I would say about 4 years ago I really got into health and fitness. I started working out 5-6 days a week and began eating healthier. But the eating part is something that has taken me 4 years to really start mastering (and I would still consider myself learning about what is best to put into my body, it is an on-going process). I dabbled in different nutrition plans. I attempted a paleo diet (this lasted a week, a little too much meat for me), gone vegan (a month), and vegetarian (a couple months).
I would say for most people nutrition is the hardest thing to nail down when getting into shape, and like I mentioned above it was no different for me. I knew what was bad (fast food, high sodium foods, etc), but there's so many differing opinions out there on what type of diets are right. You have the paleo enthusiasts who think our cave-man ancestors had it right with animal meats and veggies. You have the opposite side of the spectrum of vegans, who think dairy, meat, and animal products can cause multiple health problems and increase the chances of cancer and disease within the body. Then you have everything in between.
I've backed all these point of views at some point or another, thinking that this diet or that diet was the "right" diet. But after 4 years of tinkering, researching, and trying all these diets, I've come to the realization there is no perfect diet that will guarantee you living until you're 100 years old. Each diet has strengths, but they also have weaknesses, which is why I'm now taking the flexitarian approach and assimilating all these diets into my own diet. I've come to the conclusion that going to one extreme with your diet is not right or healthy for you in the long run. And I mean this in general, because our bodies are so individualized and different from one another that some unique people may be able to live off of one diet extreme their whole lives with no health problems. But for the common person out there, these extremes can hurt you in the long run. I've read about people who were vegans for 15-25 years, and began having health complications because they lacked the nutrients, vitamins, and benefits that certain animal products provided, and are now eating meat. I've also heard about people who ate WAY too much meat and had health complications because of it.
Balance is key. I also think that when we start treating our diets like religion two things happen. One, we stress the hell out of ourselves to stay strictly to our diet ethics...we start to miss out on things in life (like eating the wedding cake at a friend's wedding because it has dairy) or not eating out with friends because they don't share the same diet beliefs as us. Two, we start to become judgmental of those who don't share our diet beliefs. I found myself doing this while trying out the vegan diet, and it just makes you miserable, and pushes others away from you.
The thing that really drove this new take on nutrition though is reading Drop Dead Healthy (I've mentioned this book before and really recommend it). The author, A.J. Jacobs, wrote about an aunt of his in the book who was an extremely holistic, healthy vegetarian. She did everything healthy a person could possibly do to avoid toxins, disease, and sickness. And what happened at the end of the book? She died from cancer at the age of 63. Another man Jacobs mentioned in the book was Jim Fixx, who helped start the modern fitness revolution who died at the age of 52 of a heart attack after his daily run. These people did all the right things, health wise, and still died (albeit in their fifties and sixties at least). Unfortunately we can die tomorrow by walking across the street and being hit by a car, putting to waste all our efforts in living a healthy life. Death will take us at some point regardless of all we've done to prevent death in the first place, sometimes unfairly, but these examples go to show that a diet like veganism doesn't necessarily protect us from disease. cancer, and death. I don't think any diet can.
BUT, this is not to say it's okay to eat all the processed, crappy food out there that is detrimental to your health. If you want to risk going to McDonalds everyday just because healthy people still die and you're thinking what's the point, then be my guest. I still believe, regardless of whether it's meat, veggies, grains, nuts, etc, that if you eat the RIGHT foods, you're putting yourself in the fast track to a longer, healthier, life. Eating organic, whole foods, will make you feel good, and will put the right fuel in your body to knock your workouts out of the park. Here's some of the things I will eat and will still not eat now:
- I've gone back to eating chicken at least 5 times a week. I still do not like eating any type of red meat on a consistent basis, but will eat it on occasion.
- I eat egg whites now, but not whole eggs.
- For the most part I do not consume much dairy, but have allowed it back into my diet at times, mostly in the form of supplements (whey protein). I will have cheese once in awhile.
- I eat a load of carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, and black beans. Fruit wise, 1-2 bananas a day, 1-2 apples a day, frozen blueberries, and raisins. I try to watch getting too much sugar from fruits, although it's way better than processed sugar. I will also juice a bunch of different greens (kale, parsely, cucumbers, collards) every so often.
- And of course I get all my super foods from Shakeology (I will always back this product, it is legit).
Right now, physically and mentally, I feel the best I ever had with this diet. When I was vegan, I felt more energy and awake, but very weak during work outs. When I went paleo (for a week mind you, very small sample size), I felt amazingly strong but like crap on the inside. And I guess that's the point of this post...if you're looking to get in shape and start eating right, you won't get it right the first time. You could follow all the diet plans out there, but remember, those are usually tailored to a large mass of people, and everyone is unique and different. It's going to take time before you get it right, so don't get frustrated if one diet isn't working right away, it most likely means you just need to make some changes to it to get it right.
In the end, do your research before starting a diet. Get both points of views, both the positives and the negatives, and evaluate whether you feel it would be the best diet for you.
And one last tip, if weight loss is your goal, don't use a scale to measure your success, instead use waist size. If you're eating the right foods and working out, you'll most likely be gaining muscle, and the scale won't be a true indicator of your success. So keep an eye on how many waste sizes you're dropping instead.
