Get Healthy & Eat Smart with Expert Nutritionist Ashvini Mashru’s Help

Malvern, Pa.-based registered dietitian nutritionist and owner of Wellness Nutrition Concepts, Ashvini Mashru, wants to guide you into a healthier lifestyle. Whether your New Year’s resolutions have fizzled out or it’s due time for you to take charge of eating smart, we tapped the health-conscious expert to reveal her weight loss secrets and give tips on how to revamp your pantry, enhance your snacking and, even, eat better while dining out.

Ashvini Mashru She also just launched a brand-new e-book, 7 Easy Steps to Ignite Change to a New Healthy You. Score the full scoop below on why you need to start reading it ASAP.

PA Eats: Congrats on the launch of your new e-book. What was your number one goal for publishing this resource for those itching for a healthy lifestyle?

Ashvini Mashru: My inspiration for publishing my 7 Easy Steps to Ignite Change to a New Healthy You e-book came from helping hundreds of individuals lose weight and keep it off. It brings me great joy in knowing I have the education, experience and ability to help others achieve a healthy lifestyle so that they can live their best lives.

My goal with this e-book is to motivate people to adopt the right attitude before they start their weight loss plan. The key to successful weight loss is to spend time in a preparation phase before jumping into action. If they can build a strong foundation to succeed at weight loss—they never have to go on a diet again. Taking the time to prepare with my steps will increase the likelihood of success.

Weight loss is a three-part process: exercising, cutting calories and having a strong and positive mental outlook. Having a positive mental outlook can mean the difference between success and failure. When working toward losing weight, believing in your goals and having a positive attitude is just as important as improving your diet and being active. If you have a plan to keep yourself mentally focused and motivated while you’re losing weight, you stand a better chance of succeeding.

People struggling to lose weight often talk about their lack of willpower, but losing weight is all about “want-power.”  Want-power is about recognizing what you want and putting the resources you need to get what you want in place. These resources include setting a vision and learning how to keep that vision so you keep yourself motivated. My e-book 7 Easy Steps to Ignite Change to a New Healthy You provides strategies to help you discover all three, which will help you to successfully reach your weight-loss goals.

Through your 12 years of experience as a dietitian, what stands out as leading culprit of where folks go “wrong” with attempting to eat healthy? What solution to this problem has resulted in the biggest successes?

eat your veggies

Don’t get suckered into “quick fixes.”

People wanting to lose weight and get healthy go wrong by consistently seeking for a quick-fix solution to help them achieve their health, fitness and weight-loss goals. People today, more than ever, seek out diet programs and products (protein shakes, appetite suppressants, green energy drinks, etc.) that are heavily marketed as “miracles.”

Unfortunately, many of these quick-fix solutions, diets and products are gimmicks full of false promises, magic potions, misleading propaganda. The majority of these products are also not regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, so the companies developing them can market and sell them however they choose. Most of these counter-productive quick-fix solutions and products are backed by big marketing dollars and they just result in yo-yo dieting, which can be quite dangerous to the body and actually lead to consistent weight gain. There is no quick-fix for fat loss, optimal health and longevity. None. But the great news is that there is a way to achieve such in a really healthy and safe manner. The only way to lose weight for good is to make small, gradual and healthy lasting changes to your eating and exercise habits and to eat real foods—those packed with all the essential vitamins and nutrients our bodies need.

Make realistic changes.

Instead of making drastic changes that are unrealistic to maintain, focus on making gradual changes that you can maintain. For some it could be starting to include a fruit at lunch or increasing exercise days from two days a week to four days a week. Your lifestyle and current habits are unique to you, which is why your changes will be unique to you as well. So decide what is realistic to you and what you really like, and progress at your own pace.

As part of your nutritional consulting, you offer guidance for “Feel Good Bites.” Would you be able to tease at one or two of your quick tips or tricks that you offer for dishes to help your clients feel better through eating?

fruit skewers

Use the “red, orange and green rule.”

At each meal include one red, orange and green food. By focusing on selecting these colored foods to eat, you’ll be sure to get produce on your plate and won’t have space on your plate for higher-calorie fare.

Kick the salt habit.

Salt is a big contributor to weight gain and often a reason why the numbers on the scale aren’t going down. The average American consumes twice the amount of salt they should have each day, leading to weight gain, bloating and the inability to lose stubborn pounds. Salt can also make you feel hungrier and thirstier, so check the nutrition labels for high sodium levels and choose fresh foods over packaged or restaurant foods. You’ll see a puffy face and belly go down quickly just by cutting back on sodium intake and by choosing more natural foods.

You’ve been known, as part of your “New Healthy You” plans, to make-over pantries to encourage healthier eating. Could you share with us a tip that could help us jump-start our pantries onto a path of smart eating and snacking?

pantry

Yes, I do a lot of pantry make-overs for my clients to help get them on the right track. Clients love this because I help them think outside of their thinking box, which leads them to make healthier choices.

One of the very first keys to healthy eating is having a good base to start from in your pantry. Having healthy and natural foods on-hand and readily available to you makes your healthy eating and weight loss process more successful and creates less work for you, which leads to less stress.

When deciding which items you should be stocking in your pantry, it’s always a good idea to first look at what you tend to cook most often. For example, if you like to cook with oils, I recommend getting rid of the bad ones you have in your pantry and replace them with at least three healthy oils. Extra-virgin olive oil is rich in beneficial antioxidants and monounsaturated fats. It can be used for dipping, drizzling and dressings. If you don’t want the oil to overpower the food, also get a “light” olive oil. For Asian dishes, sesame oil is a great choice that is also lower in saturated fats and rich in beneficial mono- and polyunsaturated fats.

In terms of snacking, I recommend exploring nut butters for spreading on foods (apple slices, celery stalks, crackers) and nuts. There are many to choose from. Experiment and select the one you will really enjoy eating so that you always have them available to you. Nut eaters are consistently leaner than those who don’t eat nuts, plus unsaturated fats and antioxidants from nuts help fend off heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. When choosing nut butters, opt to grind your own (either in the grocery market if available or at home), or buy the natural or organic options that have only two ingredients: nuts and salt.

A common challenge for those aiming to eat healthier is how to make smarter decisions when dining out. What sort of tips could you recommend to get us to order “smart” in restaurants?

eating healthy in restaurants

Plan ahead.

I always recommend planning ahead when going to a restaurant and, once you get there, making healthy choices. Consider meal options at different restaurants by going online and looking at their menu and food selections. Some may even have nutrition information available online as well. 

Balance your meal.

Strive for meal balance by including foods from all the different food groups: meat, dairy, fruits, vegetables and grains. Select one of each to go on your plate. 

Look for freshly made entrée salads that give you “balance in a bowl.”

For example, entrée salads with chicken, cheese or seafood provide protein along with fiber and vitamins. If you are counting calories, use a low-fat dressing or an oil and vinegar and skip some of the extras, like croutons and bacon pieces. 

Request customization.

Many restaurants honor requests and allow you to customize your meal to meet your nutritional needs. So don’t be afraid to be assertive. Many restaurants serve huge portions, sometimes enough for two or three people, which absolutely allows you to split a meal. Order menu items that contain fewer calories and eat a smaller portion. Look for foods that are steamed, broiled, baked or grilled, and limit fried and sautéed items or foods described as “crispy,” “rich” or “au gratin.”

wellness concepts logoInspired to take control of your health and life? Let Ashvini Mashru, MA, RD, LDN, a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and owner of Wellness Nutrition Concepts, based in Malvern, help you. Contact her at (610) 648-6260 or shoot her an email. To learn more about how Ashvini works to help busy women and families nutritionally, visit www.wellnessnutritionconcepts.com. Also available online are her latest e-books: 7 Easy Steps to Ignite Change to a New Healthy You and 101 Weight Loss Tips and Tricks to a New Thinner You.