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I asked in our Facebook group a little while ago “What is the definition of eating healthily?”
I got several answers.
None were quite what I would say.
Not to say what I say is Gospel.
But, if you’re reading these I hope you value my opinion.
What is healthy eating?
There doesn’t seem to be a definitive definition of what ‘healthy eating’ is.
Most I can find on the internet include the term “low fat”.
By that definition we could eat just 3 kilos of sugar a day and be healthy.
## Not demonising sugar, but I’m sure you can see that wouldn’t be good for you ##
I’m going to go for “eating in a way that has been shown to increase the likelihood of accepted health markers improving or maintaining”.
Catchy, heh? 😉
Unhealthy eating, therefore being “eating in a way that has been shown to increase the likelihood of accepted health markers getting worse”.
This doesn’t always mean that it will make you more or less healthy.
Just increase or decrease the probability based on accepted research. It’s as close as we can get to an answer to the question ‘what is healthy eating?’
There have been people who’ve smoked 40 a day for decades and never had single problem from it.
But the research shows that would increase the probability of certain health problems, I think we’d agree.
#######
All the research says that carrying excess body fat increases the chance of ill health in certain ways.
Not making it definite.
But it increases the chances to some degree.
From the above definition can carrying excess body fat be considered healthy?
Taking all emotion away from the question, can it?
I’ve drank more than the recommended weekly unit most weeks for 20 years.
Doesn’t mean I will definitely develop health issues because of it.
But I accept it will increase the probability.
I can’t, by definition, describe my alcohol consumption as healthy.
No emotion, I just can’t.
I’m just hoping that everything else I do will keep the odds in my favour.
But there’s no getting away from the fact that the probability of certain health issues would be lower still without the drinking.
No emotion.
Just what the research shows.
So if a way of eating causes someone to increase body fat (or maintain it at a level above that the research shows is ideal), can that way of eating be described as being healthy?
Again, no emotion.
No judgement of what has or hasn’t happened anywhere.
Or why.
Just a simple but, hopefully, empowering question.
Is it possible to eat healthily and not lose weight (or maintain at a desired level)?
Like I can’t healthily drink to excess or a smoker can’t smoke healthily, I would say no.
It’s a self limiting belief.
And, like all self limiting beliefs, seeing through it is empowering.
When we realise that it’s impossible to eat healthily and not be losing (or maintaining) weight, we start to ask the right questions.
What I am missing?
Where can the changes be made?
How can I take this from something that is happening to me to something I am controlling?
Is it portion sizes?
Is it liquid calories I’m not factoring in or underestimating?
Is it the nutritional info and / or amounts I’m going off aren’t accurate enough?
If accept that we can’t be eating healthily and not losing (or maintaining) weight………..
Then we’re more able to find what we can change so that we are 🙂
Much love,
Jon ‘Aware I’ll get unsubscribes from this blog’ Hall and Matt ‘All the blogs that get the most positive feedback also get the most negative feedback’ Nicholson
P.S. Matt’s middle name yesterday – Toto sang a song called ‘Africa’. Ethiopia is in Africa.
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