Six Small Nutrition Changes to Make For Big Results
When you read the words โbig resultsโ in the headline of this post, youโre probably thinking that Iโm going to give you a couple pointers on how to sneakily cut calories for weight loss.
Unfortunately in our culture, โbig resultsโ where eating is concerned, generally means โdropping pounds quicklyโ..which is more than enough of a promise for a lot of people to click on this post.
But losing more weight, quicker, is not what this is all about.
Because thatโs not what life is all about. At least, it shouldnโt be.
To clarify, when I refer to โbig results,โ Iโm talking about in terms of wellness:
Physical wellness.
Emotional wellness.
Living your best life without being afraid to eat.
Making some tweaks to some potentially harmful habits you might have picked up during the past year.
Dumping the people who tell you that you need to punish yourself in order to be presentable in a bikini.
Feeling like youโre living your best life.
Unclenching your jaw and really dealing with whatโs bothering you.
These things are my version of โbig results.โ It doesn’t have to be about weight loss.
Are you with me? Here are the six changes you can make for big nutrition results:
Not drinking so much wine.
Listen, I know.
Research (and here) (and my Facebook feed) shows that alcohol has helped a lot of you take the edge off the stress of a global pandemic. And I know I might be telling you something you donโt want to hear, but Iโm going to say it anyways:
Stop drinking so much. Please.
In addition to the negative physical health consequences – excessive alcohol use has been linked to liver damage, heart disease, brain damage, and certain cancers, and women are even more susceptible to these than men – thereโs the effect on mood, as well.
Alcohol is a depressant, and while you might feel relaxed while drinking, long-term mental health effects can include depression and anxiety.
We are getting sick more and we are dying more of alcohol-related illnesses. Alcohol has become part of our culture, and so has over-drinking.
If you frequently drink (or eat) emotionally, you need other tools in your coping toolbox.
A therapist can help you with that.
Taking care of your business.
As I write about in my book Good Food, Bad Diet, we tend to focus on the physical aspect of what weโre eating: which weight loss diet is popular, how many pounds we can lose, how we look, what size clothes we wear, etc.
But if youโre a chronic dieter, going on another diet isnโt going to help you get down to the real reason why you feel the way you do about food and your body. Diets are just a band-aid on whatโs really bothering you.
You need to fix your relationship with food and your body before making any other lasting, meaningful change to your physical and emotional wellness.
Figuring out your negative core beliefs (something we do in the book, right at the beginning, because itโs the most important work) is where you need to start.
Why do you feel this way about food?
Who made you hate your body?
What are your beliefs around how you fit into this world, the way you are?
Iโm not going to sugar coat it, this work can be tough.
But so is punishing yourself by going on diet after diet for the rest of your life. And, telling yourself youโre not good enough. And, teaching your kids that thin equals worthy, and continuing that negative cycle for them, too.
Give yourself over to the process of figuring this stuff out, and break the cycle.
Not going on another dietโฆeven one that claims to not be a diet.
I recently covered a local โdiet expertโsโ diet plan, which is clearly a weight loss (starvation) diet that they tell everyone isnโt a diet at all.
What?
Same with Noom: my review (read it here) uncovers the plain truth that this eating plan, which is marketed as a non-diet, is very much a diet.
Know the red flags of diets:
Cutting out bread, pasta, rice, and other carbsโฆor being made to feel guilty about eating them.
Mentions of โdetoxing.โ
โClean eating,โ or having a โdo not eatโ list.
Having a specific calorie budget.
Using fear tactics to convince you that certain foods are โtoxicโ or not worth eating.
Focusing on weight loss as a measure of the ultimate success.
Have a โtough-loveโ approach thatโs like a punishment.
Having a short-term duration – like 12 weeks – to lose weight or complete the โprogram.โ
Being instructed to weigh yourself every day, and/or record everything you eat.
Following a specific food plan that tells you what to eat, when.
If youโre so desperate to lose weight that the thought of starving your way into a โbeach bodyโ is okay with you, please 1. ask yourself why youโre ready to hurt yourself to look a certain way and 2. please reconsider.
The reasons why Iโm telling you to stop going on these (or any) diets, are:
They arenโt sustainable.
They usually end up with rebound weight gain.
A โbeach bodyโ is any body on a beach.
They arenโt fun. Yes, eating should be enjoyable.
They just make any food issues you have, worse.
Theyโre horrible for your mental health, leading to guilt and shame around eating.
They set a bad example for your kids.
They micromanage your hunger and eatingโฆwhich, FYI: donโt need to be micromanaged, no matter what some โdiet expertโ tells you.
They foster distrust in your body and how it works.
Do I need to go on?
Now some of you are probably thinking, โSo if I want to lose weight, how do I do it without a diet?โ
Iโll get you started:
First stop on that train: do your work around your relationship with food.
Next stop: check your expectations around what you want versus whatโs realistic and will allow you to live your best life. Because a lot of times, those donโt line up for people.
Then, speak to a dietitian. Not someone who calls themselves an โexpertโ with no nutrition training, but an actual expert.
Never forcing yourself to eat food you hateโฆor cut out food you love.
I swear, if I see one more person choking down cayenne and lemon water or nasty green pond water, because โtheyโre healthy!โโฆIโm going to cry.
It doesnโt make you healthier to force yourself to eat things you hate, especially when lemon water, ACV water, and chlorophyll are all bogus.
(Read about ACV here) (Read about chlorophyll water here).
Donโt like broccoli or kale? Eat the vegetables you do like. Nothing bad is going to happen to you if the range of vegetables you consume is limited.
And of course, cutting foods out of your diet unnecessarily is the hallmark of a bad diet.
Gluten, wheat, and dairy are all the usual suspects that alternative providers generally like to cut from peoplesโ dietsโฆbecause INFLAMMATION! (except no, these foods arenโt inflammatory for the vast majority of people).
Be very skeptical of anyone who tells you – and everyone else – that you need to cut things out for no good reason.
Anyone whoโs telling you to cut out bread or pasta because they โmake your insulin go crazyโ or some other similar story has no idea what theyโre talking about. Non-diabetic bodies can more than handle a moderate amount of carbs just fine.
Someone who goes on about how toxic and addictive sugar is, is also wrong. Listen – you might feel as though youโre addicted to sugar, but sugar isnโt a true addiction. And in small amounts, it certainly isnโt toxic.
(Read more here about why sugar isnโt addictive.)
Cutting out foods when you donโt have to can decrease satisfaction (which is different than fullness. Fullness is a physical sensation, satisfaction is psychological). It can also make you crave these foods even more.
Being told that you should avoid foods for no good reason can also create feelings of guilt and shame when you eventually eat them.
We all want to be healthy, but whittling your diet down to lean proteins and vegetables for the rest of your life, isnโt the answer.
Satisfying your hunger.
โYouโre not hungry, youโre thirsty!โ or, โhunger is just your body getting excited that youโre finally listening to it!โ
Yes, there are weight loss and โexpertsโ who tell people this garbage.
When youโre hungry, youโre hungry. Period.
Ignoring that hunger is not only counterproductive, often leading to overeating later; itโs also demoralizing. Hunger is one of our most basic needs that should be met.
When you need to pee, you go to the bathroom, right? Do you hold back because โitโs not time to pee yet?โ Do you tell yourself you just peed, that you have to wait another couple hours before you pee again? No. You donโt.
So why would you try to talk yourself out of hunger, which is just another innate bodily cue?
Donโt let someone tell you that โonce the sun goes down, you shouldnโt be hungry anyhowโ or that you need to train your body to be happy with less food.
For godโs sake, please EAT. And dump any โexpertโ who tells you that you should be ignoring your hunger or suppressing it with any means other than actual food.
Knowing that you donโt have to choose the low-cal swaps.
Having a piece of fruit instead of the chips you really crave probably isnโt going to do it. And while you might get away with mashing cauliflower into your potatoes, whatโs the benefit of that? Really?
Welcome to 2021. The year you’re going to satisfy your cravings!
Iโm not here to tell you to dump the shiritaki noodles if you love them.
I just want you to understand that nothing bad is going to happen to you if your pasta isnโt made out of hearts of palm or your smoothie isnโt made with powdered peanut butter.
If you love powdered peanut butter, go for it.
But if itโs something youโre eating because youโre afraid of the real thing, please think about that. What are you missing by not eating the real thing? Is the alternative that much โbetter?โ
Because nobody is eating cloud bread and really thinking that itโs as delicious as real bread.
While calories โsavedโ might add up to weight loss over time, this isn’t a given. We tend to eat more when we choose lower-calorie options. Something about increased permissiveness, along with less satisfaction. It all tends to balance out in the end. And pleasure has to be part of the equation.
My philosophy? Eat the real thing. Move on. Be happy.