No discussion of good vs bad foods and no ‘Disordered Eating.’
I followed a program, with coaches who are good people, that based itself on macronutrient calculations. They have a very active, private Facebook group and people support one another, discuss recipes, strategies and everything else that makes for a successful ‘diet’. I was able to see great results on this. But its not really a diet, it’s a way of living.
Think about that; a way of living. Many of us think of Diets (capital D) as a brand or formal title; WW, Paleo, Keto, etc. Then there’s diets; lowercase d and the way you eat; Vegan, Mediterranean or just whatever you want. I think any one of us who’s tried to lose weight has embraces a Capital D diet. Anyone who’s concerned about their health has likely looked into or followed a lower d diet. One is focused on losing fat while the other is about living your life.
SO back to this group. My goal was to make the Macro diet my lower d diet way of living. I wanted to get to a point where I wasn’t tracking, but knew about how much protein, carbs and fat I needed and make adjustments if I was trying to get stronger, lose fat, whatever. On it’s own, I don’t think it’s bad at all. There are no bad foods, there’s just a tradeoff. Eat those wings; but you’re going to go the rest of day without much more fat. Something about that never felt right. I get the reasoning; you have a budget, but is living your whole life on a strict, unbreakable budget really that fun?
Someone was ill. Just a cold and cough, and someone in the FB group reminded them how many carbs were in their cough medicine. That did it for me…that isolated what I felt wasn’t quite right. I get griping that bacon has so much fat, and anyone would agree it’s best in moderation, but to worry about how medicine will affect your diet plan??? That’s disordered eating.
It came into focus so fast. I love food. I love to eat. I stress eat. Thinking about food all the time; when’s my next meal or snack, can I have a protein drink, what about dinner? That’s not something I need to be doing! I need to forget about food! I looked through the group and there were so many people simply obsessed with what and how much they were eating. People who’d worry about attending a party where there would be cake. People going on vacation hoping there would be lean protein options. People who had a handful of carbs but no protein or fat, left wanting to know the best kind of cracker for them! I couldn’t leave that group fast enough!
Are there ‘sometimes’ foods? Absolutely. Is it the end of the world if I’m on vacation and have bacon with breakfast every day? Absolutely not. Should I eat bacon every day? Probably not. That doesn’t make it good or bad; just something that’s best enjoyed in moderation. That’s how I’m approaching all of this. If there are 2 birthday parties this weekend, I’m going to have the cake because I probably won’t have any until the next birthday.
I know what’s wrong with the way I’m eating and living. I know what types of foods need to appear more often, and which ones need to appear less. I’m not cutting myself off from any of them. There’s no 12 step program for buffalo wings. It’s simply better to make them a treat and enjoy what can be done with broccoli or arugula.
And isn’t arugula the glitter of the food world? It’s a license to charge more for whatever it is. Pizza: $5.50. Pizza with arugula: $9.50