Focus on: Nutrition

Monday, March 4, 2019 by Karen Davidson

Healthy foods including vegetables, fruits, olive oil, and fish.

Feel a little run-down? Finding it hard to stay away from the office treats? Or maybe your body just doesn’t react the way it used to when you were younger.

As we age, we find that we just can’t eat like the teenagers anymore, but those habits are still strong and can provide a sense of comfort in stressful times. I know I still turn to Kraft Dinner for comfort food and I think we can all agree that pasta, salt and fat isn’t the healthiest combination to rely on!

There’s good news! March is Nutrition month and there are resources to help!

Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP)

The University’s Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) through Homewood Health is a great source of information. Create an account to access their resources - I made one with my UWaterloo email account and it asked me a few questions about my relationship to the University so it knows I’m a staff member.

There is a lot of nutritional information under “Lifestyle;" start by checking out the Health Smart Coaching Services, under the Tools menu. You can call to speak to a nutritionist who can help you with a variety of nutrition concerns, including making adjustments to your diet to develop a healthier lifestyle, nutrition to deal with chronic illness, or how to eat for energy.

University resources

Campus Wellness also has a lot of great links on their website that support better eating and healthy bodies.

Your personal doctor is another source of nutrition advice, and can refer you to registered dietitians who can customize a plan tailored to your circumstances. The Human Resources benefits page details services covered.

For the month of March, dietitian Sandra Ace will publishing nutrition myths and facts each day in the Daily Bulletin. Sandra notes that there will be a Lunch and Learn later in March, and has provided these suggested sources of information: