Hey guys!!! as you can tell from the title, what is something you learned later in life, but wish you knew much earlier?
(Don’t feel limited to post one if you have several good points)
Dietary fat isn’t bad. Balance is good. Focus on how you feel as opposed to the numbers all the time. Days where you deviate from your routine path aren’t inherently bad or make you a failure. Your mental health is just as important as your physical health.
My number 1 thing would be:It’s not what you eat, it’s how much of it you eat.
Bonus tips are add things to your nutrition before you subtract. Get consistent then modify as needed.
Food = fuel. That paradigm shift will change how you think about food.
Figure out what you really enjoy eating. Like what can you eat every day and not get sick of? For me it’s 1oz of cashews, string cheese, cheeto snack pack, etc.
Watch out for ‘absolute’ language. Very very few things in nutrition fall into the never/always category. Don’t ever think you must have a certain food in your diet or there’s a food you can never have.
The closest thing to a ‘never’ would be trans fats. Having none is better than even very little. But most foods don’t even have them anymore. And the ones that do, it’s pretty obvious bc it’s fast food or whatever. And yes, even sugar is okay (in smaller amounts). Good luck trying to get zero anyways
I wish I had understood energy balance. It’s so easy to fall for people spewing “you have to eat insert fad diet to lose weight”, or “said diet is better and supremely healthy and you are harming your health by not eating this way”. The truth of healthy eating is simple. Eat enough protein, mostly whole foods. Track your intake and adjust as needed. Sure there is nuance but I wish I never thought butter coffee was healthy! Lol
Real food comes from a garden, a vine or a tree. - not a factory. An apple or banana is time released to your bloodstream. Candy bars and breakfast cardboard cereal disguised as food dump sugar right into then system and you crash later. Eat popcorn, not chips. Eat oatmeal or eggs, not cereal. Don’t get distracted by nutrient labels or protein labels. Most of it is indigestible any way. Eat real food.
The importance of Fibre!! Don’t cut carbs- change to reasonable portions of high fibre carbs. High Fibre is >6g/100g Add Veggies to Everything!!!! Making mince- grate a few carrots and courgettes in, add lentils. *Food as fuel….don’t starve your body- you only have 1!
But most importantly- the role of food in inflammation and chronic pain. Since changing my diet my chronic pain is significantly better despite drinking less painkillers than ever.
What has helped me a lot is changing my mindset.. Instead of focusing on trying to cut out “bad” foods like sweets I focus on trying to add better choices.. a bit of veggies over hear, a snack of fruit.. in the long run I just tend drop off the other foods more naturally.. I also am into eating when I am hungry not at specific meal times.. during the week I sometimes have dinner at 5:30 pm or 6 pm and can stay up late.. this works for me.. trying to listen to my body’s cues