Diet, Nutrition and SupplementationPost here for supplement reviews or nutritional advice. If you're trying to get "ripped abz" THIS is where you should be.
Hello all. I wrote this for Spectrum Club's quarterly magazine, the audience is predominantly affluent early middle-aged healthclub members. Thus, the content is somewhat basic & newbie-ish. The issue will hit the clubs in January, but why not world premier it over here in Jean-paul's playpen. Enjoy...
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A New Year, A New Perspective of Food
Let’s face it. As people who care about our health and fitness, many of us have developed a love/hate relationship with food. Worse yet, many of us are at a constant state of war with the stuff that sustains us. In the modern day and age, it’s no secret that food gets blamed for society’s ills, such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etcetera. Nevermind the fact that TV, the internet, a plethora of labor saving technology, are the real culprits.
Well, it’s a new year, and a new chance to renew your perspective of food. A ripe opportunity to stop the battle. A chance to cooperate; coexist; achieve harmony once and for all. Food only seems to get good press in cookbooks and the Food Network. And even in the food-friendly media, you see folks tiptoeing around carbs, fat, calories. Give me a break, give the world a break. Food was meant to be enjoyed. Of course there has to be a balance somewhere, some degree of limitation. But part of the problem is just that – limitation. People tend to equate fitness with constant micromanagement and ultra-conscious limitation of intake. With some individuals, that approach might be perfect. But with the majority of the planet, that approach is exactly what will NOT produce long-term results.
We’ve been taught to look at food strictly as fuel. You’ve heard the old adage “Eat to live, don’t live to eat.” So where does this leave our relationship with food? Square in the middle of Boringville. Not only that, looking at food purely as fuel gives food all the power, when that power should be in our hands – not our food’s. Well, it’s time to get the spark back; time to take back the power and control.
What’s the solution? It’s much easier said than done, but fitness-minded folks can have the best of both worlds by thinking of food as not just fuel, but fuel for enjoyment of life. I realize that this can open the floodgates for misconstruing the message. What I’m trying to convey is that food is indeed fuel for physical activity and living life, but it can also be used to enhance our lives through the pleasure of respecting personal taste. We get a single go-round on this planet, why spend it hating each meal? I’ve put my own spin on the philosophy that life is too short. On the contrary, life is too long to suffer through a dreadful diet!
As a corollary to the premise of enjoying your food, no two diets should be alike, since we all have a different set of favorite foods. This is no surprise, since no two people share the exact same physiology. Not even identical twins. So, what might be the perfect plan for one person, might not click at all with the next. You have to be true to your taste buds in order to maximize the longevity of your eating habits.
And what if some of your favorite foods are classic junk foods (i.e., dessert, and more dessert)? It’s perfectly fine to have a small proportion of such indulgences on a regular basis. When we assign any food as “off limits” or “to be avoided”, we automatically give that food a taboo mystique that makes it irresistible on a subconscious level. Consequently, if we break down and allow ourselves to have the forbidden food, it’s overconsumed, since we figure on not having it for at least another 6 months… Nonsense. Build a small amount of literally whatever you want into your diet on a regular basis. This takes the power and control away from the food and puts it back in your hands.
For those of you who seek a more concrete or systematic approach to allotting indulgences or “junk food”, here are two methods that have worked well in my private counseling practice. You can either indulge in a small amount of whatever you want daily (a maximum of 10% of your daily caloric intake, which for most is roughly 150-300 calories depending on body mass and activity level), or you can simply plan out 1-2 “junk meals” for the week. Notice I said junk meals, not junk days. Try to keep those junk meals on the same days per week whenever possible so you don’t lose track and start doubling and tripling them up.
Now let’s get back to the balance of it all. An increased freedom of food intake must be accompanied by an increased magnitude of exercise output. The two go hand in hand. Don’t forget that our musculoskeletal systems were designed to thrive on the progressive challenge of exercise.
Until next time, embrace your newly empowered perspective of food. Enjoy your meals, and enjoy your life!
Alan, how would you apply this theory to the whole p+f, p+c rationale? Does the 10% of the caloric intake increase on training days? How do you define "junk"? Do you mean "with carbs"?
Hehehehe... just messin' with ya!
Good article!
Yes, the "average joe" tends to wrestle with the wrong things. In the gym, they tend to fuss over whether or not 8 or 12 reps will be good on the biceps curl machine. With food, it's like you wrote above: Restriction and binge. Guilt and gorge.
I think it's a great idea to get people to think more about the big picture than on the details.
Alan, how would you apply this theory to the whole p+f, p+c rationale? Does the 10% of the caloric intake increase on training days? How do you define "junk"? Do you mean "with carbs"?
That is basicly how I eat. I don't count calories except for candy, chips, etc. Ill give myself an ounce and a half of chips with my lunch, or 250 calories of dark chocolate after dinner, or 150 calorie of pudding after dinner, etc.
The way I look at it, I do all this working out, lost the belly, why cant I eat a little of whatever the heck I want?
That is basicly how I eat. I don't count calories except for candy, chips, etc. Ill give myself an ounce and a half of chips with my lunch, or 250 calories of dark chocolate after dinner, or 150 calorie of pudding after dinner, etc.
The way I look at it, I do all this working out, lost the belly, why cant I eat a little of whatever the heck I want?
I don't count calories or grams either, mainly because I already know what my baseline/maintenance needs are. If you maintain long enough periods of consistency, you become aware of how your body responds to various amounts of foods. When your goals change, it's a matter of ratcheting up or down in either intake, output, or both. It's folks who constantly jump from one fad diet to the next that run into confusion about what their baseline is, and have no point of reference from which to adjust. Also, I too love to eat (everything), good thing I love to train as well.
And cheers to the dark chocolate after dinner, that's a staple part of my diet, I have a tbsp of peanutbutter with it.
Alan - you have stated very well what I have thought about this. I used a psycho-babble term, you have to be psychologically satisfied with your diet if your are going to stay on it. Have a friend who lost 100 pounds twice on a diet (not one we on this site would recommend), it is a diet of deprivation. Weight all back. I can see a few changes I should make in my diet, but for the most part it has enough veggies, and I love it. Rob
Alan - you have stated very well what I have thought about this. I used a psycho-babble term, you have to be psychologically satisfied with your diet if your are going to stay on it. Have a friend who lost 100 pounds twice on a diet (not one we on this site would recommend), it is a diet of deprivation. Weight all back. I can see a few changes I should make in my diet, but for the most part it has enough veggies, and I love it. Rob
That's great point the one must be psychologically satisfied with his diet for it to become a matter of permanent lifestyle. I love my diet as well. I love the flexibility I give myself, as well as the lack of restraint in choosing foods I love. My biggest problem is veggie & fruit intake. I just don't naturally gravitate towards them like I do to flesh, starch, & fat. I've also found this to be a common thread amongst many who've grown up in the industrialized US. What I do to get past those hurdles is throw a bunch of fruit into my protein shakes, and commit to having veggies at least 5 days a week. Makes life niiiiice & easy.
Fruits and veggies, my biggest downfall. Veggies more than fruit. Never really liked them and don't think I ever will. You can't teach an OldGuy dawg new tricks.
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"A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have."
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