UH OH.. this is going to make some people mad.. Hold on now. This is NOT going to be another fear based post. I’m hoping the headline peaked your interest and you will be open to some thoughts on our health and nutrition.
First of all.. I don’t buy into the eat clean thing anymore. There’s no such thing as “clean”.
I had coaches give me “clean” diets that lacked
color
variety
fiber
fruit
Fats!!!
AND WHOLE FOOD GROUPS!!
I became really sick eating on those diets. I contracted two eye diseases at one time in my eye. I lost 35 percent of my vision. It took 6 months and 1000’s of dollars of medication that was NOT covered by insurance. My doctor was afraid I would not recover!!
Ok.. I hear you asking “Oh how do you know it was clean eating that caused you to get sick?”
During this clean eating phase.. my GP was alarmed at my HDL levels and ordered me to eat fat because my only fat came from 1 egg yolk per day for 16 weeks. I had a total of 8g fat on my clean menu.
In fact, as a coach, I look at other people’s show diets all the time and see the same thing.
The same diets get passed around with zero culpability to the nutritional needs of the athlete. It’s made up garbage.
We don’t ‘look’ better when we starve ourselves.
News flash: We need fat in our diet! Fat is beneficial to your hormone balance, brain function.
According to the AMA “Dietary fats are essential to give your body energy and to support cell growth. They also help protect your organs and help keep your body warm. Fats help your body absorb some nutrients and produce important hormones, too. Your body definitely needs fat.”
Simply eating ‘clean’ doesn’t mean anything if you don’t pay attention to your macros “protein, carbs, fats, and micros too. Fiber is super important. I barely had any of that on 6 meals of tilapia and spinach.
To put it very simply, I was NOT nutritionally balanced and my body suffered.
I did recover, but it took over 6 months with huge doses of anti-virals. I was burdened with eye pain, and felt ill. We began work developing balanced eating instead of the restricted, bro diet I was on.
I practice IIFYM and I eat a colorful diet of wonderful food that feeds my body and soul. I’m happy and I feel amazing. My doctors are enormously pleased at my test results and even in my prep time, I still test well. My doctor has encouraged me to continue as I am for as long as I feel like it even though I am over 50. I’m very proud of this. Nutrition matters to me!!
What the actual heck?
I want to add this to the people who pay coaches large amounts of their hard earned money to give them the voodoo of
Each day wake up and have 5 oz of warm water for digestion.
Exactly 2 hours before you go to the gym have
1 slice of red pepper
1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
2 fat burners
Stand on your head for 5 minutes
After you do your fasted cardio, wait exactly 1 hour then have 10g oats
plus 1 cup egg whites, which you may not mix. Wait 1 hour and then workout.
If a coach has to give you these exact instructions but can’t figure out how
to give you macros or swaps or even give you enough nutrition in your plan,
that’s complete garbage!
The other F word
If our diets remove whole food groups and provide barely any fiber.. how are we going
to be healthy? Do you think you look better when you can’t use the rest room?
This is from the Mayo Clinic
Benefits of a high-fiber diet
A high-fiber diet has many benefits, which include:
- Normalizes bowel movements. Dietary fiber increases the weight and size of your stool and softens it. A bulky stool is easier to pass, decreasing your chance of constipation. If you have loose, watery stools, fiber may help to solidify the stool because it absorbs water and adds bulk to stool.
- Helps maintain bowel health. A high-fiber diet may lower your risk of developing hemorrhoids and small pouches in your colon (diverticular disease). Some fiber is fermented in the colon. Researchers are looking at how this may play a role in preventing diseases of the colon.
- Lowers cholesterol levels. Soluble fiber found in beans, oats, flaxseed and oat bran may help lower total blood cholesterol levels by lowering low-density lipoprotein, or “bad,” cholesterol levels. Studies also have shown that high-fiber foods may have other heart-health benefits, such as reducing blood pressure and inflammation.
- Helps control blood sugar levels. In people with diabetes, fiber — particularly soluble fiber — can slow the absorption of sugar and help improve blood sugar levels. A healthy diet that includes insoluble fiber may also reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
- Aids in achieving healthy weight. High-fiber foods tend to be more filling than low-fiber foods, so you’re likely to eat less and stay satisfied longer. And high-fiber foods tend to take longer to eat and to be less “energy dense,” which means they have fewer calories for the same volume of food.
Another benefit attributed to dietary fiber is prevention of colorectal cancer. However, the evidence that fiber reduces colorectal cancer is mixed.
How much should we eat?
Recommendations are
Men 38g daily
Women 25g
How I coach my lifestyle and athletes:
Our goals for this team are at least 35 different foods a week. We eat the rainbow. We focus on staying healthy and feeling well.
We all eat fiber every day. Even our athletes fulfill a daily requirement of nutrition goals!! The easiest thing to do is to NOT take away whole food groups. We encourage our clients to choose foods they like. It’s not complicated. If they want blueberries, have them. Next time maybe an apple might be nice. I know that sounds simplistic, but it is miles from the restricted menus I endured!
I added this meme not to continue the fear based clean eating movement but to share how important it is to think about your food. To eat toward your goals doesn’t mean you don’t eat what you like. You have to think about it. I gave my doctor a ton of money from clean eating!
And to be clear, I eat what I want. I do not skip any food groups nor do I miss out on any foods I like. I eat sugar, and I have soda! I also have over 500g fruits and veggies a day! I eat very well and enjoy my life! I feel great!
So if you want to learn more… our coaches can help you also master IIFYM and you can reach your physique goals too!!
www.learniifym.com or PM me.
And just to say again, I eat what I want. It may surprise you that you can have the food YOU like and be successful without feeling restricted!!
