Healthy Eating

Confession time, I was supposed to make this post last month for May but it never got posted. So then I thought I’d post it for June, but we were on vacation so that didn’t happen either. Fast forward a few weeks and I realized today is the final Friday of June. So basically, welcome to a special Final Friday Fitness post! In the last few months, I’ve learned things about healthy eating and how it correlates to working out that never occurred to me. I’m sharing some of those things and since there’s a holiday coming up, providing a few party food ideas.

**As always, I am not a doctor and the things I post here are of my own opinion. Please consult your doctor before taking on any dietary or physical activity changes**

The Problem with Diets

I remember when I was a kid and the diet craze hit the world, or maybe I just became more aware of it. Whatever the circumstances, it was everywhere. Thankfully it didn’t impact me personally too much at such a young age, but I know that there were plenty of young girls it hurt.

Since then, it’s like there’s been this back-and-forth. There’s always two messages being thrown at us. We have to either diet to be perfect or eat everything on earth to be unapologetically ourselves. The problem with both of these messages is that they take out an important aspect: Health.

Now in the sphere of exercising there’s the saying, Don’t ruin a good workout with a bad diet. While that is good advice, the in-between hints strongly at dieting. What do you think of when you hear the word Diet? A lot of the time, the word diet is closely associated with the meaning of Limiting, which is not always healthy.

The point of any type of eating should be to properly support the body.

Extended or permanent dieting does not do that. You cannot properly support the body in any actual way with a chicken caesar salad and call it healthy. You cannot go hard in your workout and expect a protein shake to be enough for recovery.

Yes, I understand that sometimes dieting is needed to lose weight. However, there is a healthier route to losing weight than salads and supplemental drinks, a route that actually supports the body instead of depriving it. You cannot deprive your body and expect it to function in a healthy way.

That is in no way permission for you to go order two Big Macs, a large shake, and fries and consume them all in a day. Just as deprivation is not good for a healthy body, neither is too much excess. The name of the game is Balance.

Don’t Be Afraid

That being said, something I learned recently within the last few months is that you cannot be in a calorie deficit and gain muscle. Why this never occurred to me before, I have no idea! It just wasn’t something I was thinking about. In all honesty, I was still working in the mindset of limiting.

As you know, I’m working on building muscle instead of losing weight. However, my eating wasn’t reflecting that. After researching, I became way too focused on protein intake over my overall intake. I got frustrated because I wasn’t meeting my protein goal, but if I had stepped away and looked at my overall, it would’ve become apparent why that was so. Part of my problem was that I was barely meeting or going over my minimal overall goal!

I have a bad habit of skipping breakfast. It’s not something I did on purpose, which maybe made it worse. I’ve been working on rectifying that issue, though, and most days I manage to eat breakfast at a decent hour. (As I wrote this I realized I haven’t had breakfast and am currently taking care of it.)

My main point here is that you cannot be afraid to eat.

The impact of how and what you eat goes far beyond how you look. The right kind of food makes it possible for your body to properly recover from the strain you put it through during your exercises. If you’re trying to lose weight and you deprive your metabolism while dieting then it won’t be able to keep up later on and you’ll regain that weight.

Am I still giving focus to my protein intake? Yes, but it’s not the only thing I’m focusing on any more. These days I’m working on meeting my max intake goals. I don’t get it every day and that’s okay. Even on my rest days, I eat to try and meet that top line. That doesn’t mean whatever goes, either, at least not all the time. I try to make as healthy a choice as I can. I’m also not afraid to eat the Deluxe Quarter Pounder on Fridays for dinner.

Repeat after me: Food is friend, not enemy.

Beyond the Calories

When you’re looking at what you’re eating, remember that there’s more breakdown than how many calories you’re consuming. You need to take all the micros and macros into consideration as well. Yes, I am working on meeting my max caloric recommendation, but where are all those macros going?

You don’t need to be afraid of food, but you do need to be aware of which macro targets you’re filling and which ones you’re neglecting. Does that make sense?

I know, I know it seems tedious and a lot of work. That’s where a good food tracking app can come in handy. I won’t recommend one over the other, I’m not trying to promote any certain one here, but I will say that you should have one that breaks everything down for you. The app I use allows me to see how much I’ve consumed and how much I have remaining, as well as where most of my macros are going.

Being able to see the breakdown will help you better prepare and meet your goals.

Party Food Ideas

Okay, I said I was gonna give you guys some party food ideas. I’m not giving recipes this time around, just some ideas to add to your holiday festivities.

Fruit Kabobs

I feel like this is the most obvious one, but fruit is healthy in antioxidants and supports body recovery after a workout. Will you be working out on the Fourth of July? Possibly, if you’re swimming or running around playing a game with family.

*Side note, do you know how many different spellings there are for kabobs? More than I even knew!

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Oh, yeah, I’m going here. I will brave the migraines for a white chocolate covered strawberry. They are so delicious. White chocolate might not be the healthiest of the chocolate options, but dark chocolate is widely applauded so feel free to switch them out.

Sloppy Joes and Burgers

What the what? These aren’t healthy!

Okay, maybe not, but you can easily make them healthier. Use turkey instead of beef; get whole wheat buns instead of white; use spinach in place of lettuce; look for healthier ingredients in your condiments. For that last one, I can attest that the Mayonnaise with Olive Oil tastes the same as all the others.

Pasta

If you want a pasta salad or some other pasta dish, there are so many options here. An easy switch is regular pasta for one labeled Protein+. If you want a complete switch, you can try a whole wheat pasta. The whole wheat pasta does have a different taste, so be prepared for that.

Deviled Eggs

Eggs are healthy, therefore deviled eggs can be too. Plus they’re delicious, so there’s that.

Yogurt Cups

Get some party-sized cups and fill them with yogurt then have some extras people can add to make their own yogurt cups. Granola, Fruit, and Honey are all typical healthy options. Dark Chocolate Chips, Oats, and Nuts are also fun options.

What’s your relationship with food?

Do you view food as the enemy or a resource to help you get healthier?

I hope it’s the latter. If not, I would encourage you to talk with someone to help you rebalance your mentality toward food.

Happy Friday!!