I’ve been watching my weight long enough to witness the fickle fingers of fat loss leap from one fad to the next. It’s been a revolving door of love-hate relationships with protein, carbs and fat, depending on the decade. It’s like middle school, but with macronutrients.
Remember vintage Atkins (the 70’s version) in its bacon-eating heyday? Sorry pork rinds, the carb loving 80’s kicked you to the curb. When the cool kids got puffy on pasta, they ran to lean protein. Carbs have never recovered. Fat waited for its day in the spotlight. Now Johnny’s here and fat is dancing the merengue, because nobody puts baby fat in the corner. The Keto committee has crowned fat the homecoming queen.
Yes, it’s ridiculous.
What research teaches us about nutrition, the weight loss industry overshadows, selling shortcuts for profit. All it takes is a nugget of partial information, a compelling headline, and a tantalizing promise, and there you have it: a new fad diet, or rather, an old fad diet repackaged.
Lose weight fast in your sleep and eat chocolate cake for breakfast – yours now for $(x amount ending in a 9).
Fad diets are enticing because they appear effective. Quick results are easy to show. What do we not see? The plateaus that follow, the just as rapid weight gain and the damaged health (and discouragement) in the wake of the hype.
Hold on there, Baba Louey
Are we that desperate and gullible? I don’t think we are, but I do think we are vulnerable to the low risk proposition – for a few dollars, why not give it a shot? There’s a bigger hidden cost, though. We’ve stopped looking for or expecting the truth while for many, weight increases and health declines.
What if we asked better questions about losing weight to begin with? Here are a few better questions:
- What do I want the rest of my life to be like in this body?
- How do I need to treat my body so that it will give me best life it can and the fewest problems?
- What can I start doing now and keep on doing forever?
Good answers to these questions will rule out fad diets. With this in mind, here’s one fad to leave behind if you’d like to grow older with your kidneys.
Be Kind to Your Blood Filtering Friends
Two recent studies point to problems with a high protein diet. While older studies like the China Study have linked high protein diets to cancer, these two more recent studies reveal the strain a high protein diet can place on our kidneys.
The article (see link) states that, “A high-protein diet, often recommended as a way to lose weight and stay healthy, appears to be harmful to the kidneys in individuals with apparently normal kidney function, two separate new studies indicate.”
High-Protein Diet Could Be Harmful, Even for Healthy Kidneys – Medscape – Nov 27, 2019
The article, written for physicians, advises them to “avoid recommending high-protein intake for weight loss in obese or diabetic patients, or those with prior cardiovascular events, or a solitary kidney if kidney health cannot be adequately protected.”
We Americans tend to eat more protein than we need. As noted, “most adults in Western societies eat as high as 20% to 25% or more of the total energy source, considerably higher than the 10% to 15% recommended by most guidelines.”
The key take-away? A high-protein diet is not a healthy way to pursue weight loss.
Reconfigure your figures
Weight loss priorities change as we get older. Would it be nice to look better sooner rather than later? Sure. But consider this: Our weight will play a key role in what the rest of our lives will be like. Being able to zip your capris by summer won’t matter much if the latter part of your life is punctuated with illness and incapacity.
We would be wise to adopt a new approach to managing our weight today. It’s not as difficult as it might seem.
Hearing phrases like “high protein” and “low carb” as often as I do, I think it’s timely and necessary to explore a safe long term alternative. Fortunately, there’s more than one way to skin a rotisserie chicken…
Here are three simple guidelines to shape your long term healthy eating plan. I hope you find these ideas and examples helpful!
(Note: I’m not a dietitian – but as a weight loss coach I encourage my members to assemble their own plan according to their metabolic rate, food preferences, and generally accepted nutrition guidelines. The goal of the Stop Dieting for Life program is a changed relationship with food through a strengthened relationship with Christ.)
First: ALWAYS manage total calories
How can you tell whether you are eating too much protein? Not enough? You’ll need to keep track of what you eat and how much. Apps like MyFitnessPal make it so easy. Like no excuses easy. The App will tally your total calories and the percentages of protein, carbs and fat.
Are you one of those people that never gains weight? Me neither. So if you don’t manage your total calories, you’ll eat a few too many every day and your weight will creep up. And up. Do you weigh more than you did a month ago? A year ago? Don’t go on a diet – track your calories. And remember, as weight increases, health risks increase and quality of life declines.
I wish I could magically convey to you the extent to which this simple daily routine can change what your future life will be like: how you will feel, your ability to move, the medications you won’t need, the heart attacks and strokes you’ll prevent, and the activities you can participate in because you manage your calories and didn’t entrust your weight loss to a fad diet.
Next: Set your macronutrient targets
Based on this research, I recently reduced my protein intake and reset my macro targets for 55% carbs, 30% fat and 15% protein. At 15% protein, I’m at the maximum recommended. But, my aim is for at least 5% of the protein to come from plant based sources.
Want to set your own macros? You’ll find that MyFitnessPal will default to 50/30/20, but will allow you to adjust. By tracking what you eat for a few weeks, you’ll realize the App is helping you notice and adjust what you eat, how much you eat, and helping you lose weight without following someone else’s diet.
Finally: Aim for the Biggest Bang!
As we age and our metabolism slows, it’s vital to get the most bang for our calorie buck. Everything you put in your mouth is an investment in or a withdrawal from your body’s well-being. Based on today’s investment, what will your future hold? What does investing well look like?
As an example, suppose I aim for between 1400 and 1500 calories a day. Within those calories, I want the most nutrients, the most satisfaction, and the least potential for any kind of havoc. By havoc, I mean avoiding foods that are going to annoy me later with cravings. I don’t eat perfectly – perfection is a goose that’s not worth chasing. I do enjoy what I eat – I think God intended for us to enjoy eating as a gift from Him that reminds us of His goodness and provision.
How can we get the most life out of what eat – enjoyment today and health tomorrow?
You may not want to eat what I eat, but by sharing what I aim for in each macronutrient category, I hope you’ll be encouraged to consider what’s possible for you!
Carbs: Low glycemic, high fiber, nutrient dense.
Every day, I eat several servings of water-based vegetables, 2-3 fruits, 2-3 servings whole grains or whole food starchy carbs, like beans and potatoes. If God made it, I’ll eat it.
I don’t eat processed foods, like crackers, chips, breads, baked goods, or candy as part of my eating routine. I can’t have them around because I’d eat them. When I don’t eat them, I don’t miss them and I don’t crave them. When I do eat them, I crave them again. I don’t enjoy that fight to limit or resist them – it’s easier not to eat them.
I also enjoy the fresh food I eat soooooo much more when my palate isn’t tainted by hyper-palatable processed food.
Proteins: Cleanest sources available
When it comes to protein, I balance budget and “cleanness.” For animal protein, cleanness refers mainly to how it was raised, what it was fed, and what it was (or was not) injected with.
Since we don’t need much protein, and organic is more expensive, I don’t eat it often. When I do, I buy organic, non-gmo, grass fed/grass finished, non-farmed fish, etc. To get 15% of my calories from protein (the maximum, not the minimum), I would only need about a 2 ounce serving. I don’t feel the need eat animal protein every day. Vegetarians and Vegans manage without it at all.
My protein includes animal and plant based sources: Eggs, (mostly egg whites), Greek yogurt, cheese, a whey-based protein powder, a mutli-type collagen powder, non GMO edamame, and a variety of beans.
Fats: Clean sources, avoid transfats or man-made fats.
I get my dietary fat from egg yolks, cheese, seeds (chia seeds), almonds or almond butter, sometimes non-GMO peanut butter. Occasionally, I like an avocado to shake things up. Here’s a good article about healthy fats.
Need some fresh ideas for all the incredible food God made for us to eat? Here’s a great resource: The 100 Healthiest Foods
Your body is part of His body
Until the Lord calls us home, we live in these bodies He made. Our physical bodies are not only His temple, but part of His body, the church. Our bodies aren’t our own, so we aren’t as “free” as we think to live as we want. Everything we do to our bodies has real consequences. It’s the way He made us.
Have you given enough thought to how you treat your body? Where is your health headed? If you’d like to take the reins you can. Is it easy? It’s easier than illness, disease and premature death. More importantly, it’s also more honoring to the Lord.
In Christ, we have between today and when He calls us home to make our lives count for the Kingdom. That doesn’t mean obsessing about health, appearance, food, or fitness. It does mean being a faithful steward of the lives we live in these bodies. The Apostle Paul says it best:
But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. I Corinthians 9:27
May your life be long, healthy, fruitful and effective in the Lord!
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At Stop Dieting For Life, we teach you how to change your relationship with food in the power of Christ.
For further reading check out my books, available on Amazon:
I Once Was Fat but Now I’m Found: Part 1 – First Steps to Food Freedom
I Once Was Fat, but Now I’m Found: Part 2 – Move Over Emotions, Make Room for Truth