Everyone has an opinion regarding what we should eat. The Federal Government, the American Diabetes Association, The Food Network, big US corporations, Weight Watchers, and others all tell us what to eat all day long. We are bombarded with the latest recommendations, newest diet trends, and advertisements for the next healthiest idea or “all-natural” food. With obesity rates in the US skyrocketing, diet and weight loss has become a lucrative industry. Everyone is interested in what you eat, from grocery store chains to restaurants to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. With this overwhelming selection of food options and conflicting recommendations for what you should eat, it’s no surprise that people tell me they have tried every diet and nothing works!
Forget everything you have ever read and heard about healthy eating. I have read a plethora of information about healthy eating, and all you need to know are a few basic concepts to adhere to, and the rest doesn’t really matter.
Forget everything you have ever read and heard about healthy eating. I have read a plethora of information about healthy eating, and all you need to know are a few basic concepts to adhere to, and the rest doesn’t really matter.
- Portion control: Eat until you are 80% full, and only eat when you are hungry. Never stuff yourself, and never let yourself feel like you are “starving.” This may require habit changes. You may need to carry snacks with you, decrease your lunch size, and cook less food for dinner. “Grazing” will decrease cravings, overeating at meals, and stabilize your blood sugar levels. You will find that you have more energy throughout the day and avoid mood swings related to precipitous drops in blood sugar. Furthermore, avoiding overeating at meals will decrease gastrointestinal discomfort, including bloating, nausea, and diarrhea. Regulate your food intake throughout the day, and you will notice a significant difference in how you feel.
- Eat real food: This may be the most important concept to adopt, and possibly one of the most challenging in the US. Stop eating food from a package, immediately. Purchase fresh produce, fresh meat and fish, and whole grains. Choose minimally processed dairy without added sugar, fruit flavors or preservatives. If you pick up a packaged item and the ingredients list contains only the word “almonds” or “rice,” buy it. Then, after you fill your cart will all of these healthy items, go home and cook it. This takes time, effort, and planning. But you need to do it; your life depends on it!
- Stop counting calories: If you regulate your portion sizes and eat only when hungry, your body will take care of the rest. Your body regulates itself very well. When you need more calories, you will feel hungry. If you ran three miles, your body will naturally ask you to eat a bit more during the day. If you sat on the couch all day, your body will be satisfied with less. However, you must be careful. This concept works very well if you are consuming a healthy, whole-food diet. Eating processed foods causes dysregulation of your sense of hunger. These concepts are intended to be adopted together.
- Eat fat and protein: The non-fat diet craze is in part responsible for the surge in obesity in the US. When people in the US decreased their overall intake in fat, they paradoxically increased in size. Some if this is explained by the food industry replacing fat with carbohydrates in low-fat foods. A great example of this is yogurt. Many low-fat yogurts have very high amounts of added sugars. In addition, foods that contain fat and protein help us feel satisfied longer, because they are more difficult for the body to digest. As a result, people who replace fat and protein with carbohydrates tend to feel hungry throughout the day and therefore eat more overall. However, it is important to specify that the key is to eat “healthy” fats from sources such as plant-based oils, nuts, avocados, and fish. Skip the red meat and bacon.
- Train your brain to love spinach: A number of new studies have demonstrated that sugar is addicting. It activates the reward centers of the brain and makes us crave it. Furthermore, the food industry has hidden it in just about every processed food on the market, from peanut butter to yogurt to ketchup. Even so-called diet foods are laced with high-fructose corn syrup. As a result, we are eating sugar all day long, and our brains are loving it. Stopping the addiction takes work and discipline. If you are used to eating processed food, you will need to train yourself to love fruits and vegetables. Do not fall into the trap of buying gimmicky vegetable juices or smoothies, as these may contain high-levels of sugar and are often no better for you than a donut. Again, retraining your brain takes time and will-power, but the rewards will include decreased body fat, increased energy, stabilized mood, and decreased incidence of headaches, fatigue and body aches.
- Plan ahead: Plan your meals for the week, make a grocery list, and stick to it. Plan not only for dinner, but also for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. Prepare as much food as you can when you do have time so that the task is less burdensome when your time is limited. If you fail to plan, you will resort to eating convenience food or heading to the closest restaurant.