Alright, everyone, we’ve made it to Part 3 of this whole nutrition thing! If you haven’t read Part 1 or Part 2 yet, use the links to navigate to those pages and get caught up. As we move toward the climax of this discussion, I’ll do my best to be as clear and concise as possible (but no promises, since this topic is, well, complicated. It even says so in the title!).
In review, here are the three points that encompass the way I approach nutrition:
Think about food in a big picture, not just what you are craving at this moment.
I would say that this third point is probably the most challenging. We live in a fast-paced society that has a compulsion to use food as a means of expressing emotion or as a reward, and we don’t even realize that we’re doing it. It is so ingrained in us that it feels natural: food is love, food is comfort, food is happiness.
Reality check! Food is food. Food tends to be wrapped up with feelings of being cared for and safe, which is great, but we need to be aware of our motivations when choosing what to eat. We need to be aware that we have other routes to obtain those very necessary components of life (feeling love, comfort, and happiness) that don’t involve food. Not that it can’t ever, just that it shouldn’t always.
At my previous job, one of my responsibilities was to be the exercise expert on a panel of experts for the Bariatric Program at a local hospital. The purpose of the panel was to bring as much information as possible to those individuals considering Bariatric surgery, and I’m proud to say that the panel as a whole did a phenomenal job of painting a very clear picture. The panel (consisting of me, a behavioral specialist, a dietitian, the physician’s assistant, and the surgeon) worked hard to educate all who came through the doors not only on our bad habits as a society, but also on the ways that we can overcome our habits. One of my favorite sections of the lectures went something like this:
“We eat food for many reasons other than being hungry. We eat when we’re lonely. We eat when we’re happy. We eat when we’re bored. We eat when we’re sad. We all know the stereotype of the high school girl drowning her broken heart in a gallon of ice cream. We love food because it’s always there. It never leaves us, never doubts us, never talks back. It’s always a comfort, and we have been taught to use food this way.“We punctuate every life event with food. We use it to show others that we care. Everyone knows a ‘food-pusher’ in their family. Maybe it’s you? ‘I made your favorite meal, don’t tell me you aren’t getting seconds?’ ‘Go ahead, son, get some more!’ ‘I don’t want any leftovers, so eat everything.'”
The idea of food as love, or food as a reward, was bred with good intentions. But, as the hubs likes to point out, the path to hell is paved with good intentions. Our parents and grandparents have been through times of hardship, and times where living was meager. Coming out of a trial like that, there is an increased desire to provide more for the ones you love. Each generation wants to provide more for our families, and we can sometimes take that motivation to an unhealthy extreme.
I’ll truncate my ramblings on that topic for now, and trust that you catch my drift. Please don’t believe that I think parents and grandparents are bad for wanting to dote on their loved ones, because that isn’t the least bit true. What I do believe is that we need to be aware of our food culture so that we can safely navigate it and prevent lasting harm to ourselves, both mental and physical.
We need to be mindful of our different motivations for eating so that we can understand one of the most important aspects of viewing food as a big picture: Why am I eating?
Ask yourself that question. If you can determine that you are not actually hungry, perhaps a glass of water would suffice instead. The thirst and hunger interpretation centers of the brain are very close together, and sometimes we can get our wires crossed (check out this incredibly easy to understand article on thirst and hunger written by Dr Melissa Lueking of Hawk Ridge Medical Associates). If you think you might not be hungry, go for a drink instead. Try to avoid carbonated or sugary drinks, as this can confuse our brains further. Water is always a safe choice and, as over half of our human bodies are made of water, we need to be replenishing often.
Assuming that we’ve determined that we are hungry, this is when we start thinking about what makes the best meal choice. Again, I’m going to be sharing this in fairly vague terms, but it’s not because I enjoy leaving you hanging. It’s because your needs and my needs and Suzie’s needs are all incredibly different and are effected by a range of variables such as activity level, age, gender, GI conditions, and internal chemistry (just to name a few off the top of my head).
We understand that every human body requires some form of carbohydrate, protein, and fat in their diet. Carbohydrates, or carbs, are the building blocks of muscle glycogen, which is the only food for our muscles when we use them. Protein is needed to give us the materials we need to replenish our bodies, repair muscles after work, and keep our epidermis system (read: hair, nails, skin, etc) looking fresh and functioning properly. Fat is needed for reproductive systems and all nervous systems (did you know that your entire nervous system is insulated by fat?), to cushion organs, and provide long-term energy stores for the body. Your specific needs help determine the percentages of each of these categories.
Most of your calories should come from carbs. Calm down, bread haters! I’m not saying that eating grains all the time is the right answer. As original hunter-gatherer types, we didn’t have a lot of processed flours in our diets long ago (and no, I’m not supporting the Paleo diet here. I just think it’s wise to work with the digestive tracts we were given.). Though our lives have changed drastically since then, our bodies still have similar needs. Fruits and veggies are an awesome way to get your daily carbs, with a smattering of grains on the side. Fruits and veggies are high in fiber, which makes your gut happy, and it also takes up a lot of space, which helps you feel full. Because of their high fiber content, it generally costs more calories to break them down than they have inside them (ie, it burns calories to eat fruits and veggies).
There are exceptions to every rule, which may help you prioritize your fruit and veggie choices. Consider this: squishy fruits tend to have lower fiber and higher sugar. Bananas and mangoes are high on that list. Other choices are higher in fiber, like pineapples and fiji apples, while others still have highest fiber and low sugar, such as celery and broccoli. None of them are inherently better or worse. They simply specialize at different things, and we need all of those things in a balanced diet.
Protein comes in many shapes and forms, and from many sources. Meat is popular for being the highest concentrated source of protein per calorie (22 g pro/213 cal). However, animal sources of protein also come with cholesterol. This isn’t bad per se, but you need to be aware of it so you can make the best choices for your body. Some forms of animal product cholesterol, like eggs (8 g pro/78 cal), actually provide great health benefits and their cholesterol (in moderation, as with all things) is good for you. Protein can also be found in leafy vegetables like kale (2.9 g pro/67 cal), bok choy (1 g pro/70 cal), or spinach (0.9 g pro/30 cal). Beans also carry good amounts of protein, such as chickpeas (2.4 g pro/46 cal), black beans (2.6 g pro/41 cal), and legumes (8 g pro/118 cal).
Fat is a great topic, and I’ve made it my goal to help as many people as possible desist their guilty relationship with this essential macronutrient. Fat is needed! Fat is good! As with all things, it’s the moderation part that can be tricky. Remembering once more that we were hunter-gatherers means respecting our bodies as they were made. When we would track prey for miles, even days, before getting our big meals, we needed fat to keep us moving and keep our bodies functioning. Our brains are hard wired to seek out calorically dense foods to help us survive these harrowing conditions…except we don’t live like that anymore. Now we have the convenience to eat big game whenever we feel like it, sugar is abundant (and in everything), and fat flavors almost every store bought food item there is. Yet our brains are still telling us to stock up on calorically dense foods. So, to appease our brains and our waistlines, seek out calorically dense AND nutritionally dense foods. Find ways to make helpful replacements in recipes and meals. For instance, plain 2% Greek yogurt (4 g fat/150 cal) can stand in for sour cream (4.8 g fat/46 cal) in baked potatoes, avacado (21 g fat/234 cal) can replace butter (12 g fat/102 cal) or oil (14 g fat/120 cal) in almost any recipe while adding other helpful micronutrients (or make it’s own chocolate mousse, which is awesome!!), and lean nuts (45 g fat/529 cal) can add protein and fat at the same time.
With an understanding of what your body needs (majority carbs, then protein, a bit of fat), you can create an eating plan that helps you get what you need to perform best. Again, keeping a food journal can be beneficial at this stage. Here’s an example of how to use what you’ve just read (and it was a lot of reading, so thanks for bearing with me!):
I need a post workout snack to keep me fueled long term (carbs) and help my muscles repair themselves (protein). I’m trying to lose a bit of weight, so I want to get the most out of my calories. That means I want something with a good nutrient-to-calorie ratio for my carb base (not bananas). I like apples, and eating the skin can provide me with more fiber. Cheese can be a good source of protein and fat, but I don’t think I feel like cheese today. I could add meat, but that wouldn’t taste very good with apples I don’t think, and meat needs to cook so it wouldn’t be a quick snack. Nuts provide protein and fat, so I can eat almonds, which are leaner than peanuts, and that hits all my macronutrient needs. A medium apple is roughly 95 calories with 25g carbs, and 1/2 cup of almonds is roughly 265 calories with 45g of fat (mostly unsaturated), 10g carbs, and 10g protein. This is a good choice, but the fat content is a little high. I can either change my snack, or compensate by eating less fat through the day.I’ll keep my snack the way it is, with 360 calories, 35g carbs, 45g mostly unsaturated fat, and 10g protein. As the day continues, I’ll need to get more lean protein and carbs. Beans and lentils would be a good compliment to what I just ate.
It seems overbearing at first, but it gets better with practice. Remember to think of your food in the big picture and try to make that picture diverse and balanced. If we want our bodies to remain in homeostasis, or well-balanced, we need to feed them that way, too.
I hope this series has been helpful, and I apologize for how long-winded the topic can get. It’s complicated, and can be overwhelming at times. If you’re feeling that way, I encourage you to take a step back and remember that you are doing the best you can. You will learn, but all lessons take time. You will make mistakes, just as I do, and that is okay. Fortunately for us our bodies are made in God’s image, which means they are very good at forgiving us our mistakes, too. Make sure you forgive yourself any mistakes so you can learn from it and move on.
When in doubt, talk to your doctor about any health and wellness concerns and avoid overly processed foods!
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