Food: Is it Good, Bad, or Neutral?

(I am not a nutritionist, this information is what I  have recently learned and wanted to share with others. See a certified dietitian for specific dietary advice and recommendations.)

When it comes to dieting, many people think of food-especially carbohydrates- as the enemy. We often feel we have to spend hours at the gym every week, busting our tails with intensive cardio and strength training while counting calories religiously. Unfortunately, this mindset can do more harm than good. Why? Simply put, it is not sustainable. Restrictive dieting can work for a short time, but after a period of three or four weeks plateauing is almost inevitable.

Why does this happen? Well, because many of us don’t have a good understanding and working knowledge of nutrition. The primary thing we need to grasp is caloric density   and stop thinking about food as either good or bad.

Calories and caloric density

Through the wellness app called Noom, I have begun to understand calories in a new light. Food is not categorized by calories but rather by caloric density. Caloric density refers to the measure of the calorie content of foods relative to weight or volume. Fruits and vegetables are lower in caloric density while red meats and fatty foods are higher. Foods that are lower in caloric density are the foods to steer toward or enjoy without hesitation. For example, eating ten grapes will be more satisfying to you than eating ten raisins because they are full of water.

Caloric density: Going deeper

Through Noom, I learned to categorize food by color sections: green, yellow, and red. I know what you’re thinking… green means good and red means bad. Well, not exactly. The color labels refer to caloric density- green being low, yellow being medium, and red being high. Not all “red” food is necessarily bad food. Most people love a good steak once in a while. Steak is considered a red food but it is not “bad” for you unless you are eating it every day- it is just more dense than a grilled chicken breast (which is considered a yellow food). This is why Noom encourages me to enjoy green foods (fruits, vegetables, and some types of seafood), eat yellow foods (pasta, some types of bread, chicken) in moderation, and limit my intake of red foods (beef, fried food, sweets, anything processed).

Styles of eating

Aside from caloric density, the second best thing I have learned from Noom regards the “styles of eating” and identifying which one or ones I fall into.

Here is a brief breakdown as I understand it.

• Fuel eating: Exactly what it sounds like… food that is consumed to fuel your body such as fruits, vegetables, leaner meats, and whole grains. A good example would be an athlete who eats to fuel their performance.
• Fun eating: Eating for pleasure, making food an experience for the senses. Funnel cakes, pizza, fried chicken, desserts, and a meal from your favorite fast joint. This is my style of eating.
• Fog eating: Have you ever snacked straight from the bag while watching television or surfing the web and then before you know it, the bag is empty? That’s fog eating. Eating while your mind is occupied by something else. You could also call this mindless eating. I also fall under this style.
• Storm eating: Imagine you open your pantry to see what you have to make for dinner. As your looking, your stomach growls and you need food now. So you grab a bag of tortilla chips. Then you remember that chips taste better with salsa, so you make a small bowl of that to dip them in. Now you are preparing and cooking dinner while snacking on the side. Your dinner is now ready, but oops… you ate so many chips that now you aren’t hungry for the dinner you just spent an hour preparing. This is storm eating (this is my mom’s style of eating!).

Learning these styles of eating and where I fall under them has helped tremendously when it comes to understanding how I view food. Now that I have identified what my styles are, I can balance them better by leaning into the fuel-eating style. So where do you fall on this list? How can you balance your style with fueling your body?

Moderation is key

The key to healthy eating is not counting calories or avoiding all carbohydrates and all fatty foods. The key is moderation. As a fitness professional, my mother was always so careful to teach me about nutrition without the pressure to eat a certain way. She steered me away from fad dieting because realistically speaking, those diets are not sustainable and sometimes do harm. Instead, mom taught me how to balance my diet between foods that I enjoyed and foods that would fuel my body. It is not about depriving yourself of what you love, it is about blessing your body with the nutrients it needs.

Relearning food

Have you ever wondered how Europeans seem to eat a high-carb diet and stay in shape? As a Carb Lover, I used to dream of living in Italy and eating pasta every day. To be honest, I still do. And when I read about how famous, beautiful Hollywood icon Sophia Loren ate spaghetti every day? Sign me up, please!

I used to imagine myself in front of a huge bowl of spaghetti while staring at it with stars in my eyes- until I realized she very likely ate small portions of it.

One of the best things I have learned is the fact that eating well is much more about food preparation than counting carbohydrates. Is the food made from whole-grain or plant-based ingredients? Or is it highly processed and made from ingredients you have never heard of? The less a type of food has been altered, and the fewer added ingredients, the better it will be for your health. In his book Eating Yourself Sick, Dr. Joseph Galati refers to the importance of food preparation and freshness. His philosophy is “Don’t eat anything in a can, box, or bag. Keep it fresh… for optimal wellness.”

In most European countries, quite often pasta and bread are made from whole grains. Cheeses are fresh and unprocessed. Seafood is fresh-caught in the wild, and beef and poultry may be grass or grain fed. Almost everything is either homemade and/or prepared locally. Such principles may be some key elements to consider on your next grocery trip.

Another important factor is the quantity of food in one meal. Up until two months ago, the amount of pasta that I would serve myself was twice the suggested serving size and I always felt too full to function after a meal. For a long time I thought that if I wanted to eat healthier, I had to give up my beloved pasta dishes which always seemed like something I could never do.

But I have learned that isn’t true at all. All I needed was to make two very small but important changes: I exchanged traditional boxed pasta with plant-based options such as chickpea pasta or red lentil pasta, and the other change was as simple as shrinking my serving sizes. Instead of filling my bowl to the rim, I began eating 1/2 a cup. Sometimes I’ll even add some extra protein such as shrimp to my bowl. And the shocking thing? I felt just as satisfied.

So is food good, bad, or neutral?

I think it is neutral. I also believe it is a little more complicated than that since it boils down to preparation and quantity. How are you consuming your daily meals? Yes, it requires research, but I believe it is worth it. Eating healthily requires some deeper thinking. Eating mindfully and with some forethought has been incredibly beneficial to me and my health journey. The best thing we can consider for ourselves is “How will I feel after I eat this meal? Will I feel nourished and energized? Or will I feel weighed down and tired?” This thought process has saved so many eating experiences for me.

In conclusion

We should try to eat first and foremost to fuel our bodies. There is a time and a place for pleasure foods. For me, I have reaped the benefits of saving pleasurable foods for treats or traveling. Taking charge of my health because I want to, rather than because it is what I have been told to do has been incredibly empowering for me in my journey towards fitness/wellness. I believe our bodies are our temples. I want to bless mine with the nutrients it needs.