The Habit of Healthy Eating

Back in my personal training days, I did what I could to tell people that the best way for health was a simple one. Don’t over think it. When it comes to eating, just eat the same few foods over and over and you will have success. Instead of focusing on a diet – just focus on the habit of healthy eating.

The Habit of Healthy Eating

Everyone is on the latest fad diet. Keto or Carnivore. Mediterranean or Paleo. Vegan or South Beach. Blood type or raw foods. Low carb/no carb or high protein. High fat or low fat. The list really goes on and on. It’s crazy – and it drives me crazy. I always called DIET a dirty 4 letter word.

A diet is simply nothing more than what you eat. The definition of a diet, according to Merriam-Webster, is as follows:

Definition of DIET
a : food and drink regularly provided or consumed
b : habitual nourishment

Habitual nourishment – literally the habit of nourishing yourself. The habit – not the type – the habit. Food and drink regularly consumed. It’s a name – it’s the process of eating SOMETHING.

Think about how people are marketing diets. Have you ever known someone to stick to one diet for a long amount of time? There are some people who do that, but most don’t. Most follow a “diet” for a certain amount of time, then fall off the wagon then don’t follow anything. People that Yo-Yo in their weight is probably due to the fact that people Yo-Yo on their diets. People say “this diet didn’t work for me because…” and then gives a myriad of excuses when in reality, diets literally were made for a short term solution. Intentionally changing the way you are eating – remember a diet is a habit – without making it a habit won’t stick. Pure and simple.

The body craves homeostasis and equilibrium. It wants to be leveled out. It wants the HABIT of eating. Switching your body from low carb, to high carb, to no carb, to low fat, to a high fat, to no fat, to high fiber, to low fiber and everything in between doesn’t allow your body to find a leveling out status. Eating all sorts of foods and all sorts of different diets creates havoc on your body. A healthy lifestyle needs to be just that: A lifestyle. It isn’t short term. It isn’t switching from diets to diets. It is consistently eating clean, healthy foods day in and day out.

What Is Healthy Eating

First off, let’s be real: I am not a dietitian. Do not take “diet” information from anyone other than a registered dietitian. They have spend years of studying and getting certified to give you specific diets to follow. Since I am not a a dietitian,  I will never prescribe a specific “diet” for someone to follow. I just am not educated in that way. With that said, I often review what people are eating and make generic suggestions on what they should eat. I also will recommend very generic ways of eating healthy. A dietitian will specifically show you want to eat, and in what quantities of nutrients and calories. I won’t get that specific.

When I do recommend what to eat people, I use the common sense diet. If you don’t think you should eat it, chances are you probably shouldn’t be eating it. If you can’t pronounce the ingredients, chances are you should be eating it. If your great grandmother would have smacked you for eating it, chances are you shouldn’t eat it. I love to teach a clean, close to the source eating method. It is a very basic method, but it works for a majority of the population. Fruits, veggies, lean meats, protein, essential fats, nuts, water, etc. Simple foods. This should be the basis of what you eat. A salad is better than a double cheeseburger. Duh, right? The more hands it has to touch to get to you, the more processed it is, the more unhealthy it gets. Simple foods. That is really what you need to eat.

Here is another thing to ponder. There is a lot of talk about no carb, low carb, carb cycling, etc. Think about this for a second: Your body needs essential amino acids. This means that you have proteins that your body needs that it does not synthesize (produce), so you must find them in your diet. In other words, you need to ingest protein in your diet. Your body also has a need for essential fats. Again, this means that you have essential fats that your body needs to run properly that it does not make naturally, therefore, you need to get it from the foods you eat. Your body does not have an essential need for carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are a form of energy in your body so they are great for a fuel source. However, if fuel sources are not used, they turn in to fat, and not the healthy kind.

I have said on more than one occasion that getting healthy isn’t rocket science. People are trying so hard to find a quick fix that they are losing sight of the bigger picture. It isn’t in the short term. If you want long-lasting results, you need to make quality lifestyle changes to get your habits to stick. It doesn’t happen overnight. It isn’t found in a pill or injects. You need to change your life, not your diet.

Create the habit of healthy eating.