We’re kicking off a series of conversations with people with different perspectives on all things health, nutrition and fitness. It might challenge your assumptions, or even inspire you to try something you previously thought you never would!
This week we're chatting to Cross Fit Coach and Nutritionist Becs about embracing all foods. It is so important to understand that you shouldn't cut out any food groups and everything should be eaten within moderation. Let's talk about it.
When was the last time you heard yourself or someone around you say “I shouldn’t eat that doughnut, that would be bad”, “Oat flat white please - that’s the good choice isn’t it?” or “I had such a bad weekend, I ate out so much, back to clean eating today though”. Sadly I hear it way too often, and quite frankly I don’t blame people for thinking of foods as ‘good’ and ‘bad’ when that’s what, over the years, you have read in newspapers, magazines, on the news and most recently on social media.
It can be an absolute minefield, and that is why I am so passionate about the work I do. I am passionate to help educate people on the fundamentals of nutrition and to help people understand their bodies and how to eat for life to live the healthiest, happiest life. A life controlled by food thoughts and labelling foods good and bad is a life I wouldn’t wish for anyone to live. However, sadly due to the misinformation that is thrown around, particularly on social media, this is becoming a more and more common way of life.
I am not sure where the ‘clean eating’ movement even started but food should not ever be labelled ‘clean’ and ‘dirty’ - food is food. As soon as you view foods as ‘clean’ and ‘dirty’ or ‘good’ and ‘bad’, you are instantly looking at them in a negative light and removing every other association you have with that food. Food is essential to human life. For something that is absolutely vital for survival and a determining factor in the health and the longevity of your life, shouldn’t it be something we view in a positive light?! Food choices are decisions that have to be made every single day, so why should we have added unnecessary stress around something that is a huge factor of our day to day life.
Not only is it vital for survival, but food plays a huge social role too. Socialising over food is so important. Whether it is as simple as a family meal in the home, or a birthday celebration with friends, a wedding for close friends, a meeting with clients, a date with someone you are interested in and like or a kids birthday party, there will be frequent events throughout all stages of life that will be unavoidable. Socialising over food opens us to new experiences, cultures, allows us to connect with new people, form new relationships, allows us to switch off from a stressful situation, it gives us events to look forward to and creates an element of structure and routine to our day to day life. Why should anyone have to associate these positives with negatives? They shouldn’t. And this is why I am passionate to help people form a healthier relationship with food to ensure that they can experience all these positives.
The fundamentals of following a ‘clean’ diet do suggest consuming more whole, natural and unprocessed foods such as vegetables, fruits, grains, lean meats, nuts and seeds, whilst limiting highly processed foods such as biscuits, crisps, processed meats, sweets and other snack foods. Therefore, yes, you could say this is a positive view as it does support an overall healthier diet. However, if this consequently leads to viewing processed foods as ‘dirty’ and foods that cannot be eaten ever then it can lead to an unhealthy relationship with food. If you wish to remove all processed foods from your diet then that is absolutely fine and a personal choice. However, if you find this to be affecting your day to day life, for instance, avoiding social situations and creating great stress around food choices then it becomes unsustainable and has a negative impact on your life.
This is why it is so important to understand that food is food. You shouldn’t look at a food and instantly think of it as a carbohydrate or fat or protein. All foods contain calories and all foods have their own unique nutrition composition. That is why all foods serve a purpose in the diet. Some foods are more nutritious than others but this doesn’t make a less nutritious food a ‘bad’ food.
The diet should be made up with as many nutritious foods as possible to ensure you provide your body with all the macro and micro nutrients that it needs to thrive and promote long term health. However, that also means that less nutritious foods can be included in the diet too if you wish too. If you are someone who has a sweet tooth and loves the occasional chocolate bar or pastry with your weekend coffee, then allow yourself to have these foods when you want them. If you have all the foods you wish to include in your diet, little and often, then I can guarantee you won’t ever find yourself ‘craving’ these foods and you will also find you have a better relationship with food overall.
To conclude, we live in a world where nutrition can be extremely confusing. It can be hard to know who and what to believe when you read constantly conflicting information. Having a healthy relationship with food is absolutely vital to long term health and should be number one priority regardless of what your specific health related goals are. Please feel free to reach out to Becs at info@becssandwith.co.uk if you feel this is an area that you would benefit from more personalised advice.
