.

Or feel free to reach out with any questions - I am here to make sure you make the right decision.

You can also email me at: [email protected] 

If you are ready for “comprehensive level” full nutrition coaching solutions and feel I am the right Sports Dietitian for you already, then you can alternatively apply now directly to see if we are a good fit.

Simply CLICK HERE and start the process for reaching your peak potential and getting the body you feel happier, healthier, and more confident in.

Looking forward to taking out the guesswork and helping you “figure out this nutrition thing”. 

Sports Dietitian and Coach Aleksa

Brisbane Dietitian and Nutritionist