It All Matters.

One of my co-workers at a local gym is a young lady working on improving her eating habits. We’ve had a few discussions about diet and nutrition, as she has asked me for information from time to time. The other day she told me that she had been really good during the week, 6 days of good eating- then she ate a bunch of junk food on the 7^th day. (“And on the 7^th day, God created Gummy Worms.”) She asked me, “So…does that count?” As in, does it matter that she ate well for the week, if she ate crap at the end of it? This struck me as an odd question at first, but in the end it illuminated some vital points.

Illuminated Point #1: People are really confused about what to eat and nutrition in general.

It seems odd that we should have so much confliction over something that we have been doing since the dawn of mankind. We’ve been eating FOREVER, for obvious reasons. We do it every day. We’ve done it our whole lives. But somehow we have made it overly complicated and confusing, especially in the context of the modern Western diet. Some of the typical noise I hear around nutrition sounds like: “Are those Lean Cuisine things healthy?” or “How much carbs should I eat?” or “Do I need to eat more protein if I’m exercising more?” Etcetera, etcetera. What should be simple, we have made complex and confusing.

Illuminated Point #2: Everything matters.

One thing I stress to my clients who are trying to lose weight or improve their wellness is this: our state of wellness is the culmination of many choices we make on a day to day basis over many years. We don’t go on vacation and gain 50 pounds- (though it might feel like it at times). Likewise, we don’t exercise and eat well for a week and lose 50 pounds. Every day we make choices that affect our health and wellness. Do I put cheese on this sandwich? Do I exercise today? Do I go out for ice cream? Do I go out for ice cream again since the first one was amazing? (I think I ask this question more than most people). Every one of these choices matters. So that answer to her question of “does it matter that I ate well for a week, if in the end I ate a bunch of junk food one day” is… YES! Absolutely it matters! How much better is it to have 5 or 6 days of healthy eating and one day of bad, than to have 7 days of bad eating? It is a lot better. Everything matters. If someone normally drinks 3 bottles of sugary soda a day, and they cut it down to drinking 1, that matters! It all adds up. It all counts. It all matters.

Illuminated Point #3: Avoid TMTS Syndrome.

TMTS Syndrome is a condition that afflicts millions of people every year who are trying to make changes in their life: they do Too Much, Too Soon (TMTS). If we are looking to make significant and wide scale changes in our life, it is best to do it incrementally. If our goal is to exercise 6 days a week, lose 30 pounds, reduce the amount of red meat we eat, increase our vegetable consumption, and stop drinking alcohol , then… WHOA! Slow down. Start by exercising a few times a week. Maybe cut meat out of one meal, replace it with more veggies, and have one glass of wine instead of two. Start with a weight loss goal of 5 pounds. But don’t try and do everything all at once, because we are humans, and we will hate it, and we will bitch and moan, and we will say “this sucks”, and then we will stop doing it. Completely. Change needs to be adapted to so that it becomes sustainable. As evidence of this, I asked the young lady at work a week later, “How is the eating going?” Her response: “Crappy. I’m eating junk again.” So I talked to her a little bit about moderate changes, as she had gone for the “flip-a-switch” approach previously. And I also pointed out that we make changes when we’re ready to.

So what should you eat? I don’t know- it’s too confusing. (I’m kidding, but I’ll get to that another time.)

Be Well.

Seth