Try Atarian

As a nutrition person, a common question posed is: "are you a vegetarian?" or "do you follow a certain diet?"

These are completely thoughtful questions. I'm sure they're wondering if I got into the field because I have to follow a certain diet or if I have a strong opinion on eating meat or whatnot. Makes perfect sense. 

My answer? Well, I have staples. I eat somewhat similarly from day to day but I definitely don't follow any diet except a generally healthy one! I shop the outside of a grocery store and whip up my own food. 

I go through phases with food just like my phases with clothing. I also tend to eat like those I live with. When living with my vegetarian roommate, I pretty much was a vegetarian for 2 years. 

Undiagnosed vegetarian?

So the question being...what's the best for preventative health?! 

Vegetarian diets have been linked to lower incidences of chronic disease but they are also the vegetarians that are cognizant of foods they must eat to reach adequate protein intake. And are probably health conscious individuals in general. 
As for vegans? Well I wouldn't tell them it was unhealthy but rather explain the right way to fulfill their nutrient needs. If done correctly, this quote on quote healthy diet still lacks vitamin B12, is deficient in vitamin D & adequate protein, and fills a person with so much fiber that they may have trouble absorbing energy (enough calories). 

If it's for a cause, I suppose that's one thing. But if it's for health...well it shouldn't be. Man created fire for the adaptation of proper food preparation (and warmth?)! I am all about getting back to our roots but more like root vegetables not raw, vegan diets. I worry for those who cover up disordered eating with a generally accepted "healthy" diet and run several miles to boot!

Undiagnosed...?

As for me? I'm a "triatarian". What's that you ask? I will tell you!

It means, I try everything. At least once. Even if it's a plate of CVD* sprinkled with HTN with a side of DM2. And then I moderate back to my daily staples with more experience. And energy (excess calories).  

And let me just say,it is still possible to get such an abbreviated-ridden meal even following a vegetarian diet...

*CVD: cardiovascular disease, 
HTN: hypertension, 
DM2: Type 2 Diabetes

Thirsty Thoughts

I’m sitting here drinking my morning coffee. I’m also sitting here looking at the following diagram. 

The image brings about two separate thoughts.

First Thought:

I am a lover of all coffeehouses. Including the chic, clean Starbucks’ that have capitalized our world. All 5mill of them.

Not to be confused with 5mL-clearly, that’s only 1/6^th the size of one fluid ounce OR 1/183.2^nd the size of the TRENTA!

I just don’t know how coffeehouses became the suburban McDonalds. Only with far less judgment.

Not taking into consideration this new size, a Venti Cinnamon Dolce Crème Frappuccino Blended Beverage (made with whole milk and whipped cream) is 450kcal with 11g of saturated fat. The kind of fat you don’t want to saturate your diet with. Take that down to their smallest 12oz size, still trumping the 8oz (1 cup) portion, and you almost cut calories and saturated fat in half.

Portion recognition is key here.

Second Thought:

I am reminded of a conversation I had with a friend over coffee. Actually he was drinking beer and I was drinking decaf and Baileys while sitting at a bar. My recall of the conversation went as follows (although my recollection is subject to mere decaf):

Me:…well if someone cannot eat orally due to injury, disease, unresponsiveness, or whatnot they are fed through a tube. And there are different types of tubes and formulas depending on where you’re feeding someone in their body.

Friend: So like, you feed into the stomach through a tube?

M: Yea, or like sometimes you feed straight into their vein (TPN) and the food/formula has to be in the most elemental form since you surpass the stomach and intestines which digests food. (ie: amino acids instead of intact protein).

F: So wait, where does it go?

M: In your vein. And then you’ve received nutrition.

F: But like how have you gotten nutrition? How are you full?

M: (This is where my epiphany on how differently we thought about nutrition occurred) Well your cells take in the food and your organs utilize the nutrition. And if you overfeed, your cells store excess fat in adipose tissue making you fatter.

F: (baffled) I thought your stomach got fat because you put food into it and it sat there until you pooped.

The conversation continued but the shock never stopped. For either of us.

Yes, 916mL of fluid is a lot but liquids do not just hang out in a stomach all day. Your stomach moves liquids/food into the small intestines where absorption can occur. And the more liquefied and broken down the components, the faster this process occurs. So sure it is a lot of fluid, certainly 3.81 servings of the recommended 1 cup portion, but it’s not necessarily the problem until you throw refined sugar, saturated fat, and copious amounts of caffeine into that 916mL that creates an absorption worthy problem. 

Not to mention, scarily caffeinated suburbanites running around.

Stop Acting like a Big Baby, Already.

It interests me that people throw money at “diet pills” not dietitians-not terribly surprising considering the promise of instant pound shedding products. People think of dietitians as “Food Police” but then choose an HCG + 500 calorie a day diet? Straight confusing.

And so is one’s body.

A body is an incredibly smart machine. It adapts to your needs and helps you fight disease. I mean, it creates life. A terrifically complicated process. It’s not like women desire the side effects of pregnancy when they aren’t pregnant…so why do some want to “fool” their machine into thinking otherwise? And men, you too?

If you are unaware, HCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin) is a hormone produced by the placenta during pregnancy. It helps ensure that the fetus receives enough nutrients to grow and develop normally. I recall doctors recommending increased nutrition intake and weight gain when HCG is present in a woman’s body. 

The 26 day diet kit from hcgdiet.com is $250 when combined with a calorie restriction diet. Meaning, you’re out $250 dollars, are hungry, and still haven’t invested money into long term nutrition education…but remember, it WORKS!! And saves you so much money on food that it’s kind of like a FREE diet!!

How about this: EFFECTIVE NUTRITION COUNSELING? Does that help? There's nothing wrong with a body until you confuse the machine-why not clear a mind?

Food and Drug Administration Officials claim this heavily promoted weight-loss product is fraudulent and illegal. And, Samuel Klein of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis states that "data from most randomized controlled trials show that HCG is no better than placebo in achieving weight loss or reducing hunger” (USA Today).

That’s placebo not placenta.

It seems the same people who try and alter their machine by using HCG are also those altering their bodies with crappy food (aka weight gain). Most likely the people who order pizza and fast food. Dare I say, "quick fix" types.

I wonder how long these quick fix types restrict their calories to 500/day, take HCG and believe it's blocking hunger wonder powers. Of course appetites are suppressed with a slowed metabolism and muscle wasting (our metabolic furnaces).

It seems there is a lot more belief in fraudulence than the belief that a dietitian possesses any real knowledge about nutritional science. Is it because dietitians aren’t speaking up or are they silent because it would be incorrect to generalize nutrition needs to everyone?

Either way, I can honestly say that 500 kcal a day is inappropriate for any healthy person. Except for maybe a healthy person at “birth to one week” of life which requires 8-12 bottle/breast feedings of 30-90 ml per serving each day equating to 400 kcal on average. Look at that. Just 100 kcal less than the alleged overweight adult HCG user. Tell me how that makes sense. Tricking your machine into pregnancy does not mean eating like a one week old.

You can’t tell me that these people who have “tried every diet out there to lose weight without success” have actually spent their money wisely on individualized nutrition education, counseling, and coaching from a registered dietitian. And another thing, stop crying and whining, that’s left to those who are truly infants and pregnant.

The Strong Economics in Reinforcement

Positive vs. negative reinforcement. which holds more “strength?”

Personally, negative reinforcement can be so defeating. Sure it works great for some things, like the old “don’t put your hand on the stove” when you’re 4 years old, or in my case, “don’t lick the birthday candles when they still have wax running down them…” Completely true and traumatizing story. I never again brought my mouth to fire preemptively. It was a sad day when I crossed ‘Fire Blowing Lady in the circus’ off my Prospective Careers Choices list-did I forget to add that in my ‘Icing at the Top’ blog?

But in all seriousness, I tend to work a lot harder when I feel like I’m doing well at something or receive recognition. When those who don’t work out start exercising they experience both negative and positive reinforcement. The next day they swing their legs to the side of their bed and attempt to stand up like a stiff plank (insert image of Grandpa Joe from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) while pretty much crying as they waddle to the mirror…this is considered Negative Reinforcement. Fire burning muscles are not far from the 4 year old stove story. That thought of “Why on earth would I do this to myself again?” comes into their mind and then they look in the mirror. You know the one, shirt half way up on their body, standing to the side, shoulders back, head cocked…and here is where positive reinforcement comes in. Also sometimes a fist pump or two. 

Speeding when there is no police around is fine and dandy but getting a fine from speeding is not so dandy. So what do we respond better to? Is it personal or universal? I feel Econ 103 creeping up in the back of my brain: Cost vs. Benefit Ratio Curve circa sophomore year of college. Certain weight management programs are funded by negative reinforcement. You’re charged a fine if you don’t lose a pound at each weekly weigh in. These programs have strong reinforcements, unless participants gain lean body mass and tip the scale positively and get charged (negatively) but that’s a whole other blog. 

The idea behind Gym-Pact is to keep members committed to their workouts by charging $10/day for each missed workout planned. This could either be the most expensive gym membership I’ve ever heard of or the cheapest..? When I brought this up to a certain police officer (the dear) his response was “why not give members free work out gear or gym perks for showing up to their scheduled workouts instead?” 

I like this thought of positive reinforcement. When counseling, clients are often happier and more successful when I’m proud of their weight loss accomplishment. But I wonder, when it comes to Gym-Pact, who is profiting more in their scenario: The gym owners or the members? I wonder if the business plan, developed by Harvard grads who were inspired by behavioral economics, is really the business of healthy-committed members or simply business. 
Maybe a certain kind of person does respond better to negative reinforcement or maybe the member who enrolls is taking full advantage of "taking care of business" and changing negativity into positivity-on their own cost vs. benefit ratio curve.