Understanding why you eat changes things.
3 minute read | If you don't understand why you eat, you'll always struggle knowing what to eat. Let me teach you the real reason you need to eat.
The holidays are quickly approaching, and it already feels like we’re in a tizzy of quick crash diets and holiday planning to keep your waistline in check.
I’m all in favor of supporting your body through nourishing rhythms. But that’s different than quick crash diets or food restrictions you’ve been led to believe will help you beat holiday weight gain.
I will go out on a limb and state that the stress you put on yourself through the holidays is arguably causing weight gain, not the food itself.
You eat what you eat as a by-product of stress.
You eat to regulate the stress.
When you do either of those things, you choose foods you usually wouldn’t. Over time, what you normally wouldn’t eat becomes a rhythm of what you always eat.
But don’t blame food.
It’s not the problem. Nor is it as powerful as the world has told you.
Of course, it’s critical to eat, but you can’t miss why you eat.
I just released a lesson inside Health Made Simple (the full course will be available after the New Year), WHY YOU EAT. I thought you might appreciate this shift in understanding, especially as holiday eating kicks off.
Learn why you eat inside this audio:
Here’s the big truth you need to know:
You don't eat for calories (energy). You have the energy you need available inside of you. You eat for nutrients.
Food is meant to supply the building blocks your cells need to become energy generators.
Without the right building blocks, your body will enlist mechanisms that force you to find the nutrients you need (especially the most important ones, like glucose).
This leaves you:
hangry
moody
craving all the things
feeling out of control
tired but wired
struggling with energy
gaining weight or unable to lose it
jumping on the diet cycle
Don't blame yourself. You don't know what you don't know. But when you understand the role of food is to provide nutrients, you can rip away the labels, classifying it as good or bad.
You can throw away the moral code and simply get back to asking, is this what my body needs?
You will eat foods outside your 'needs,’ but eating those foods when you've met your needs is very different than eating them when your needs aren't met.
It changes what your body does with it. This changes your outcome.
This equation might help prove that:
You always have the energy you need. What your body does with that, or the type of structure it builds, is dependent on how safe or unsafe your body is.
If you have energy but not the building blocks to build healthy and healing structures, your body begins to break down energy-generating structures. In the process, it converts to a different and safer form. That is the production of body fat.
energy - nutrients = reduced structure + more body fat
But when you supply the right building blocks (nutrients), your body combines that with energy to pump into the cells, allowing them to expand to be energy generators. In the process, you build energy-generating structures like muscle while reducing the need for body fat.
energy + nutrients = healthy structure - body fat
That means ALL macronutrients are needed in healthy ratios to support healing structures and energy generation.
Health doesn't come from restriction.
It comes from supplying and supporting your body's needs.
When you support your body's nutrient needs, the cookie doesn't carry the same weight (literally) as it does when living in an under-nourished state.
That doesn't mean you should gorge yourself on cookies. But don't get lost in it either.
Focus on nourishing your body instead of restricting it. I promise your body will handle the rest!
In the coming weeks, I’m going to keep feeding you ways to nourish your body throughout the holidays!
Don’t miss these!
