How is that for a title! This was the name of an article I had seen elsewhere so I decided to put my spin on the idea.
There is SO much information out there about what is a healthy diet. Ask your doctor and they’ll tell you to cut out saturated fat. Ask your fitness trainer and they’ll tell you to cut out carbs. Ask a scientist and they might say follow the mediterranean diet. Ask a friend and they’re doing Whole30 or Keto or they’ve gone back to the shakes. And each expert and association (and friend) tries to lead you in their direction because they know best and their advice is going to help you. Right?
Well, it depends on who you are.
If someone is overweight and they go on ANY kind of diet and follow it through, the odds are in their favour. Regardless of whether they are cutting out fats or carbs or solid food or cooked food or eating food, they are likely to lose some weight.
But what works long term? What is the diet that is most likely to keep you healthy (including your weight)?
Everyone has heard (and maybe lived through) the intense focus on how much you eat. While this does affect your weight and energy level, it’s certainly not the “holy grail” of health.
The problems with counting calories or macros are that this method doesn’t necessarily mean you eat healthy food (only that the numbers add up) and secondly, you have to meticulously count and add up what you’re eating and drinking all the time.
Instead of quantity, it can be really helpful for us both mentally and physically, to choose quality.
The “calories in, calories out” philosophy is certainly important, but it’s such a black and white way to look at things. And life isn’t black and white. Simply counting calories to lose weight doesn’t take into consideration:
- Nutritional imbalances like getting enough minerals or vitamins
- Managing cravings and hunger pangs
- Balancing blood sugar to prevent pre-diabetes and diabetes
- Protecting against metabolic syndrome and other chronic disease
- Supporting gut health
- Maintaining hormonal balance
- Foods or food groups that are inflammatory or that we may not tolerate well and therefore cause mild-severe gut irritation with secondary effects throughout or bodies
- The addictive properties of sugar and ‘hyperpalatable’ processed foods that are designed and marketed to get us hooked on them
- The real life logistics of having to weigh and calculate everything out
- The long term mental health effects of ‘being on a diet’
You may want another minute to read that again or at least start to process all of those points!
So how do we account for all of these things and lose weight at the same time?
Ideally, we need to eat a varied diet full of minimally-processed foods (i.e. fewer “packaged” “ready-to-eat” foods). This simple concept is paramount for weight loss, energy, and overall health and wellness.
Every day this is what you should aim for:
- A colourful array of fruits and veggies at multiple meals per day. You need the fibre, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.
- Enough protein. Making sure you get all of those essential amino acids (bonus: eating protein can improve weight loss).
- Healthy fats and oils (never “hydrogenated” ones). There is a reason some fatty acids are called “essential” – you need them as building blocks for your hormones and brain as well as to be able to absorb essential fat-soluble vitamins from your veggies and salads. Use extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil, eat your organic egg yolks, and get grass-fed meats when possible. You don’t need to overdo it here. Just make sure you’re getting some high-quality fats.
It’s also important to pay attention to how you eat and drink.
Studies are definitely showing that this has more of an impact than we previously thought. Are you rushed, not properly chewing your food, and possibly suffering from gastrointestinal issues? Do you drink your food?
Drinking your calories is a big one. I once knew a guy that won a gym weight loss competition buying swapping his slab of soft drink cans to bottles of water in the fridge. It was the only change he made.
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Kelly Moriarty is an online health & nutrition coach and founder of The Green Body Plan.
After 5 years as a veterinarian Kelly was unhealthy, stressed out and generally dissatisfied.
She now helps professional women make the same changes she did to beat burn out, lose weight, recover their energy and take back control of their health naturally.
kellyannmoriarty.com 