The LoseSmart Approach to Nutrition
Food: Nutrient Density
Consuming nutrient-dense foods on a daily basis is of utmost priority while you are here. Skyterra strives to provide you with adequate protein, healthy fats, complex carbohydrates and vegetables at all meals. We offer snacks mid-morning, mid-afternoon and we encourage you to take something back to your lodge or cottage after dinner. Our hope is that you leave each day feeling as if you fueled your body with balanced and satisfying meals. Restricting or feeling like you are on a diet is not our intention. If you ever feel this way, please communicate this with someone on our team; we strive to customize each LoseSmart guest’s meals to meet your individual nutritional needs. Finally, drinking adequate water and consuming adequate electrolytes is highly recommended as you will be physically challenging your body. Drinking an adequate amount of water means you rarely feel thirsty: your urine should be colorless or light yellow and you don’t experience muscle cramping.
Mindful Eating: Building Awareness
Mindful eating can help you distinguish between physical and emotional hunger. This practice increases your awareness around your food-related triggers to give you more freedom to choose your response to them. Research continues to show that mindful eating supports those who struggle with overeating, binge eating and weight cycling. This practice supports your efforts of fat loss more than diet culture ever will. We encourage you to slow down when eating, gain more awareness of your meals, savor your food, observe your body’s cues, listen to your thoughts and feelings, and take note of having less distraction around meal times.
Meal Timing and Planning: Creating Consistency
Routine, routine and more routine. This can be difficult to honor when you leave Skyterra; however, we believe it is a key piece to stability at home. All meals are at the same time on a daily basis while you are in the LoseSmart program. This is intentional to support your body in getting into a healthy, consistent rhythm (physically, emotionally, mentally, etc.). We also encourage you to create a nutrition plan before you return home. Our Registered Dietitian and Culinary Team can help you organize this as needed. We want you to feel like you can keep your healthy routines surrounding nutrition when you return home.
Wondering about how to snack while you are here? We encourage an average of two snacks per day. Based on previous LoseSmart guests, we find that a mid-afternoon snack and evening snack works well. Picking two two-ounce containers from the snack station is a great starting point. If you are aiming for optimal blood sugar regulation and recovery from fitness, choose one item that has more protein (e.g., yogurt, cheese, hard-boiled egg, nuts). Please feel free to take some items back to your cottage or lodge so you aren’t stuck feeling hungry during times you aren’t at the main facility.