WANT TO KNOW WHAT TO EAT? DON’T MAKE THIS MISTAKE

If you want to waste your time run a meeting without an agenda. Without a clear focus, the loudest voice wins. That is where we are with eating for our ‘health’. A term as broad as the horizon. When the goal is ‘health’, when the focus is not clear, it’s no wonder that confusion reigns when it comes to deciding what to eat.

Health by definition is a state of being free from illness or injury.

So, who decides what healthy is? Who determines how free from illness or injury you need to be?

I personally don’t use the word health. I have taken it out of my vocabulary like other words that have no meaning — holistic, functional, work-life balance.

In my world, I like definitions to be black and white. Each of these words has a definition that is linked to a personal interpretation. Yet, people call themselves experts on the topic.

How can you be an expert on something when each person has a different definition of what that something is?
Exercise had the same problem. Each coach taught a different method and was vying to be the expert on exercise. Now, exercise coaches promote a speciality.

Four-week transformations, powerlifters, sports models, CrossFit, strongman, endurance running groups, post-natal, circuit training or spin — are all variations on the word ‘exercise’ yet each makes it very clear to the consumer what they are getting.

Nutrition has to do the same. To clear up the confusion it needs to get specific. It can’t be just about health. Health is not a goal or a poor one at best.

I hope the vast numbers of people being trained in nutrition are graduating with a speciality in mind. A clear focus on what problem (that can be measured) they are going to solve by changing their client’s food.
Health is a word I hear when people are actually talking about weight loss. When an executive is in denial that they have a problem (their weight) they will talk about their health.

When you combine the two it creates confusion about what to eat — “can I eat this food…it’s healthy?”

Health and weight loss are not the same thing. One is the absence of illness and the other is removing excess weight. Confusion sets in when foods, that are labelled healthy, need to be restricted in order to lose weight. Likely examples are juices, smoothies, bircher muesli, oats and whole grain carbohydrates.

None of these foods is bad. All I can stress is that health and weight loss are not the same thing.

If you want to clear up the confusion of what to eat, journalist Michael Pollan said it best “eat food, not too much, mostly plants”.

If you are looking for more detail, it requires greater focus. The quality of the advice that you get will be determined by the quality of the questions you ask.

What do you want? Don’t make the mistake of saying you want greater health…define the problem you are trying to solve (weight, lack of energy, physical pain, bloating, anxiety), get specific and then ask for help.