Now that I am the girl with the nutrition blog, when I seem noshing on anything other than quinoa and kale I get comments like "wow, bet you won't tell your readers to eat that" or "hmm, haven't seen anything about the nutritional value of nachos on your blog." While I expect the comments to a degree and even make them myself occasionally (as in "won't be blogging about that huge piece of cake I just had"), the nature of the comments surprise me sometimes, especially because I don't consider this blog to be anti-indulgence or anti-any food group. I see it as one of many tools that can help people have a better understanding of the relationship between what they eat and how they look and feel. On the positive side, such comments force me to clarify what messages I am really trying to convey with the blog and what rules I live by when it comes to diet, health and nutrition.
When I interact with other members of social networking groups about health and nutrition or visit the alumni message boards of IIN, I can't help but notice that I am more lax about what I put in to my body than most people calling themselves health and nutrition experts. I don't really know my way around a supplements aisle; I don't avoid dairy or gluten like the plague; I love to eat out (everything from Tex-Mex to five-star dining) and I let my child eat more sugar than he probably should, especially if it means he'll stop whining. Anyone who knows me knows that while my weight falls in a healthy range and I like to exercise, I am not particularly thin nor do I ever eat like a bird. If forced to say whether I was in the "eat to live" or "live to eat" category I might have to say the latter; however, I do believe in a strong connection between what we eat and how we live. To sum up, I would say that I eat "very consciously but not very conscientiously." I may not always eat really healthfully, but I know when I am and when I'm not, and I try to strike a good balance between the quality of my diet and the overall quality of my life. Because life should be like a box of chocolates, not a bag of brown rice, right?
But do I practice what people think I preach? To briefly describe my own dietary habits, what works for me is to prepare most of my own meals using whole, natural ingredients (think steel cut oats or scrambled eggs in the morning, a large salad with ample protein for lunch and fish with vegetables for dinner), but splurge occasionally, mostly on the weekends -- eating whatever I desire at restaurants, venturing out for ice cream with my son or enjoying a decadent meal cooked by my husband. I tend to prefer what people think of as healthy food, but I have a big appetite so curbing portions is a bigger challenge for me than cutting out junk. I try not to overdo the sugar and generally avoid heavily processed foods, fast food and fried foods; but for me, it's really more about getting the right stuff in than keeping the wrong stuff out, so I make sure I am eating from every food group and getting plenty of plants in my diet. So, that's what I practice in a nutshell.
As for what preach ... What I want this blog to be about is sharing information (based on my studies and common sense) about what foods are healthful and what foods are not (and what "foods" are not actually food) and then letting people take that knowledge and do what they want with it, including disagree with it. I try to distinguish between what foods are healthful as opposed to what foods make sense on a weight-loss plan because too many people, as a result of the media messaging and marketing around food, think the definition of health food is diet food (low fat, low calorie) or think diet food is always good for you. I couldn't disagree more. I want to stop people from thinking they were "good that day" because they subsisted on a slim fast bar, a Diet Coke and a low-calorie frozen entree. In my opinion, this is where the culture of food and weight has gotten so off base: people think homemade lasagna is BAD and meal replacement shakes sweetened with aspartame are GOOD. I like to think I am clearing the noise a little and helping you actually LISTEN to your own body rather than the cacophony of mixed messages coming at you from diet books, magazines and food advertisers, all of which care more about their bottom line than the size of your bottom (not to mention your insulin and cholesterol levels).
I also like to think I am helping people, especially women, be realistic about health and weight. Every week someone I know starts a new celebrity-endorsed cleanse or fad diet in the hopes of losing those 5-10 lbs they don't really need to lose. When I see stick-thin celebrities in magazines confessing "I was bulimic" or "I was obsessed with my weight," I think "DUH!" Looking like a model takes either a ton of good habits or a lot of bad habits. Being TV-thin means eating very conscientiously whether you are being health-conscious or not. Some of these celebrities may really eat healthfully and stick to a plant-based diet or veggies and lean protein, but it's also possible that many use unhealthy tricks to stay thin like stimulants, purging or starvation. As I have told a few people, crack and meth will make you skinny too but they aren't good for you. That being said, nuts and whole grain breads are good for you but eat loads of either a day and you won't be thin. Being healthy takes many forms; healthy for you may be a size 10, but it may be a 2 for someone else. One of the first steps to being healthy is being realistic about what weight is healthy for you.
Being Hollywood thin takes more sacrifice than I am willing to make, but being healthy also takes effort -- cooking a lot of your own meals, regular exercise, using will power when necessary -- and I am willing to do that work. This is my balance. It works for me. Inhabit Health's mission is to help you find your own balance by providing you with the knowledge and tools to make dietary choices that empower you and make sense for your life. Inhabit Health is not about shedding pounds, it's about shedding light on a field clouded by misinformation and false marketing promises. I want to be sure I am answering your questions so feel free to suggest an idea for a blog post; I can't promise I will tackle it, but I will at least try to direct you to someone who does. As always, thanks for reading!
For more information on my personalized coaching style, visit my website www.inhabithealth.com.
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