When I start working with a new client I always bring up nutrition. I ask "What does your typical diet look like?" Sometimes my client will respond with "oh don't worry, I eat really healthy." I worry. I have learned that the "I eat healthy" clients are usually the clients who can benefit the most from nutritional coaching. There are two main reasons for this: people who claim to eat healthy tend to completely ignore portion sizes, or they tend to be eating foods that are marketed as healthy, but really aren't. Let's get a few things straight about healthy eating...
What is healthy?
Healthy means nutrient dense, minimally processed food. Vegetables, unprocessed meats and fish, eggs, nuts, seeds, and fruits are prime examples. Foods without labels come first, foods with ingredients you can pronounce (greek yogurt or quinoa, for example) come second. The reason for this is these sorts of foods have the highest levels of micronutrients, vitamins and minerals that you must get from your diet. Micronutrients make up your cells, regulate hormones, metabolic reactions and so much more. Getting micronutrients entirely from supplements or from processed food isn't the same. Processed food doesn't have the correct ratios or quality of micronutrients and lacks fiber and prebiotics (healthy gut substrate). Processed food also has chemicals and additives which aren't so great for you, but, I bet you knew that already.
The gilded image of health
A lot of foods are marketed as 'health foods' like: granola (and any kind of cereal), fat-free dairy, margarine, whole grain bread, muffins, and juices. The marketing behind these foods plays up the fact that they are lower fat options, this is a problem. In order to make these foods lower in fat, their sugar content has been jacked up and their micronutrient profile robbed. The bread and grain products listed are highly processed, sugar-laden and calorie dense. Fat-free dairy is also rather processed, very sugary and far away from real milk. Juice has all the sugar from fruits without their fiber or prebiotics. Margarine is made of trans fat, the only dietary fat that is actually bad for you, it is more of a plastic than a food.
Dietary fat (even saturated) and cholesterol are not bad for you. One third of your fat intake should be from saturated fat in order to regulate hormones and catalyze important reactions in your body. Cholesterol makes up your your cell walls, regulates hormones and is crucial in the production of vitamin D (a micronutrient so important that you can synthesize it from the sun). Dietary cholesterol has very little to do with clogged arteries and heart disease. In most cases, refined sugar has more of an effect on blood cholesterol levels than dietary cholesterol.
Some of my clients are surprised when I tell them to choose eggs (or avocado, for my vegan clients) over cereal for breakfast, or that they should get at least 2% milk instead of skim. A lot of my clients want to loose fat, so they point out that my substitutions are slightly higher in calories, what gives? First, calories aren't fool proof, what is on the label isn't really what your body absorbs. Second, the slight increase in calories is worth the increase in nutrients and decrease in chemicals. Third, foods with a slightly higher fat content boast a huge increase in satiety and blood sugar regulation over their fat-free and sugary frenemies.
Health treats
Maybe you already knew muffins are not health foods, excellent. Once you've educated yourself out of being deceived by obviously unhealthy 'health foods,' you immediately become a target consumer of 'health treats.' Health treats are basically desserts made out of healthy, raw or organic ingredients. Visit your local health food store and you'll find isles of 'healthy' cookies, bars and shakes. Allow me to clarify, I don't begrudge my clients a treat here and there, but I don't allow them to justify it as a health food. Vegan cookies, paleo pancakes, 'healthy' ice cream or frozen yogurt, chia pudding, 'health' bars, smoothie bowls, etc should not be the bulk of your diet. These foods are very calorie dense and not extremely nutrient dense, despite their healthy-ish ingredients.
Bottomless Bowls
The last pitfall of the healthy eater is portion control. This one is HUGE. The healthy and organic umbrella doesn't protect you from the lightning of eating too much. Calories aren't the end-all-be-all, but they are useful when looking at an entire day or week of eating and they are significant in cases of portion control. Vegetables and leafy greens are difficult to overindulge on because they have a high volume (surface area) and very few calories. Nuts, fruits, grains and fatty meats or fish are very easy to eat too much of. These items are very nutrient dense, which is great, but are also very calorie dense and low volume. If you eat these items frequently and are having difficulty losing fat, start measuring your portions. Read 8:00 for information on how to measure.
Liquid calories are another huge pitfall for the healthy eater. Healthy eaters love to make smoothies, which can be dangerous when trying to lose fat. I had one client log what was in her daily smoothie, it came out to be around 700 calories. If I told you you had to sit down and eat (not drink) all your smoothie ingredients in one sitting, would you be uncomfortably full? Protein powder and vegetables, maybe some unsweetened almond or coconut milk should be in your smoothie if you must have one. Fruits and nut butters should be eaten, not blended if you're trying to loose fat. This is because fruits and nut butters are not items that you need to blend up to get in your diet, they are easy and tasty (for most) to eat.
Hard Gainers
If you are trying to gain mass as a healthy eater, you most likely aren't eating enough. When a weight gain client says s/he eats healthy, it usually means s/he is scared of getting fat. You will gain a nominal amount of fat along with the muscle you are trying to gain, being afraid of this fat is going to hold you back from getting jacked. For mass gainers, do the opposite of everything I said in the previous section. Do not measure or limit your portions, eat more fruits, nuts, fatty fish, and drink liquid calories. Weight gainers should be drinking lots of smoothies, ones with fruit and nut butter, this makes eating a high amount of calories easier to stomach.
Healthy and enlightened
Now you know how to be truly healthy in a world of unhealthy health foods, health treats and bottomless bowls. This knowledge is powerful, but nothing is more powerful than knowing yourself and listening to your instincts. Healthy eaters, you know when you're eating something that isn't so great for you or your goals. You must stop justifying your choices because they are 'healthy,' and start owning up to all your decisions on an even gradient. If something is harming your body or bringing you farther away from your goal, cut it out.
