Starting new habits can be difficult in the pace of our busy lives but, with COVID-19, the opportunities are endless for making lifestyle changes that may benefit us and our families on the other side of these challenging times. With Farmers’ Market season open and grocery store options limited, Alice Lloyd, of Nutritional Lifestyling with Alice, has some good suggestions for families considering making shopping and nutritional changes to their lifestyles.
Alice comments, “We can use this time for beneficial changes for our lives, specifically eating more nutrient-dense whole foods that are sourced locally. We don’t want to miss this opportunity to make what could be lasting changes in our lives.”
As a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, Alice works with individuals, groups, and families to support and address full-body wellness through thoughtful education via nutritional and lifestyle adjustments. She explains that it can be less expensive when we simplify our eating, adding, “As we spend more time at home with our families during this pandemic, it’s a wise time to invest in behavioral changes, including restocking our kitchen with healthier simpler foods as we use things up.”
“Small changes go a long way and are usually long-lasting,” she adds.
According to Alice, one of the easiest changes to implement is to substitute avocado oil and coconut oil for vegetable and canola oil when cooking and to use olive oil only in cold-pressed applications like salad dressings. Partially hydrogenated vegetable and canola oils, which are also found in processed foods, are higher in trans fatty acids which are believed to increase the risk for heart disease. She credits this change with also benefitting our immune systems, which can be particularly helpful in fighting viruses like COVID-19.
Alice adds that parents can also use this time to start new eating habits with their families stating, “Whoever shops has control over what is in the house.”
With her school-aged children home now, Alice includes them in shopping, planning, and cooking the family’s meals. “Helping them understand where our food comes from is important,” says Alice.
She is using the time to take them to local farms where the family purchases most of its food items. Nice Farms Creamery, Cottingham Farms, Chapel Creamery, Pop’s Old Place, and Heritage Homestead are just a few of the local purveyors she and her children visit to purchase fresh milk and butter, meats, eggs, vegetables, and herbs. On some of the farms, her children can enjoy seeing the farm animals, while also learning about how the food is grown and processed. She also takes them to local Farmers’ Markets to help support local businesses.
In addition to food sources, Alice helps her children learn about how to balance proteins, carbohydrates, and fats in their diets by teaching them healthy snacking habits. She adds, “By eating a balanced combination of these three nutritional elements, we can better metabolize our foods.”
Examples of healthy snacks she recommends include such combinations as cooked chicken, cucumbers, and cheese or apples with peanut butter along with raw carrots. She adds, “I allow them to incorporate a treat from time to time as long as it is incorporated into a meal where it can be balanced by other nutrition.”
Another easy habit that Alice says we can incorporate into our lives during this time is taking time to drink more water. She recommends the goal of drinking as much as half your body weight in ounces every day. She states, “When our minds say we are bored or hungry, we are often just thirsty. I encourage my kids to first drink water before eating anything as it usually satisfies whatever they are craving. It also helps to balance our intake of caffeine and alcohol, both of which can dehydrate us.”
When working with adults, Alice finds that most of her clients are surprised about the amount of water they need to drink, but how much better they feel when they increase their water intake. She adds that our water intake can also help with our moods and with depression – another benefit during this pandemic.
In looking towards the summer months, Alice comments, “The best food months are ahead of us. Now is the best time to make these changes in our diets. We can look at what we want to leave behind after COVID-19. Perhaps it is processed foods. By eating more whole foods, in addition to benefitting our health, we can also support our local farmers and businesses.”
When COVID-19 arrived on the Mid Shore in March, many of the Shore’s businesses had to reinvent how they were delivering goods and services, including through its farmers’ markets. Several have turned to pre-ordering with vendors and drive-through markets to comply with CDC guidelines.
The following is a sampling of Farmers’ Markets on the Mid Shore. Visit their websites to confirm hours and buying instructions. For further information on Nutritional Lifestyling with Alice, visit nutritionallifestyling.net. For further information on Farmers’ Markets on the Mid Shore, visit visitmaryland.org/article/maryland-farmers-markets.
Caroline County
Downtown Denton Farmers’ Market
4th and Gay Streets (Parking for the market is 3rd and Market), Denton
Tuesday: 3 – 6 p.m.
Dorchester County
Cambridge Main Street Farmers’ Market
100 High Street, Cambridge,
Thursday: 3 p.m. – 6 p.m., May – November
Susie Bartley, 443-477-0843
http://cambridgemainstreet.com/farmers-market/
Kent County
Chestertown Farmers’ Market – CLOSED AT THIS TIME
Park Row at the Fountain Park, Chestertown
Saturday: 8 a.m. – Noon, Year-round
Queen Anne’s County
Centreville Farmers’ Market
Online only with prepackaged, prepaid orders for curbside pickup on Liberty Street between Lawyers’ Row and Broadway on the courthouse side, Centreville
Wednesday: 3 to 6 p.m.
Opens May 20
Centrevillefarmersmkt@gmail.com and type “Shopper” in the subject line
Kent Island Farmers’ Market
1169 Shopping Center Road, Stevensville
Thursday: 3:30 – 6:30 p.m. Year-round
Talbot County
Easton Farmers’ Market
Talbot County Business Center (formerly the Black & Decker plant) on Glebe Road, Easton
Drive-Through
Saturday: 8 a.m. – 1 p.m., April to mid-December
Marie Nuthall: 410-822-0345
farmersmarket@theavalonfoundation.com
https://avalonfoundation.org/easton-farmers-market
St. Michaels Farmers’ Market
204 S. Talbot Street, St. Michaels
Walk-Up with special precautions
Saturday: 8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m., April 25 to November
In addition to Nutritional Lifestyling with Alice, Alice Lloyd also owns and oversees a boutique hotel accredited with many awards over the last decade, Bartlett Pear Inn with her husband Jordan. Eagle’s Cafe is her most recent endeavor, a public golf course cafe and events center, located at the Talbot County Hog Neck Golf Course in Easton Maryland.