I am a Registered Dietitian wanna-be in that I'm one exam away from being an RD. I spend my days counting carbohydrates, grams of fat or sugar, and calories. I know that sweet potatoes average about 60 grams of carbohydrates, while one 12 ounce glass of sweet tea averages about 45 grams of carbohydrates, which is the equivalent of three pieces of bread. Most soft drinks average between 30-45 grams of carbohydrates. I know that the body is most insulin sensitive in the mornings, after a fast, and during and after a work-out. I know about carb loading and carb counting. I know what hormones will make the body synthesize fat and which hormones with make the body bread down fat. I know the average person cannot meet their nutritional requirements on a diet less than 1600 calories. I know how to induce ketosis so the body will burn only fat for energy, and I also know potential health consequences of such a diet.
Here's what else I know:
I know that we "know" more about diet than we ever have. We know how to carb count, restrict sweets, eat organic, and go paleo. We know how to work our bodies until our bodies give out. We know how to make pinterest boards that worship thin bodies and healthy diets. Nutritional Biochemistry knows all there is to know about how the nutrients in your food are broken down, converted to new products, or stored for later.
We "know" more about diet than we ever have, but we're in the middle of an obesity epidemic, as well as an eating disorder epidemic, and no one remembers what it was like to not obsess over "muffin tops", "thigh gaps," or the reduced (carbohydrate, fat, sugar) diet.
Why? Shouldn't knowing more be better? As a future Registered Dietitian, I'm probably supposed to say yes, but I'm going to go against the grain here and say,
not necessarily.
You see, the problem that I'm seeing more and more, is that food has become the post-breakup rebound, the therapist, the drug, the tool to create the "perfect body," the friend, and sometimes, the enemy. Why?
Because we have forgotten how to listen to our bodies, and instead, we listen to "what we know."
We don't let ourselves eat a banana because we know it has a lot of sugar. We overeat several nights a week, because we've forgotten to listen to the pressure in our tummy telling us hey, you're full," and instead focus on how many bites it takes before we might start putting on pounds because we aren't sure the next time we'll get to "cheat" on our diets.
I just returned from Italy, where I enjoyed chicken in butter sauce, pasta in butter sage sauce, olive oil, and homemade lasagna, and of course, the nightly glass of merlot or pinot noire and the occasional afternoon gelato. Did I gain weight? I have no idea, because I don't weight myself...but I wasn't worried about it. Why? Because when it Rome, do as the Romans do, right? And what do Italians know that our diets, science, and rules don't:
How to sit at a table with companions and loved ones without distraction, tv, or smart phones for 2 or 3 hours. How to enjoy real food, with real sauce, real butter, a glass of red wine, and a small bite of dessert afterwards. Meat, fish, vegetables, grains, pasta...it doesn't matter, whatever is on the menu, they enjoy it- guilt free. They know how to eat until satisfied but not sick with fullness. How to eat what is grown near them, in season. The only thing they don't know that we do is what the heck a Dietitian is.
In knowing what we know about nutrition, we have forgotten that food is not a ball and chain, a set of rules, an enemy, or a burden...instead, it is nourishment, warmth, and yes, even joy.
My challenge to you this week? Listen to your body, forget what you "know" about food, and try to enjoy a meal that consists of real, wholesome foods. And don't forget that some good old fashioned butter, yes the real thing, is okay. Sit back, relax, and when you're full, remember, you can enjoy a meal like this tomorrow. Yeah, you can "cheat" all the time. Because eating real food isn't cheating, it's living.
So as the Italians say with such joy,
Buon Appetito!
