What Should I Eat? Food, Simplified.
What should I eat?
Paleo? Primal? Low carb, low fat, low carb +low fat (NO!) high fat +low carb, Atkins, raw, vegan, GI, Macro-tracking, calorie-counting, intermittent fasting??????
No wonder we are confused. Conflicting messages and TOO MUCH INFORMATION. 
While trying to absorb it all and follow plans and diets, in reality our daily food choices are based mostly on what we see around us (meal deals, chocolate at the till!), convenience and ease. Staying highly motivated on ridiculous eating plans is unsustainable and soon enough our old habits take over, especially when we are stressed or sleep-deprived.
There is no “right diet” and what works for one person, may cause havoc in the body of another. But the worst thing I feel is that the food (and fitness) industries have destroyed our natural ability to understand and love food. To enjoy it, savour it and yet know instinctively what’s good for us and when to stop.
Let’s be honest here, to lose excess weight there must be a calorie deficit over time. But be aware that it’s not as easy as calories in and calories out. Eating less and exercising more does not work over the long term. Why? Because metabolism is adaptive. It changes and responds to what is going on in our lives: stress levels, sleep disturbance, exercise and movement, our thoughts, our feelings, illness, hormones; these all affect our metabolism. It’s not just about food and exercise.When we think of food we must think about how it would affect our hormones , not just our weight. We must be open minded, willing to explore our unique responses to food types, we must challenge current guidelines, we must find our own unique formula for optimum health.
The thing is though, we can use food to help us stabilise. And we can do this by simplifying! Doesn’t that sound good? Let me say it again. Simplifying. Not just the “rules” of nutrition but also our relationship to food.
We may all be unique but there are some things that seem to span most healthy dietsHere are some helpful tips to get you started on the road to simplicity and stabilty!
THE WHOLE TRUTH
Base most of your food intake on WHOLE real food! Vegetables (frozen, fresh, even canned), fruit, real meat, eggs cheese, fish, nuts, seeds, full-fat dairy, whole grains. Make a shift from PROCESSED foods to UNPROCESSED. It’s simple. Think about whether the product you are eating is made in a factory or comes directly from the Earth. Could you eat more raw foods? Could you eat meals prepared with just a few ingredients instead of the long list on the back of a ready-meal packet??
PLANT IT
Try and incorporate daily into your diet whole vegetables instead of starchy foods. Traditionally we see refined carbs (pasta,rice,bread,potatoes) as our base and that often means they form the biggest portion of our plate. This has been the guideline from Public Health for years. Ask yourself, has this reversed or even slowed down the rate of obesity or diabetes??
So change your mindset. Vegetables are carbs so they can replace all or a lot of your starch content. Some vegetables are quite starchy, like, sweet potato, corn, peas, parsnip, squash etc. Plants are amazing drugs, full of a concoction of phytochemicals and nutrients that we cannot recreate in any supplement.
Be mindful though that because of the chemical nature of plants , the fact that we no longer eat just local and seasonal produce and the excessive exposure to pesticides, plants can be toxic to the body. Many people suffering autoimmune diseases and chronic pain do well on elimination diets when certain vegetables are avoided. Its your responsibility to be willing to explore your response to foods. Plants are great if they are not irritating your body.
EAT PROTEIN, EAT MEAT
Protein means a busy stomach and when tummy is busy we feel satiated. This prevents us overeating. So try including more protein in your diet. Have a source of protein with all your meals. The most nutritious, easily absorbed protien source that gives you most bang for your buck is meat, especially red meat. Also eggs, fish and full-fat dairy are good sources.
Animal proteins are highly nutritious and are the building blocks of our bodies. Our bones are made of protein and nutrients in meat,offal, eggs, fish are crucial for the health of our hormones. If you do not eat meat, then tofu,nuts,seeds, lentils, pulses, beans ,green leafy veg are good sources too. Swap your higher carb and sugar snacks with those high in protein; handful of almonds or seeds, half an avocado, some green veg, some fruit and nuts. Most women don’t eat enough protein and those who exercise regularly need more! Some points to consider:
- Avoid meat in packages, eg from supermarkets. They are most likely factorty farmed . Instead use a local butcher and chat to them about the source of the meat. Or try online as there are many sourceable organic suppliers. KNOW YOUR SOURCE
- Organic, local, grass-fed meat is best. Raw dairy is highly nutritious. Local fresh eggs are best, wild farmed fish….But that does not mean cheaper sources are bad for you. There is more hormone disrupter in packaged products and things like tofu than in meat. But do what your budget allows.
- Do not cook in seed oils . Avoid takeaways as they will use and re-use cheap seed oils.
EAT REAL FAT
Firstly, there is actually conficting and contradictory evidence linking saturated fat to high cholesterol and heart disease and that a low fat diet leads to a healthier heart. In fact recently cardiologists are questioning the Diet Heart Theory.and challenging the link between saturated fat and heart disease. Studies suggest a high carbohydrate intake is far worse for our health than previously thought. Certainly many health and fitness gurus follow low carb high fat diets themselves and are in fantastic health but it is only very recently filtering through to the GPs and nurses we may see in our lives.BAsically, health is complicated and we still dont know for certain what causes all disease. But what we do know is that for millenia we have survived on foods that are demonised by Pulic Health guidelines (meat, eggs, fats) and we did not have the levels of non-communicable disease that we see now.
And lets be cynical here: Big Food has had a major influence in government guidelines for decades and even now, looking at the Childhood Obesity Plan we can see that profits often trump health!
We need fat! Our low fat diets have meant we eat more sugar than ever. Our bodies are craving good nutrition and fat is part of that. Fat is involved in most processes in our bodies, providing energy, keeping systems regulated, making hormones and is so vital for brain function and mood.
Think about how much processed oils are in your diet (seed oils, vegetable oil, margarine, oils in processed foods) and shift to a more natural source of fat. This will naturally start to drop your Omega 6 intake which is known for its inflammatory effects on the body.
The worst type of fat is unnatural trans-fat and the saturated fat-refined sugar combo – Avoid!
CARBS!
So complicated! But I like to split carbs into 4 types
- Simple/refined (sugar, sweets, soda)
- Simple/natural (fruit,dairy, raw honey)
- Complex/Refined (bread, pasta, rice, crackers, cakes pies)
- Complex/Natural (vegetables, potatoes, sweet potato, whole grains, legumes, beans)
Simple refined products have no benefit at all and by avoiding them we can stop wasting time and energy on these fake foods. These are Once-In-A-Blue-Moon products. Sugar is hidden in most food products so by reducing processed foods you will naturally reduce your refined sugar intake. Simple/Natural carbs are better than refined but they are still sugar and dtill have the same impact on your blood sugar levels . Diabetics should avoid or significantly limit these.
Complex refined products have some nutritional benefit but cannot be described as nutrtionally dense. If you do want to incorporate them into your diet then vary intake according to activity levels. If you train hard and exercise most days, and are young, you may get away with having more carbohydrate. If you are sitting most of the day, you really do not need to base your diet on refined carbs! Stick to natural when you do choose carbs. Natural or Complex carbs such as vegetables , especially leafy greens, have more nutrtional value. If you are diabetic, gaining weight or suffering from heart conditions, or infact most modern disease this is the group of foods you may want to be cutting back on.
Many people survive, infact thrive, on very few carbs. Some reverse years of pain, or disease by reducing carbs significantly. So its worth pursuing if you can.
Whatever you feel about carbs, the more natural they are the better.
FOOD AS HORMONES
Think of food as hormones not as calories. Every single thing you put in your mouth affects your hormones and hormones control our bodies and mind. From fat-storage to mood and sleep, we need to have a well-balanced hormonal system. Processed foods send us way out of whack! So, Eat to stabilise hormones and not to lose weight. When hormones are in sync you will lose weight.
BE AWARE
Check what you are eating. What is in the ingredient list. Look at it. Own your choices.
Its ok to eat a bar of chocolate once in a while but when you know what’s in it (in fact you realise you do not know what actually half the ingredients are, and that’s the scary thing!) then you are more in control and less likely to make it a part of your diet regularly.
The only way you can truly know what is going into your mouth is by cooking your own food. And it’s a wonderful skill. One that gives you pleasure, that you can share with others, comforting, nurturing and connects you with your loved ones, yourself and the earth. What a shame we don’t value this skill and instead see it as a time-sucking chore.
Be Aware of the quantities you are eating. Even though we want to eat lots of good food, we don’t want to go overboard. If the waistline is expanding, we need to have a rethink, perhaps adjust the quantities, perhaps do some tracking for a period (My fitness pal etc?).
Think about how often you are eating. Do you really need three meals and 2 snacks a day? Often 2 meals are just fine for a modern urban lifestyle. Maybe 3 if you train hard or have a very active career. We are all eating too often. Also perhapd look at how long you don’t eat for…check out Intermittent Fasting.
It is easy to let things slip especially when other things in life seem to take over. Work stress, family, relationships, trauma, sleep problems, illness- all these can play havoc with our lives. Before you know it, you are back to choosing the easiest most convenient “foods” available.
Be Aware. Start to really zone in to what’s going on when you do eat, how you feel and what happens after. Its only when you are mindful that you can understand what is good for YOU, what portion sizes work for YOU, when the best time to eat is for YOU. Listen to your body, trust yourself and don’t make food the enemy.
When you start to change you diet, be aware that there may be a transition period where your weight may go up a little, just as you are trying to figure out what is good for you . Don’t freak out and hit the low-fat yoghurt! Relax,Trust yourself and make good choices and you will lose weight but more importantly you will begin to feel awesome. You know your metabolism has reset when your hunger, cravings and energy levels are all in check.
Once you have got some control back, you can easily change the way you eat and experiment with different ways of eating. Remember that we are always changing as we get older or during different phases in our lives so the way we move and eat should change with us . Thats why keeping it simple works!
