Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Lies about healthy eating
HOW often do you speak of “falling off the wagon” when you deviate from your efforts to eat healthier foods?
As someone who is prone to falling – physically – I associate this with pain and injury. Which got me thinking… do we feel physical pain when we fall off the proverbial wagon? Or is it actually, shame and guilt that we feel?
And let me be brutally honest here: I don’t believe in feeling shame or guilt about what I eat and I don’t believe you should either.
Sure, if you’re trying to be healthier or if you’re trying to lose weight, acknowledge a moment of regret, but don’t hold onto it.
And you should certainly not expend any energy worrying about what other people will say, or trying to hide your mistakes from them.
A couple of things have happened recently that prompted me to write about this.
Most significant was a question in a survey I completed as part of a study I participated in at UCT which explored the relationship between successful weight loss maintenance and working memory function. While I don’t recall the exact wording, the essence of the question was: do you sometimes eat in secret or are there certain foods you eat in secret.
This question was in the section of the survey aimed at identifying potential eating disorders.
It’s particularly relevant in this age of social media, when we’re all selling a version of the life we really live – and, in the case of many health and fitness social media “influencers”, only a small portion of the meals they really eat.
Honestly, I’m sometimes guilty of it too. When someone talks about Gatsbys or KFC, I will chirp in about how delicious they are, but you won’t find me indulging in such foods because I’m trying to take better care of my body than I used to. Probably worse is people who are the picture of health, but claim to “eat whatever I like”. The truth is that many people are lying about what they eat or don’t eat, or what they do to keep in shape. And it’s these lies that distort reality for people who are truly struggling to adapt. For what it’s worth, here are my thoughts on some of the other lies and untruths that dominate the world of healthy living.
Diets… and life thereafter:
Okay sure, be on a diet, but understand that whatever success you achieve will be short-lived unless you are able to sustain the changes you make to achieve your goals. Rather than implementing restrictive, unenjoyable short-term changes, tweak your eating and exercise plan to include things you enjoy and that you can see being part of your lifestyle long-term.
Cheat days:
Since hearing Jill Coleman speak about her Moderation 365 programme, I’ve tried to live my life with this in mind. It’s all about balance and the way I see it, cheat days encourage the belief that you should be rewarding yourself for eating well six days of the week with one day of indulgence.
I’m exercising so I can eat what I like:
To lose weight you need to be in calorie deficit, ie, you need to be burning more calories than you’re eating. However, few people realise exactly how many calories are in their favourite foods – and how much exercise it takes to burn that.