Healthy Eating 101

I am often asked, "what should I be eating?"  "What's the best diet?"  "How do I loose weight?"  Or some other form of one of these questions.  It's a popular question.  So?  What is the best way to eat?  Should you be avoiding gluten?  Should I follow a paleo diet?

I have no FREAKIN' idea....

But let me first explain.  Ever since I have started taking my racing and training seriously, I have been in search of the best diet for endurance athletes to follow.  I'd estimate that I have purchased at least 10 different books just on this topic alone.  If you were to jump onto my personal computer you'd find very elaborate Microsoft Excel documents entitled "The Diet," "The Diet 1," all the way to "The Diet Version 8."  I think there is even a "The Diet Version 3.2."  I have tried just about everything.  I have followed a high carb diet, a balanced diet, Paleo, I did the Whole30, I was even a "vegetarian" for about a year.  If you just look back throughout my blog, you will see at least 5-6 different articles one my desire to try a new diet with the hopes of losing weight to increase my race performance.  In fact, I am not afraid to admit, my latest adventure with wanting to follow a high fat/low carb diet, or a "ketogenic" diet.  I have also researched just about every other "diet" that is out there and the positives and the negatives of each of them.  To be honest with you, it got down right frustrating.  I would read an article that touts the health benefits of whole wheat grains, just to read a second article claiming wheat to be a major carcinogenic.

It's not like this is anything new, however.  Just look back at our nations past.  We have blamed fat for people being fat, we are currently blaming sugar and carbohydrates as the cause of people being fat.  It seems that we are constantly looking for the one reason why people are overweight and continuing to gain weight, but we are oblivious to the most logic reason, we eat too damn much.

Just using myself as an example, I have tried to follow many fad diets hoping that would be the magic ingredient to shed some pounds easily.  I would eat great for a week or two, just to fall back to my piss poor eating habits of snacking between meals and craving a sweet dessert after dinner.  I would succumb to my cravings and give in.  After the initial week or two I would find myself eating really nutritious, "healthy" meals just to eat crap between them.  Where did that get me?  Right where I am at today, 15-20 heavier than I think I should be.  Is it sugars fault?  Is fat to blame?  It must be that damn gluten!  No, the real reason, is I eat too much.  Pretty simple, almost too simple.

What lead me to this concept is a recent podcast I listened to from Endurance Planet.  They interviewed sports nutritionist Matt Fitzgerald regarding his newest book, "Diet Cults."  The book is not out there to "debunk" or mock all the new diet fads, such as paleo, gluten free, and just about any other diet out there that is claiming to be the "one right way to eat."  During the interview Matt discusses a recent research study where a research group went out to find what exactly was the healthiest diet for humans.  The way they were going to determine this was by finding a group of people who have recently lost 30 or more pounds on their own AND have maintained that weight loss for at least one year.  You figure, if someone has lost at least 30 pounds and have been able to maintain that weight loss, they must be doing something right nutritionally.  They studied these individuals for an extended period of time monitoring everything they had eaten.  So, what did they find?  They found that there was very minimal similarities within their diets.  Some of the similarities they found during their study include; most individuals exercised for at least 60 minutes a day, most individuals increased fruits and vegetables, and most individuals followed a redundant diet - meaning many of them followed a regular routine and repeated meals often.  One guy actually just eliminated his daily lunch...that's it, just completely took out an entire meal! You can listen to the Podcast HERE or below.

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Ironically, just after listening to this podcast, Runner's World posted an article called, "Study: What's the Healthiest Diet?"  This study followed 424,000 subjects for 15 years - seems pretty legit.  The study looked specifically at an individuals overall diet's effect on morality rates.  What they concluded was there were four diet classifications which were deemed to be "most healthy." The four diets were: the Healthy Eating Index 2010, the alternative Healthy Eating Index 2010, the alternate Mediterranean diet, and the DASH diet.  When you look at the similarities between all four diets, you'll find that they all recommended balanced consumption of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and plant based proteins.

So, with all this considered, what is the healthiest diet, in my opinion?  Well first, I think you need to define what it means to be healthy.  Is it longevity?  Having a healthy body mass index (BMI)?  The ability to race fast?  Or maybe it's something as simple as looking good naked.  In my opinion, I would look at some typical markers which are commonly tested at your local doctors office.  These would include, cholesterol, fasted blood sugar, systemic inflammation, and body fat percentage.  I would also take into consideration of a person's overall feeling of well being.  Basically, does an individual feel better when eating a certain way.  Just looking at some elite athletes, who are often deemed as "healthy," often eat not-so-healthy foods.  You'll find athletes eating pancakes, fried foods, plain white bread, and even fast food.  Yet, so many people consider these elite athletes to be very healthy.  Even elite athletes who follow strict diets, follow a wide range of diets, from vegan to paleo.  So what gives?  Personally, I fully agree with Matt Fitzgerald's opinion, where there is no ONE right diet.  Each diet presents positives and negatives.  The best thing any individual person can do for themselves, is eat what makes them feel better.  Eat healthy foods.  What's considered healthy?  This is not as complicated as it's made out to be.  Just ask any 6 year old what healthy food is and they'll tell you.  Eat plenty of vegetables and leafy greens.  Add a lean source of protein, whether that is animal based or plant based.  Drink plenty of water.  Avoid artificially produced sweeteners if possible.  Try not to drink calories.  Have an drink of alcohol every now and again.  Exercise regularly at a moderate intensity.  Eat as much real food as possible, avoiding processed foods when able.  Do not stress over what you are eating.  Enjoy your food.  And, lastly, indulge every now and then.

So there you have it.  As Matt Fitzgerald says, eat an agnostic diet.  Where you do not follow any specific diet, but follow a little of eat.  You know the difference between health food and junk food, just follow that and exercise, and you'll find your diet to be right were it needs to be.  Plus you will never have to worry if what you are eating is "allowed."