No more Diets! Eat for Health.

I say this to my clients on a regular basis. No more Diets! "Diet" is an ugly four letter word. I'm sure it's a learned ugliness, but I don't know many people who see it in positive light, and in most of us it conjures up feelings of dread while we consider the percieved insane levels of deprivation required.

Seriously: we need to change the way we look at food and the way our clients look at food. It is our fuel, not our enemy. Without it we cannot function even at the most basic level.

Diet should refer to a set of lifestyle habits, and it should be used in conjunction with words like 'balanced' and 'nutritious', not 'deprivation'. Eating is about fuelling our bodies for optimum health and performance and it should be enjoyable.

As I see it, it's a primary function of Health Coaches to educate our clients to this paradigm, rather than having them continue in fear of food or even specific foods, just as it is our responsibility to educate them to be active in a balanced way.

It's our job to educate them so that they can freely choose to use and enjoy higher quality fuel most of the time, as well as treats without guilt. When our clients are in fear of food, they cannot look at nutrition from a blanced viewpoint and they will continue to look for the mystical weight-loss and health panaceas that we know do not exist beyond a sound balanced diet and managing the energy equation.

Here's how I look at it:
Humans are designed to eat enough food at regular intervals to maintain their health and wellness, and if we flout nature's laws, our bodies become unbalanced and we become unwell over a period of time.

What is enough?

Enough is when you feel almost full - around 80% of what you think your total capacity is. Stop eating when you've had enough.


What is food?

Food is a combination of energy and essential vitamins and minerals. Energy (calories or kilojoules) is provided by the body when breaking down the three macronutrients: Carbohydrates, Proteins and Fats. And we need all three along with essential vitamins and minerals (micronutrients - used to help resynthesise body tissues and chemicals) just so that our bodies and brains can continue to survive.

Food is found in the ground or in the water, as well as on trees, bushes and vines, or it feeds on the stuff that grows from the ground or water before we feed on it.

What about cravings?

Generally, enough is when you feel satisfied. When you feel full and you don't feel satisfied (when you're still craving something extra even though you know you're full) it's generally for one of two main reasons. The first is psychological / emotional and can include boredom, stress, procrastination, sadness, joy, anger, fear etc. The second is physical and is caused by your body not receiving the nutrients or water it requires to carry out it's basic functions. The trick is to know the difference.

If you're full and still craving:

1. Grab some fresh water and drink it. Enjoy it. Then if you still have those nagging cravings and desire for more food, even though you're full:
2. Check-in with yourself: how are feeling? Are you trying to put something off, or fill some time? Are you angry, afraid, sad, or even looking to celebrate? Will eating anything possibly solve the issue at hand?
3. If you're still craving and you don't believe it's emotional, consider whether or not you're tired. If you're genuinely tired, your body WILL crave sugar, so grab some fresh or dried fruit and some fresh water.
4. If you're not tired, start to consider what you've already eaten over your day - was it balanced? Could you be missing some vital carbs, protein, fats, vitamins, and or minerals? Is your body giving you a message that it really needs something else? If it is, then make your best guess and fix the issue (trust yourself- you'll usually be correct)

Enjoy looking after yourself through good nutrition and your body will give you pretty much everything you ask of it.