Is Eating Healthy … Dieting?
“EATING JUNK FOOD IS SO COMMON THAT WHEN SOMEONE STARTS EATING HEALTHY,
IT’S INSTANTLY LABELED AS DIETING.”
- Max Lugavere
Full stop. Just think about that statement. A bit ironic. A bit humorous. Quite a bit true.
It makes me think back to a conversation I had with one of my friends. She was worried about going out with her business associates one evening because she was trying to be careful about what she ate and to not drink any alcohol.
When we’re out with friends, whether we know it or not, there is implicit pressure to drink and eat to have fun. Defenses are down. We want to take advantage of the delicious “riches” before us. But we shouldn’t be made to feel bad if we opt for the salmon on kale salad instead of the Nashville Hot Fried Chicken on saucy mashed potatoes. And drinking a Pellegrino with a slice of lime? That’s taking it to a whole different level.
A friend might casually remark - “are you on a diet?” And well, we may respond, “ahhh, well, kind of,” as we bury our head in our hands.
It’s hard to stick to our guns when we are faced with this social pressure, however subtle. And all along, we’re just trying to eat like we as humans are supposed to eat - fresh, whole food, not processed or fried, nor with chemical and color additives. Sometimes that is very hard to do.
So the elephant in the room asks the question ... is eating healthy, dieting?
Absolutely not, but many of us may feel so. “Diet” tends to be a nasty word in our language. It implies minimization, sacrifice, narrowed options, maybe even drudgery.
But really, the word diet just refers to the way we choose to eat. In fact, we would all be better off if that word could just slip away from our vocabulary.
Eating healthy also implies sacrifice. We must be giving up something delicious in order to eat healthy. That “something delicious” typically comprises sugar, fat, salt or simple carbs – “blissy” foods that actually trigger our brains to release dopamine, a chemical neurotransmitter in our body that ties to our pleasure and motivation.
This means that there is a lot more than willpower that we need to tap into in order to avoid these foods that can provide the satisfaction that we crave. It’s amazing that when we decide to try on a diet of primarily healthy eating, our bodies start adjusting. Cravings for the bad stuff start to go away after a few weeks. Even better, over time we will want to naturally choose that salmon on a kale salad. Practicing healthy eating habits eventually can make those foods that serve us much more crave worthy.
So all I’m asking you to think about for today is a mind shift.
Redefine what eating healthy means to you.
Think about what the word diet means to you.
Think about one tiny change that you can make in your eating routine, that just may make a difference in how you feel – and stick with it for 3 weeks. I think you will be pleasantly surprised with the result.
Stay tuned, as I’ll continue to explore the world of eating healthy in future newsletters.
And as always, please feel free to reach out with any questions or let me know if you have been able to make a meaningful change when it comes to optimizing our health through mindful eating.
One Key Takeaway
More than 100 years ago, our food choices were not as plentiful and varied as they are today, but certainly mostly limited to what our bodies were meant to eat - rich sources of nutrients from whole foods and clean protein. Eating what comes from nature is not a novel idea. Rather, it is normal - a fundamental principle of how we’ve flourished and evolved over time.