I had a session with our gym guy today (a personal trainer who does general instruction sessions to groups of up to four). It was kind of a mixed group, but we all admitted we wanted to lose weight, so the gym guy spent about 15 minutes talking about diet.
Apparently carbohydrates are out this season. I didn’t really listen to the rest.
I don’t want to gripe about him too much, most of what he said was probably pretty reasonable. I’m just completely fed up with any good food, bad food messages. I’ve had it. I’m done. They can go hang.
- Restrict your carbs, especially on days you’re not working out.
- No, just limit your sugar and fat, that’s what’s important.
- Are you kidding? We need fats, just not evil corporate government transfats!
- I have some magic pills! Lose weight without effort, yay!
- White flour is poison!
- Just eat more oranges. Vit C cures cancer.
- Your food is full of toxins, you need to stop eating all together!!! (For 3 to 5 days. But drink fruit juice. Oh, and take these tablets, only $ 5.99 a bottle.)
Sorry folks, don’t care any more. I’m done with all of you.
It’s not even because I can’t tell the sense from the nonsense. I’d like to think I’m pretty good at that. (But then, wouldn’t we all like to think that?) It’s just that, in the grand scheme of things, I reckon it’s going to be OK.
Do I eat too much fat/trans-fat/salt/sugar/carbs/additives/chemicals? Um, maybe. Do I risk my health eating the stuff I eat? Pshh… I guess. Am I going to die?
Yes.
That one’s for sure. Is it going to be food that kills me? Well, probably not. Is eating food really more likely to kill me than riding a bike through Bristol traffic on a daily basis? Or getting on a two engine plane? Or going out in the summer without sunscreen? Or breathing the second hand smoke from my family? Or being out late at night? Or who knows what other dangerous activity that no one realises yet is dangerous?
I’m thinking: life is going to kill me sooner or later. It may use cancer to finish the job, or it may use something else. I might as well not sweat it too much. I take reasonable care of myself. I avoid sunburn. I get enough sleep. I exercise.
And I’ve been losing weight over the last 10 weeks or so, without passing up on:
- Battenburg cake
- Pizza
- Bacon bacon bacon
- Pasta
- Chocolate cookies
- Late night packet of crisps
- Full fat cheese
- Bread and bagels
- The full English at a Bed and Breakfast with extra toast
And more besides. And all the “eat more this and less that” people are getting on my nerves. It’s not that they’re wrong, their advice is sometimes perfectly sound.
It’s just that they don’t get it.
I appreciate the attempt to help people improve their figure and health by telling them which foods are “good for you” or not. That’s noble. But it isn’t working. The picture has become so confused, the advice is so contradictory, and the pain of having to sort through it all while you shop or eat is so much of a hassle, it’s more stress than it’s worth. And hearing these messages hasn’t turned us into a people of perfectly healthy average-weight individuals yet.
Instead, it’s made us increasingly and pre-occupied with what foods are good and bad, conflicted and confused about the things we eat yet somehow unable to change to the “perfect” diet that must be out there somewhere.
I don’t believe in it any more. Food is food. So long as I try not to eat too much, mix it up and get enough vegetable matter, I reckon it’s going to be OK.
What about you? Do you believe food is bad for you?
{ 6 comments }
Moderation in all things — if you can manage that, you’re good to go. Sounds like you’re doing it right. I believe that listening to our bodies will tell us which foods are good or bad for us. In my case, I fall asleep like clockwork 20 minutes after I eat a high-carb food with no protein to balance it; low blood sugar. My fibromyalgia acts up and I’m in a lot of pain for a day or two after I eat gluten or wheat products. I have a lot less pain when I stay away from them, and that’s good motivation. For me, the big problem isn’t what food but how much. I’m still looking for the magical food that I can have in unlimited amounts, yet tastes good at the same time.
I managed to loose almost 20kg over the course of a year (smth like 35 lbs in US currency, no clue about your British stones) without giving up anything in particular.
Ok, so I knew the calorie content of pretty much everything, and couldn’t help but count (yes, I am a google-addict, and read way too much for my own good), and I’m the kind of person that would rather give up cookies and chocolate than steak, pasta and pizza — you know, the stuff the rest of people here in Italy eat for dinner. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t eat my favorite gelato, or an occasional piece of chocolate. Or anything, really. Just less of it. (spoiled my dog rotten in the process with all the left-overs)
I’m pretty sure the part that made the biggest difference was physical activity — I was pretty sedentary before; and I am very active now. I no longer watch what I eat, and the weight has stayed off. (2 years and counting)
The basic premise of “eat less, move more” works just fine. So I think you are right on the money by choosing not to worry too much about the what, but rather the how much.
And gym, or any other physical activity that you like, is actually the biggest part of it! Hope that wasn’t too much personal info, but you reminded me how I felt before, and I just wanted to say that if I did without giving up anything I didn’t want to give up, then you definitely can do it too. :)
Lisa.
Forgot the main point: it’s a long-term thing, not an x-days-to-loose-then-back-to-old-habits thing, and that’s exactly why you are 100% right.
More fruit and veggies, occasional cookies, or even daily treats in moderation is something most of us can totally live with. Vowing to never touch a cookie again would probably make you wake up in the middle of the night craving cookies.
(Oh, and a typo in the previous comment, it was supposed to say 45 lbs, not 35.)
Ok, this topic is making me crave watermelon. (weird huh?) Gonna go eat some.
I am so with you on this one! I’ve done my share of “dieting” and trying to figure out the proper balance of what to eat and what not to eat… and it’s exhausting! In fact, I usually ended up so frustrated trying to figure out what I was supposed to be eating, I’d say screw it, and go for the fast food. At least that I didn’t have to think about…
Well, not until after it was all gone, and I felt like crap, and wondered what the hell I’d been thinking /sigh
Now, i try to focus more on how the food makes me feel. Certain foods that I’ve loved in the past, I’ve chosen to give up because I finally admitted that they just make my body feel horrible. Other foods I’m probably not “supposed” to eat, I’m perfectly happy eating, because as long as I’m realistic about the amount, my body feels fine.
In the meantime, that whole “moving more” thing really does make a world of difference. Partially because of the calorie burning thing, but also (for me at least), the more I exercise, the less I want the crappy food!
Guess I ought to maybe go walk the dog…
Wait, you’re in Bristol? I didn’t realise that. Me too! Yeah, you’re right, it’ll definitely be the traffic that does you in. :)
Although I’m also deliberately losing weight at the moment, I agree with you – one of the things that’s been most helpful for me has been learning to eat mindfully. I think a lot more about my food than I did before and I’ve learnt which things I can live without, which make me feel ill and which I need to eat more. Like, if I don’t eat enough vegetables, I’m going to feel crappy. And I’d rather have a small amount of butter than any amount of margarine. It was odd to go on an eating plan and wind up enjoying food more but these days I’d rather mindfully eat one really good chocolate than a ton of crappy chocolate – well, most weeks of the month anyway.
No, I don’t believe food is bad. I believe too much food of any kind is probably not good. The only two ingredients I mostly avoid are corn syrup and trans fats, because I don’t consider them food but artificial crap.