I'm usually a very even-tempered person. (Stop laughing, Steve.) I usually try to be a very even-tempered person, but nothing gets my blood boiling like false ideas and propaganda disguised as helpful nutrition advice. If you ever want to waste a hour or two ask me about yogurt…or "where I get my protein." The reason I get so incensed by these things is because brain space is a precious commodity. The more it is clogged with misinformation and jargon, the less room that is left for truth and innovation. We will never make lasting change in this world if our brains are occupied with nonsensical busy work like trying to figure out how many carbs are in an Olive Garden breadstick. So, in honor of loving transformation, I propose that the following useless ideas get shipped back to 2011:
2011: Metabolism
2012: Flow
You don't have a metabolism. Not in the way that you think that you do. People talk about their metabolism in the same way they talk about their hair color or height: as a definitive, birth issued statistic that is fixed and unchangeable. Metabolism is actually "the chemical processes that occur within a living organism in order to maintain life." In other words, it is your body working. It can't be "fast." It can't be "slow." It is either working or not working. If you have a clogged drain, you don't say, "Oh, my drain has a slow metabolism. It was just born that way." No. You fix the effing drain! Replace the idea of "metabolism" with the idea of "flow." Are all the systems in your body "flowing" as they should? Is there something you could do to make the systems flow better?? Framing the idea in that way empowers you rather than placing blame on something outside of yourself.
2011: Calories
2012: Digestion
My good friend once told me that when she was younger she had notebook after notebook filled with calorie lists. She would spend hour upon hour calculating and tallying everything she had eaten, everything she was going to eat and everything that she might eat in the future. She said that, to this day, she could tell me the calorie count of any food under the sun. Whew. That is a lot of wasted time. Your body doesn't know what a calorie is. It only knows if food digests well or if it digests poorly. If you were trying to lose weight and had to choose between eating a 200 calorie, chemical laden "protein" bar or a 400 calorie avocado, popular diet advice would having you choosing the bar. But your body doesn't know what to do with that bar. It doesn't matter that it has less calories because the work your body does digesting it is fruitless. It is the equivalent of doing a stack load of work that you are not being paid for versus doing tons of work for which you are paid handsomely. Your body doesn't mind working for the avocado because it is paid very well for its efforts. After it digest that bar…frankly…it's gonna be pissed. Start thinking of food as digestible or not digestible.** It will change your life.
2011: Calling food "good" or "bad"
2012: Food is either "helpful" or not "helpful"
I've already told you about my pet peeve regarding calling food bad. Giving food a moral quality does nothing but turn us into frightened school children who are either rebelling or blindly following marching orders. Your psyche deserves better. Instead try to think of food as helpful or not helpful. Think of what your body is getting out of the deal. Is it getting an easy workload and tons of nutrients?? Helpful. Or is it getting a party in your mouth followed by a massive amount of clean up?? Not helpful. Whatever the case may be, be truthful without passing judgement. When we are true to our bodies and listen to their needs, we will make decisions not because we are "supposed to" but because it feels right to do so. That sounds pretty "good" to me.
-♥ J :)
**Which foods are easily digestible and which ones are not is a topic unto itself. A post about that is coming up.
