Nutrition 101
Protein and nutrient rich foods
What is “Healthy?”
How often have you seen ads for foods and drinks labeled as “healthy” or “healthier for you?” Or more relevantly nowadays, how many social media influencers have you seen telling you that a certain food is “unhealthy” and “YOU NEED TO STOP EATING THIS NOW!” or “lose weight with one simple food hack?” Everything we consume seems to be labeled in such a black and white manner. So which foods are actually healthy?
That is the wrong question.
What foods are healthy for you? To answer that, let’s first ask what is “healthy?” The National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) defines health as “A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.“ Within the scope of nutrition, we can extrapolate “healthy foods” as those that contribute to a state of physical well-being. This definition is accurate, but it leads to the same question: how do you really know if you’re in a state of physical well-being other than “feeling” so?
The answer is…it depends. Let’s go back to “healthy.” If anything, healthy is relative. One person’s healthy might be another person’s “not-as-healthy.” One common example I use is Trail Mix Theory. If you tell someone trail mix is healthy, they will likely agree with you. To be fair, there is nothing inherently unhealthy about trail mix, except that it is calorie dense. If you’re going on a long, rigorous hike and are not trying to lose weight, you will need all these calories; in this case trail mix can be considered healthy. If, however, you’re trying to lose weight and you’re not hiking or performing the equivalent calorie-burning activity, trail mix would be…less healthy.
Going back to the question of “what is healthy for you,” the real question is “what are your fitness goals?” This is one of the first questions I ask all my clients, right after ensuring they are cleared for a fitness and nutrition regimen by their doctor. The most common fitness goal is weight loss. The key to weight/fat loss is maintaining a calorie deficit. A calorie deficit is achieved by burning more calories than you consume over an extended period of time. I have noticed many clients struggling to lose weight tend to hop from one social media trend to another: keto, carnivore, all-fruit, paleo, raw, intermittent fasting, etc. What is common among all these clients is that they never achieve calorie deficit. As an example, I had one client that would eat 5 avocadoes daily, plus 4 strips of bacon, 6 ounces of steak, 2 hamburgers (no buns), and a half-rack of ribs. Conservatively, this is about 2,700 calories. The client was doing “some kind of keto/carnivore thing” and eating very few carbs, but actually gained about 7 pounds over a 6-week period. After reviewing a 1-week food log and calculating other factors, we determined this client was actually in a 500-calorie surplus, despite moderate exercise.
Calories matter.
There are other factors, but when it comes to weight loss, it’s all about that deficit. But guess what? There are other fitness goals besides losing weight. There’s weight training for hypertrophy (bigger muscles) and strength training (similar to, but not the same as hypertrophy training). Every fitness goal, combined with every person’s unique fitness history, has specific calorie requirements. Depending on your fitness goals, you may want to be in a calorie surplus or be right around maintenance.
Is there more to it than that?
There’s a lot more to it. There’s macros (proteins, fats, carbs), micronutrients (vitamins and minerals), supplements; there’s meal strategy (meal prep, keeping snacks out of the house, etc.); there’s…well, there’s a whole lot more to nutrition, especially when it comes to your specific fitness goals. There’s a wealth of information all over the internet—both good and bad. The role of a Certified Nutrition Coach is to help you parse through all the data and figure out a plan that works best for you. The best plan for you must meet two strict requirements:
The plan delivers results, and
You are able to stick to it.
I could write all about what has worked for me and what hasn’t over 20+ years in fitness (and there’s been a lot that hasn’t worked), or give my opinions on the latest fad diet. What I will leave you with instead is some free advice:
FInd a strategy you can stick with long-term
Make sure it makes sense for you (e.g. don’t try switching to carnivore if you really don’t like eating meat).
Measure your progress in weekly or bi-weekly increments and see how it goes for you.
If you still need help, you have a Certified Nutrition Coach just a click away.
