Magic Foods

I was “triggered” by an article I read this weekend…and really I was just looking for an excuse to use the word “triggered.” In all seriousness, when I read “fitness coaches” talk about foods that are an absolute must on a nutrition plan, my eyes roll straight to the back of my head. It’s as if to imply that there are “magic foods” that, without them, you simply will not get results.

I remember my first competition. I had hired a woman from the gym who had told me that she had done nutrition plans for bodybuilders before. I didn’t know any better so I took her at her word and I followed her advice…to a T. I was only able to eat spinach, not lettuce. She wasn’t able to tell me why but somehow spinach was superior to lettuce when it came to salad. And let’s face it, spinach has way better nutritional value than lettuce which has almost none. But, you see, I wasn’t looking for an overload of folic acid - I wasn’t pregnant, I just wanted to get lean. I ate so much spinach and white fish over those months I was certain I was never going to compete again.

Thank God, I was schooled in proper nutrition and got the mentoring and the education I needed that allowed me to compete without eating “magic foods.”

The good news for all of us is: getting healthy, losing weight doesn’t mean you have to eat foods you nearly gag as you force yourself to eat them.

YES, some foods are better nutritionally than others but what I have found in my experience with clients and myself is that IS possible to find a balance between the foods you like to eat and the foods you need to eat. Chances are, for that magic food you’ve heard or read that you must eat in order to achieve results, there is something nutritionally equivalent that you could eat instead.

YES, some foods will work better for your body than others. However, what works for a “fitness coach” or whoever is doing your meal plan, may not work for you. What works for your friend may not work for you. Every body is different and should be fed as such. Expecting results from the same nutrition plan that worked for another person is often a setup for a big disappointment.

Another thing to avoid is the “magic food” that is the current trend. There are so many people on the internet making a lot of money by promoting trendy foods, proclaimed to work miracles, from making you thin to making you younger. Again, can’t happen. Don’t buy it.

I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it until I’m dead - the best thing to do when it comes to nutrition is to stick primarily to WHOLE, NON-PROCESSED foods (vegetables, fruit, meat, seafood, eggs, rice, oats, potatoes, etc) for the bulk of your nutrition. It’s certainly okay to have processed things once in awhile, but keep the whole, non-processed foods the main-stay of your diet. It’s not magic and it’s not very fun, unless you’re a super creative pinteresty kind of person that can make anything cool, but it works.

It’s easy to buy into the idea that there are certain foods that will do AMAZING things for us but it’s just not true. It’s one of those things that is almost “too simple”. We think there’s got to be more to it than there is, but there’s just not. Good news and bad news, I guess.