What Should I Be Eating?!
The honest to god truth (IMHO lol)…whatever you want! I can visualize your confusion, weariness and concern, so let’s dig into this a little deeper.
Here’s the deal; I’m not a nutritionist or dietician, so to stay in my scope of practice I’ll offer you these very basic pieces of information. Your body primarily uses carbohydrates for energy, protein for fullness, muscle building and sustained energy and fats to satiate. A balanced meal is always going to be best so that you feel full, satisfied and energized. But the reality is that ALWAYS having a balanced meal is unlikely. You should also keep in mind that our bodies change and so to do our tastes and our personal goals, so food will likely change too!
By no means am I suggesting that you should only eat cookies for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I am suggesting that eating things that make you happy, bring you closer to your culture, and make you feel good are just as important as getting in fiber and protein. Also, please keep in mind that I am not suggesting that you eat foods that you are allergic to, especially deathly so. With that out of the way, let’s get back to why you should be eating whatever you want.
Satiety can be linked to overeating. Here’s a situation you might be familiar with - you’re hungry, you look in the fridge or cabinet and pick out what you think is the “healthiest” option but it’s not what you really want. After eating your meal, you’re not satisfied and find yourself back in the kitchen looking for something that might. You repeat this cycle and may even finally give in to the initial craving. So, instead of having one meal or snack, now you’ve had multiple and guess what?, you might still not feel full or satisfied! It’s highly unlikely that cravings for a specific food can be satisfied by replacing it with a “super food” or “healthy” option. So, if you’re worried about overeating, perhaps it’s time to examine if you’re giving your body what it really wants instead of eating everything and the kitchen sink to avoid that food.
Food is not just fuel. Food is emotional, cultural, comforting, social, etc. Eating is a necessity for survival but that doesn’t mean we have to suffer through it. We can enjoy our food and fuel our bodies. We can support our health goals and still have our favorite foods. There are days where I am forcing myself to eat something I don’t really want because I know it will help me fuel my body and other days where I’m eating for pure joy. Most of my days are a balance between the two things! I love mac and cheese. It’s by far my favorite food, but I can’t eat it everyday because eventually my body will tell me that it can’t take any more mac and cheese. Your body knows what it needs. It will tell you but you have to be listening without judgement.
Restrictive eating and dieting can lead to eating disorders or disordered eating. What’s the distinction between those two phrases? Disordered eating can show up as assigning morals to food, e.g., “good” and “bad”, or skipping a meal intentionally to lose weight. These behaviors are red flags that can lead to eating disorders. According to Eating Recovery Center, “An eating disorder is a serious mental illness characterized by highly distressing attitudes, beliefs and behaviors related to one’s food intake, body shape and weight. Eating disorders have one of the highest mortality rates of all mental illnesses.” Binge eating, Bulimia, Anorexia and Orthorexia are some of the most common eating disorders and it’s likely you know someone who has had or is going through one. When my relationship with food was at it’s worst, I was binge eating in my car before heading home for the night from swim practice. The guilt was crushing so I would immediately go home and confess to my partner. I was lucky that this didn’t last long or turn into something more severe and that I had support at home. Eating disorders are scary, life-threatening and full of shameful feelings and they can cause health ramifications down the line that last for years.
Dieting can lead to weight loss but most that do lose weight gain it back and then some. Losing and regaining weight can increase your risk of developing an eating disorder and a reduction in life satisfaction. Not to mention, it tends to consume our thoughts. I remember when I was filling out my nutritionist’s form coming across the question, “how often do you think about food” and the answer was ALL THE TIME! I was always worried about what I was or wasn’t supposed to have and would wander the grocery store longingly looking at foods I’d like to eat, but felt too guilty to take them off the shelf. I often share a story of me crying over a steak and cabbage because I “couldn’t” have the subway sandwich that I actually wanted while I was on the Keto diet. You guys, I was crying over a sandwich, that should say enough about what dieting can do to you.
You can do further harm to yourself and those around you. Feelings of guilt, shame and unworthiness are SO common when it comes to eating. And to make things worse, we can project our feelings about food and body image onto others. Saying things like, “You’re still hungry?!” or “That’s bad for you, have (insert “healthier” option here) instead.” are harmful and can push others into disordered eating and eating disorders. Often people who say these things to others can justify it to themselves because they think they are helping them be healthier. When in fact, these examples and others like them can lead to much more severe health issues than that piece of cake is going to give you.
What you eat, how much you eat and when you eat is up to you! And while living in a fat body can play a role in our health, it’s far from the whole story. You can live a healthy, satisfying life in a large body and an unhealthy and dissatisfying life in a small body. You can do everything “right” and die young and everything “wrong” and die late in life. At the end of the day, we only have control over so much, so why make our control over what we eat miserable? Find what you love to eat, find balance in what you eat, experiment, be creative, explore new foods and if you’re struggling with what to do, find a nutritionist you trust. Need a great nutritionist recommendation in the Chicago area? Check out my resources tab and look under Health Care Providers.
