What’s my absolute, number one, non-negotiable nutrition tip?
The list of “nutrition tips” you can find online is endless. It’s overwhelming. It’s confusing. I’m here to help!
So what’s my absolute, number one, non-negotiable nutrition tip?
No, it’s not “get enough protein” (although that’s helpful).
No, it’s not “eat lots of veggies” (but yes, also helpful).
No, it’s not “skip carbs” or “fasting windows” (because, not helpful).
Are you sure you’re ready for this? It’s mind blowing. Ok, here it is…my best advice for nourishing your body? …
…EAT! 🤯
Seriously. That’s it. As a living breathing creature, your number one priority above anything else is to give your body food. Period.
Whatever food is available. Whatever food you can afford. Whatever food you enjoy. Whatever food you choose. Eat food.
It seems silly to even consider right? Of course we need to eat. The sad thing is, people forget that food is life. Food is survival.
I’ve worked with a lot of people who were fearful of every single bite of food. They were certain that every mouthful would send their weight skyrocketing. I understand the fear - when we’re bombarded with messages to count every last calorie, or every point, or every gram of carb…of course we’re going to think that’s how it works. I’m here to tell you, that’s not how it works.
Yes, technically if we consume more energy than our body uses, we will gain weight. But it’s also not that simple. There's a LOT of other factors that determine your weight (more on that in a future post)!
Along with that, as a society we have the misconception that a higher weight automatically means “unhealthy”. When in fact, that’s not the case at all (more on THAT in a future post too)! Some people at higher weights are in fact very healthy, and some people at weights deemed “normal” (whatever that means 🙄) experience health issues (yes, thin people develop diabetes and high blood pressure too).
A key thing to remember is that eating ENOUGH to meet your body’s needs does not cause weight gain. In fact, it's crucial!
The problem is, when we're so hyper-focused on weight loss as the “solution” for good health, and we restrict our food intake in an attempt to achieve that outcome, we’re doing more harm than good. Malnutrition and starvation are way worse for our health than any other possible thing that could result from how you eat or the size of your body.
Without adequate nutrition, we can experience health concerns such as:
Reduced function of major organs (including heart, lungs, kidneys, gut)
Compromised immune system
Mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety
Chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease
Among others!
Aside from potential health concerns, not eating enough leaves us feeling pretty terrible as well. We can feel tired and sluggish, low mood, irritable, headaches…the list goes on.
Not getting enough calories will DEFINITELY lead to health issues over time, but including any particular “bad” food along with a variety of other foods will NOT. That's because health is complex, and there's a lot more to it besides just what you eat. So if you lived on nothing else but enough [insert “bad” food here] to fill you, that's STILL better than not getting enough food.
(Let me be clear: there are no bad foods. I use quotations around “bad” to describe any foods that we typically think of as “off-limits”.)
Any one food choice is not the issue. We want to look at overall patterns. Yes of course if we live on nothing but sugar and fat, we'll probably see health issues arise. But that doesn't mean you can't ever eat a cookie!
So. For the sake of your health, please eat food. Any food. Your life depends on it.
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