I was on Facebook this morning and my friend Donna was talking about her resolution to be healthier and lose weight. She was doing the dance that we women and some men do with nutrition. Her post went something like this: Today I did a lot of stuff that fitness experts don't call exercise [which, in fact, was snow shoveling for 2 hours], but I really worked hard. I wonder if that was enough to counteract that piece of pizza I had for supper?
Then came the responses. To my relief, most of her friends blessed her and her supper, giving encouraging pats on the back. One person even amusingly mentioned the "Four Food Groups," which is a phrase I haven't heard since 6th grade health class. (Which isn't that commentator's fault...there is such a dearth of education in this area. For the record, there aren't "4 major foods groups" anymore--nutrition science has evolved to focus on what food families do in the body and thus the even more amusing "Food Pyramid" was conceived.)
Unfortunately, a couple people didn't concur with the majority. One person flat out told her that unless she had eaten a piece with vegetable toppings, but no pepperoni, she was doomed. (I wanted to ask why she'd singled out pepperoni...was it the high fat content? The processing? The preservatives? Because Honey, each of the ingredients of that one piece of pizza could fall into any one of those categories...another case of someone knowing just enough about food to be dangerous. See the entry about Patty Perfecteater if you want to understand further what I mean.) But it was the comment of another well-meaning friend that made me drop my jaw: I note the singular on pizza. Yes 'A' slice should be fine with a nice salad :) there is always evening leg lifts in front of the TV if u want 2 slices. :)
Sigh.
Please note that I'm sure this commentator is very, very nice. My friend Donna is one of those people who is genuinely a nice person, and like attracts like. Also, the smiley faces obviously show she means no offense and wants to encourage.
Now that I've established that I believe her heart is for her friend, I'd like to pick apart the comment itself, because it strikes at the very heart of Nutrition Nazi-ism, which is simply legalism disguised as a positive healthy practice.
I note the singular on pizza. Yes 'A' slice should be fine (portion control) - there is absolutely nothing wrong with portion control. It is absolute truth that your body needs a certain amount of fuel each day to run the metabolic process that helps your "body machine" run. If you need 1800 calories to do what needs to be done, and you eat more than that, the body ingeniously converts that energy to something tangible and stores it away for when you do. This tangible substance is called fat. Our concern isn't that this stored fat exists, it's when too much of it exists.
The problem with this section of the comment is that the writer is using a rigid rule to dictate what Donna needed over considering what Donna's caloric needs were for that day, which were implied as higher because of the strenuous workout Donna herself noted in her status. And in case you're wondering about the fact that Donna should eat less because she is trying to lose weight, there are these little things called ketone bodies which cause this to be a grayer area. Yes, ideally Donna needs to get the stored energy used up. But if Donna doesn't give herself the appropriate calories she needs for her day, her body will use too much of the stored energy to run off of, and a damaging amount of ketones will form. Ketone bodies are acidic molecules which are harmful to the body and create a bigger problem for the organs of the body which are already being challenged with the excess fat.
should be fine with a nice salad (quality of calories) - again, there is nothing wrong with getting a big bang for your buck when putting energy into your body. I actually have a talk that I give called "Eight Little Things that Make a Huge Difference" that addresses some little, nutrient-dense foods you can eat each day that are so filled with nutrition that you can almost hear your cells slurping up the goodies. And I am a huge fan of salads! But the thing I take issue with is that Donna had already had supper and was wondering out loud about the pizza.
What I inferred from the addition of this phrase is guilt. You know, like "pizza-is-okay-but-salad-is-better-for-you-so-you-have-to-eat-something-to-counteract-the-only-"okay"-rated-thing-you-ate." Seriously? Donna didn't eat a salad with her pizza and somehow pizza becomes less nutritious? That's some magical salad...
So, there you are, Donna. I hope you understand why I didn't like that comment, and why I want to honor your desire to get healthier so you're around to play with your grandkids. You can do it--I believe in you. God will transform your mind, and it will transform your eating. With or without a salad.