This is a post I have been thinking about writing for quite some time. When people ask for nutrition advice they tend to expect someone to tell them exactly what they should eat and how or when to eat it. This has been the way these types of questions have been answered for a long time and the answers have changed through the years as to what is better and what isn’t. Eggs are healthy…no wait their not. Stay away from grains and dairy, but these types are fine. I can see how a lot of people can get confused and irritated that they’re not being given the magic pill or the key to permanent weight loss. While expecting the they key to permanent weight loss is in and of itself unreasonable, people really do have the rightful expectation of an informed answer.
I think of it this way: In 2017 there has been plenty of clinical and empirical research or studies done on the gut and the role that it plays in your everyday health and well being. People try these diets that are suggested that have worked for 100’s of people and then it doesn’t work for them which makes them feel different and like their issue is unique and they will never lose this weight or feel better in general. I have been reading books by Dr. Cate Shanahan, M.D., Paul Chek and Ben Greenfield. Practitioners such as these are in my opinion some of the best if not the best in the world. A a good portion of the material in these books talk about gut health and gut permeability (the integrity of your gut or intestinal lining). Your gut is your 1st line of defense against anything you put into your body. Therefore anything in your gut can still be considered outside of your body. When your gut is compromised (leaky gut, Chron’s Disease, IBS, ect.) your body has to deal with food and substances being released into your body without being broken down. Now this triggers an immune response from your body weather what you ate is healthy or not. Undigested material coming from Kale is treated no different then coca cola at that point. Foreign bodies are looked at as just that.
The point is this: Before asking for health advice consider the basics of nutrition and what you may already know. Processed food = Bad. Vegetables, fish, eggs, and fermented foods = Good. The truth is that people have 80% of the knowledge in their heads already to get them started, they just don’t have the discipline and habits formed to do it. The other 20% is the intricacies that go into weather or not you’ve done damage to your gut and how to fix it. Have you ever had that friend or family member that seems to stay fit and in shape no matter what they eat? We all have them and this is a great example of what the point is here. Everyone is different and by this I mean everyone has a different Metabolic Type they should adhere to. There is a book called “The Metabolic Typing Diet” that goes into detail about how to determine your metabolic type and what foods you should eat based on a series of questions.
The concept of “calories in vs. calories out” will only get you so far. Yes you can spend more than you put in for food but this isn’t how to optimize your health. Do you know why? Because I could eat one meal a day at McDonald’s and still lose weight but my blood panels would be all screwed up. I might feel a lot better from losing the weight but in the long run I wouldn’t be improving my long term health. I’d be causing inflammation due to the toxins in the food and vegetable oil in fast food. I also wouldn’t be helping my gut either. Losing weight isn’t the only thing you need to consider although it itself has many health benefits.
When you ask for fitness advice you should do a self assessment of what you already know…are you putting things into practice? Want to sculpt your body? The answer isn’t working out feverishly and reducing your caloric intake. You may see superficial results from simply eating less of the bad stuff and doing more work. However, its really easy with this approach to throw your body into a hormonal imbalance that you’ll eventually notice. Weather you have the knowledge to attribute those adverse results to what you did wrong is where the real growth in your wellness comes in. Also it’s where a health professional who’s studying the latest trends and keeping up with developments in the community come in as well.
I believe that 80% of the advice you ask for is because you already know the answer and need someone else to tell you what you already know. The other 20% is split between research that you depend on the experts to translate into action for you, and asking for help in motivation to form habits that lead to regular practices of doing the work.
You already know most of what you should be doing. So before you spend $500 dollars an hour on a coach to help you, please consider this: You already know 80% of what you’re supposed to be doing. Have you done that? No? The do yourself a favor and adopt it. Any work you do yourself will obviously help you spend less money on a coach. Health and Fitness coaches are extremely valuable. I know a few and they are great at what they do. However, do them a favor as well and let them help you get past the hard parts….not the easy ones.
The good health and fitness coaches aren’t looking for easy money by just telling you to “eat less and move more..”. They should be looking to provide you with lasting changes and nutritional habits that will help you for the rest of your life. They are looking to solve that difficult issue that has kept you from losing that last 20 pounds that just won’t go or helping you control and repair your Crohn’s Disease and get Hashimoto’s Syndrome under control naturally or with an M.D.’s help. Of course they want to get you a beach body as well.