If facebook required we establish a relationship status for food, most of us would probably opt for “it’s complicated”. But ohmygoodness are we ever over-complicating it by trying to define it via existing “dieting” paradigms. Gahhhhhh! #makesmecrazy
This is a soap box post. I own that. It’s not my typical style but I gotta put this out there. We’ve got some major misconceptions about a whole foods based diet and I want to clear them up.
It is not low carb unless you go out of your way to make it so.
It is not ketogenic unless you go far out of your way to make it so.
It is not low calorie unless you go out of your way to make it so.
It is not high protein unless you go out of your way to make it so.
It is exactly how we were intended to eat. What our bodies were built for. Whole foods. If it is “high” anything it is high veggie. Otherwise, it is moderate fat, moderate protein and moderate carbohydrate. A whole foods diet is not license to eat unlimited quantities of butter and bacon. #sorrynotsorry
Let’s stop using words like “high” and “low” and focus on what actually matters: Quality.
It is quality fat. It is quality protein. It is quality carbohydrate.
It is quality food. Anything beyond that is a CHOICE you have made based on what you buy at the store and what you put in your mouth.
Here’s the thing: food is fuel. Your body uses it just like your car uses gasoline to ensure that you can perform and function. However, food is also the raw material your body uses to heal, repair and continue to function. The phrase “you are what you eat” is cute but also true. These foods become the building blocks of your cells. If you eat fake, plastic, trans-fats, those fats are the raw materials used to create new cells. You are now fake, cheap and plastic. Awesome. #notabarbiegirl
This isn’t about counting calories or cutting carbs – it is about giving your body the best fuel possible. That is neither low carb, high carb, low protein, high protein, low fat or high fat. It is high quality. Beyond that, it is whatever you make it!
People automatically assume that when you cut out breads, pastas, crackers and all other processed foods that you’ve gone “low carb”. That is only true relative to the fact that the Standard American Diet is extremely high carb! The Standard American Diet should not be a relative measure for ANYTHING. That’s like assessing your body weight relative to the heaviest man on earth or your fitness level relative to the strongest man on earth. You have zero sense of perspective if your measuring stick is completely inaccurate. That’s what happens when we evaluate anything relative to the Standard American Diet.
Can you be very low carb while eating whole foods? Of course you can. Just like you can be very high fat, very low fat, very high protein, very low protein, very high calorie or very low calorie. I don’t advocate any of that. Can we settle for balanced and high quality? That’s the paradigm I’d LOVE to see people move towards.
…Drops mic…