HA! Got your attention. But seriously, I LOVE this topic, because I love nuance, complexity, and enjoy weaving my way through different solutions to optimize whatever it is I’m working on. I’m going to share with you some nutritional insights I’ve learned over my career in health and fitness, and through my own personal journey of nutrition. I’m not going to tell you exactly what to do, because the people reading this will all need different answers- so that would be inappropriate, and unprofessional, but I promise that I will give you some fundamental tips for success - should you decide to follow them.
First off, I’m not a registered dietician. I studied natural nutrition in Canada through a two-year program (which I disclaim is not an accredited program). However, I’m sharing what I’ve read and learned over the years, what my clients have experienced, and fundamentally what I have experienced over my 10+ year journey to better health. My opinions are my own, and should not be substituted for medical advice from professionals.
Okay first: every person is different and sadly, there is NO one size fits all approach to nutrition, so if you read something that says otherwise, you should be skeptical. Second, I’ve learned a lot about nutrition coaching over the years working with my clients, and many people have similar questions about diet, and similar levels of confusion. No wonder - there is a TON of information out there, and it’s hard to filter out what is opinion versus real science. There are also so many tips and tricks that I think people get distracted, confused and then frustrated.
The most common questions I get are:
How much should I be eating?
How do I fuel to grow muscle AND lose fat?
Do I need to count calories to lose weight?
Should I eat Keto?
Is Paleo the way to go?
Should I do Intermittent fasting? Should I eat more frequent, smaller meals?
Etc.
The answer is: “It depends”. sigh. It depends on individual differences in genetics, lifestyle, gender, age, environment, stress levels, and individual goals for a start. You can totally get help with an individualized plan to reach your goals, but know that you won’t find it from an article, blog post, or anything that doesn’t take into account the above factors.
So in the interest of not over-complicating the already complex, I’ll give you FIVE simple TRUTHS that if diligently followed, will improve the way you feel, and how your body will perform and look.
Drink MORE Water. Most people do not take this seriously enough. Hydration is one of the most important aspects of overall health, and your performance. You should be drinking a minimum of 0.5 oz water, per pound of body weight. So if you weigh 150 lbs, you should be drinking at least 75 oz of water (about 10 glasses of water). No, coffee doesn’t count. Let’s also try to avoid adding a bunch of sugar (or sugar free) flavourings into the water. If you need some taste, add lemon because it will help support your liver and won’t deplete your adrenals the way sugar does. And sugar-free sweeteners are usually full of chemicals that may impact metabolism or the way your brain responds to hunger hormones. It’s best to avoid those, and get adapted to drinking water!
Eat MORE non-starchy vegetables. Colourful and leafy vegetables pack micronutrients, phytochemicals, and antioxidants that not only give your body the vitamins and minerals it requires to carry out normal biological processes, but that also provide support and defences to oxidative stress, and help increase our body’s resiliency to disease. When people think of adding vegetables to their diet, they tend to add the ones that are not beneficial such as corn (highly genetically modified), carrots (very sweet), peas, or potatoes (starchy). Potatoes aren’t bad for you - but shouldn’t be considered a vegetable, but a starch when preparing meals. Vegetables to add to more meals include kale, spinach, collard greens, broccoli, onions, celery, peppers, brussels spouts, etc. You can stir-fry them, steam them, saute them in oil, or bake them in the oven. But make sure you are adding these to lunches and dinners, to provide nutrients and fibre to your diet.
Count & Measure Your Portions. There is no good way to maintain body weight, or gain or lose it without tracking portions. Your three categories of foods - protein, fats and carbs all need to be in a relative balance. We typically eat way too much fat and carbohydrates, and don’t realize how much we are actually eating. I’m not a huge advocate of becoming obsessive with counting calories per se, but I believe tracking number of portions to be an effective way to understand and recognize how much we eat. How many portions you have depends on the factors above, but you should track your portions to avoid over-eating.
Eat REAL food. This might seem obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many “non-foods” end up in your pantry and fridge over time. Try to cook as many foods as you can that are in their original form. Fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, eggs, potatoes, nuts & seeds, whole grains, etc. Try to avoid shopping in the middle aisles of the grocery store, or buying too many things in jars and boxes. Most of the food in your shopping cart or basket should be fresh, whole food. If you have more than 50% of your space used as packaged goods, you need to understand that the body needs nutrients and fibre from as many fresh foods as possible. Packaged food have added substances to increase their shelf life, change the taste, and chemicals to give them different consistencies. When you have to buy packaged stuff, try to pick things with the fewest listed ingredients in them. If sugar is in the first few ingredients - don’t buy it. The more a food deviates from it’s original form, the more impact it can have on your digestion, your intestinal bacteria, your ability to think clearly, energy levels, hormone interactions, and more. Essentially, your entire body becomes negatively impacted by high levels of these foods, which impacts everything about you (sleep, mood, skin, energy, metabolism).
Avoid Added Sugars (or sugar substitutes) and Deep Fried Foods. This is the part that people hate. But it’s true - these foods do nothing for you, except fuel the addiction most of us have for the great tastes that scientists are paid to create to sell these foods. These foods are typically dense in calories, and contain little to no nutrients. Deep fried foods are very bad for you because they are typically fried in oils that are hydrogenated (because these oils create the crispy texture we like), which are especially bad for us. Also, most restaurants reuse their oils, which break down into other components and are absorbed more so by the food. So when you eat these foods not only are you harming your body, but you are intaking WAY more calories than you usually think!
Benjamin Hardy (author of “Willpower Doesn’t Work”) said “How you do anything is how you do everything”, meaning you can’t half-ass these and hope to get results. You need to remember that going all in is the only way to create a shift in your health.
Understand that there are some exceptions to numbers 3, 4, and 5. Mainly with people who are elite athletes and require some of these foods in their diets just to meet the caloric requirements of their training. It's challenging to get 5,000 calories eating all real heathy food because you have to eat so much volume! But the general population, and average person should be following these rules 6/7 days of the week.
“How you do anything is how you do everything” - Benjamin Hardy
These are simple truths that are not easy to master in practice - but you MUST. Changing your nutritional habits is fundamental to your fitness and health goals, and if you are consistent with these 6/7 days per week, you will succeed.
Remember, consistent, small habit changes are what creates success. Start with number 1, master it for a month, then more onto adding number 2. And so on. But don’t wait to implement these rules into your life if you care about your health journey.
xoxo,
Leigh