Coach Wayne is about to get real with y’all! LOL Man are there a lot of nutrition “gurus” out there now. Everywhere you look, someone is now an expert and has a fancy infographic to “prove” to you that what they think about nutrition is right. It’s crazy!
I will start this off by saying this, I have never professed to be the end all, nutrition expert! I do feel that I have a good deal of experience and knowledge. I read all the time about nutrition. I have my own experiences and the thousands of experiences of teamRIPPED members when it comes to nutrition. But I still know there is so much for me to learn and I am hungry to learn!
What I want to address here is some of the flat out, stupid things I hear time and time again from these gurus. I think there is some truth embedded in the nonsense but we need to be careful. I hear these regurgitated by people I work with too. I’m not saying you are dumb for believing these. Arguments can be very convincing and there is always some wiggle room with nutrition. If there was just 1 BEST or ULTIMATE plan for everyone, then we’d all do that. You have some latitude to explore nutrition. What I hope to do is just introduce some plan ol’ common sense and good science into the conversation. So let’s do it!
Some Food is Good and Some Food is BAD!
What some people, and I think some are well-meaning, mean is that some foods make it easier to go overboard. It’s often a calorie density issue. It’s easy to put away 2,000 calories of McDonald’s. The food is super calorie dense! I can even agree that pizza might be “bad” for you if it’s a food you can’t control. Again, pizza is calorie dense and usually a bad breakdown of macros. If you eat a whole pizza you are going to blown your calories, and specifically carbs and fat budgets, out of the water!
But you know what else can blow your budgets? Chipotle. Oh, but they are “good” cuz it’s non-GMO, grass-fed beef, organic, etc, etc… come on, really? I’m not saying that it’s not higher quality food than other fast food places, but you can easily crush a 1,500 calorie burrito without much trouble! That is still going to be too much for most people dialing in a nutrition plan to lose weight and body fat.
What those well-meaning people mean with “GOOD” food is that these are foods that are harder to abuse and have more volume for the calories. Think of trying to eat 2,000 calories of raw veggies… good luck! And I agree, those foods are super safe and make it easy to fill up without killing your budgets. Let’s just be honest, they aren’t inherently good or bad. It’s how we use them.
You Shouldn’t Eat It If You Can’t Pronounce It.
Again, I think some people have good intentions with this so I don’t want to beat people up too much. If you eat whole foods, you will probably be able to pronounce most of them. Great! But just because a food item has an ingredient you can’t pronounce doesn’t mean it is going to kill you or give you cancer. That is just silly. Every food is made up of chemicals, so don’t even get me started on that. Maybe learn some latin and greek to feel better about pronouncing chemical names ;-)
Demonizing This or That Macro Nutrient
LOL This one gets me too! We see this with so many strict nutritional outlooks. Whether you it’s a vegan guru telling you all animal protein will give you cancer. Or a paleo king trying to shame you for eating simple carbs. Or a fad dieter telling you low and no-fat is the only way. This is just stupid! We were made to eat all macros!
As soon as one macro is called evil or I’m told to avoid it, I don’t give that plan much thought. Yes, you can “live” without carbs (it’s the only macro you can basically do without) but that doesn’t mean you should. Carbs are our instant energy source. We were created to use them as an energy source too! The same goes with protein. No, you don’t need 200g a day but that doesn’t mean it is bad to have 200g. And for most people that are weight training, there is good research showing it is more optimal for muscle mass to have some good meals of 30-40g of protein a day.
The same goes with protein. No, you don’t need 200g a day but that doesn’t mean it is bad to have 200g. And for most people that are weight training, there is good research showing it is more optimal for muscle mass to have some good meals of 30-40g of protein a day.
With these gurus you often see such a swing to one extreme and that is often a big red flag. As soon as so many things are off limits, it’s not a lifestyle nutritional plan. Just because you can survive and live on this or that, or without this of that, doesn’t mean the opposite is going to kill you are be bad.
Where Do I Come Down On All of This?
I come down on the side of BALANCE! There are good things to be learned from many nutritional approaches. Many can be effective, but I want to try to push you towards a plan that is effective in the long run and for a lifetime. My experience tells me that very few people can go so hard and fast on extreme diet views and make them stick. The people that are successful in the long run have a balanced approach where they have control over their total intake (overall calories) and they care about their macros. You won’t be eating tons of junk food if you are able to get to a place where you maintain on 2800 calories with 30% protein and say 40g of fiber. You just can’t do it! You’ll be able to eat holiday meals with the family, you’ll be able to enjoy some ice cream, and you’ll still be able to maintain your results.
BOILING IT DOWN!
Pick foods that allow you to hit your goals for calories and macros.
Track it all.
Get balanced and don’t be made to feel guilty for food choices if they work in your goals!
Need a coach?
My email: coachwayne@teamripped.com
IG: @wayne_wyatt
