On Being Health Conscious Without Being Obsessive
Do you struggle with balancing being health conscious and not being obsessive? Girl, I've been there. I don't know about you, but I thought that healthy = never eating anything unhealthy. Makes sense from a quick glance. In a black and white world of health, it's easy to fall into the trap of believing that healthy is linear. You either are healthy are you're not. But you can be health conscious without being obsessive. I've been on both spectrums and as someone who now values health but also lives in freedom with food and exercise, I'll choose the latter!
Some people may feel that intuitive eating means abandoning health. But that's definitely not the case, and this is something I'm recently really starting to understand and put into practice, myself. You see, our bodies do require nourishment to function their best, to protect us from sickness and disease, and to keep us energized. We require carbohydrates for energy and brain power, protein helps with muscle repair and structure of all the cells in our bodies, and fat works to keep our body temperature regulated and protects our organs as well as can be used as energy. Vitamins and minerals work to catalyze the basic mechanisms of the body and water is necessary as the compound that makes up 70% of our cells. There's no denying that health is important, and being health conscious is going to help you feel your best and most energized self.
But what's the problem, then, with following a diet that seems to focus on health?
First of all, in my experience, following a set "diet" often doesn't include all of the necessary nutrients required for healthy living, or doesn't provide a healthy balance of these macronutrients essential to life. Diets often eliminate whole food groups or hold you to a very, very limited amount that's often not enough for ideal function.
Second, even if a diet that you follow does seem to have a balance of the main macronutrients (fat, carbs, protein), we know that holding yourself to a strict diet creates other stressors that can be more harmful to your body than just eating freely.
Dieting causes unnecessary guilt, stress at social events, keeps you from social events, leads to imbalances nutritionally, leads to binging, causes anxiety around food and other areas of life, and much more. So what if you don't "diet" per say, but find yourself hyper-vigilant about what you're eating. AKA, you're the health obsessed?
Don't worry if this is you...this was me too.
Every evening I would plan what I was going to eat the next day, counting out the calories I would have in my head (because I knew the calorie counts of everything I would allow myself to eat). Then I would start my day "on schedule", but God-forbid anything changed my plan and caused me to eat something not already thought out!I was a living, breathing, overly obsessive health machine.And I say machine, because I really was like a machine with how I ate and exercised, always staying to plan and never straying for fear that I would be "unhealthy".
I later learned that the way I was thinking and what I was dealing with was a real thing called "orthorexia".
Anyways, then quite a few years later I discovered intuitive eating and realized that the things I was doing trying to be healthy really wasn't helping me. It was taking away all of my joy and all of the pleasure associated with taking care of my body.
After vowing to turn my back on my obsessive way of eating, I spent about a year trying to figure out how to embrace my new way of thinking about food, but still all the while valuing health and good food and taking care of my body. I wrestled with trying to combine a love for nutrition with not wanting to go crazy off the deep end again.
Then I realized...eating intuitively is eating to feel good.And I feel my best when I feed my body nutritious food!I don't always have to reach inside the bag of M&Ms on the break room table at work. I can sometimes, if I want to. But I can also decide to eat a handful of almonds and semi-sweet chocolate chips (my favorite snack lately :) ) and have full freedom to enjoy them.
That's the power of learning to be an intuitive eater! The power is no longer in whether a food is "good" or "bad", but is 100% your decision. You have the power to eat what you want, no diet-strings attached.
Being health conscious without being obsessive means eating healthy most of the time, because that's what feels good, but also having full permission to enjoy all types of foods.It's a mindset shift from "have to" to "want to".
It's eating joyfully, not eating with guilt or judgement.It's giving yourself room to be "imperfect" with eating.
Before I give just a couple of tips with how to be health conscious without being obsessed, know that if you're still stuck in diet mentality (aka, you have a hard time eating freely and without fear), you should start by working on that first...I can help you get to a place of food freedom in my 1:1 coaching, so if you're interested I'd love to talk to you!
"Eat food, not too much, mostly plants."
I absolutely love this quote from Michael Pollan. What an easy way to start thinking about food and healthy eating without putting any calorie count or morality on what you eat. I try to live by this principle because I know that I feel my best when I eat mostly plant-derived foods. Choose plants that are organic if you can (it's getting warmer, so maybe try going to your local farmer's market or join a co-op!) and prepare by eating raw or cooking minimally as often as able. Jazz up your veggies by adding a yummy sauce to the top or try a new seasoning. Try adding a vegetarian night once a week...might I recommend this 30 Minute Vegetarian Curry? Soo good!
Choose whole grains, mostly.
Whole grains are simply that...the WHOLE part of a grain. What makes them more nutritious is essentially that the protein and fiber of the grain is still in-tact instead of just using the carbohydrate portion of the grain as they do with processed grains. Not gonna lie, I choose white pizza dough every. single. time when I have the choice of white or wheat...because wheat pizza, just not my thang! But overall, choosing whole grains is more nutritious! But always check yourself, know your "why", for why you're choosing the food. If you're only eating whole grain because you feel like you have to, a mental shift is needed.
Drink. LOTS of water, SOME other beverages.
Our bodies are mostly consisting of water. So, naturally, we should probably be drinking mostly water. I'm guilty of getting through the morning on only a couple cups of coffee and completely forgetting to drink water. But I feel it! Start your morning with a big glass of water...I even like adding some lemon for a little flavor. Then get to your coffee. In the evenings I find nothing better than eating dinner with a glass of wine. But I always end the night with another glass of water so I don't wake up so dehydrated. There's nothing wrong with drinking coffee or wine or beer or whatever other beverages you like. Just try to drink mostly water.
Get your groups in at each meal.
I believe that the best plates are comprised of veggies/fruit, protein, carbs, and fat. You may be under the impression that you have to limit one of these food groups at one meal or another, such as not eating carbs at a meal, but your body needs a balance of each of these macronutrients to function well. When making up a meal, start with deciding your veggies/fruits and make those two half of your dish. Then add on a carbohydrate source (like a grain, potato, corn, bread, pasta, etc). Figure out what protein you want to include (maybe that's meat, eggs, beans, a combo of any of those). And lastly, decide on your fat. I love a good tahini dressing on a salad, or 1/2 an avocado, or both! Be creative! Don't let fear of eating too much of one group or another keep you from finding full satisfaction in your meal! If you want the whole avo, eat it girl! Try this California Breakfast Burrito for a satisfying and balanced breakfast!I could go on. I know you know this stuff, but I hope that these couple of tips with how to be more conscious without being obsessed helps you to understand what taking care of your body nutritionally looks like with a healthy mind around food.
So, tell me...