Like this. It's out. There is no such thing as a healthy diet. Or at least… it doesn't exist as a 'diet'. A healthy diet should not be seen as a diet, but simply as your normal eating pattern. Seems to me. And maybe a healthy diet is a little different for everyone after all. But the statement that a healthy diet should make you feel fit seems to make sense to me.
Nowadays many people are consciously concerned with their health. Or at least, we do our best! Have you ever had a body scan performed? That gives you a good picture of your health. But then the next question is:how do you live healthy? And more specifically:how do you really eat healthy?
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So what is a healthy diet anyway? Let's start with the word diet. Wikipedia calls the following:
Opinions differ quite a bit about the healthy part. Even when I wrote about my sugar rush, getting in shape happily and trying Modifast, the warnings hit me . I do understand. Because it is generally known that losing weight often has a kind of yo-yo effect. But losing weight is not my goal (although a few pounds less is no problem), I want to feel fit.
My goal is to live a healthy life and still enjoy it. That should be possible, right? A nice fries every now and then, or a glass of wine. But preferably so that your body can recover itself well and that you still feel fit. And that situation probably varies from person to person. For example, Frank can't drink too many light drinks, he has noticed that he really gets a kind of tired muscles. I get a similar effect from too many carbohydrates. And from too much meat.
But back to a healthy diet and the different opinions. As a blogger I have seen quite a bit and I have also written about many different things. From the Green Happiness recipes to the Food Hourglass and from sugar-free food to the Cambridge diet. Invariably one of the reactions we get is 'You just have to take half of everything', there may also be a grain of truth in that. But don't we all secretly know what a healthy diet is?
We know that fruits and vegetables are important to you, right? It's just a matter of logical thinking. In my opinion, the goal of a healthy diet should be that you feel fit and that it is easy to maintain. A 'diet' that stimulates you to adopt a healthy eating pattern. Because losing a few pounds quick and dirty has never helped anyone in the long term.
This is of course different with a healthy diet! But then the question still remains 'what is actually healthy?' Look, everyone knows that vegetables are healthy. And fruits too. Provided that you don't eat kilos of fruit every day, that doesn't seem fantastic to me either. But only fruits and vegetables? It seems to me that you might also miss some nutrients.
And milk? Is milk healthy or unhealthy? A large part of the Netherlands lives on the assumption that milk is healthy. Through the Wheel of Five and all advertisements. Even though there has been a dissenting voice for years that I personally agree with better. Namely that milk is not as healthy as we think. But that we should all continue to believe that because a large part of the Dutch economy revolves around this.
And bread? Also one like that! Of course it is important that you get fiber. But does that have to be done through bread or can it be done differently? Enough vegetables that are full of fiber. What I do know from experience is that -if I eat bread- I generally get a mega dip after 2 hours. And if I eat bread for days in a row… I get a bloated stomach. Such a light pregnancy feeling 😉 . Mmmmm, that makes you think, doesn't it?
But I think that makes it all very difficult. Who or what should or can you (still) believe? There are so many conflicting stories going around. For example, a while ago Linda wrote a blog for us about losing weight with a low-carbohydrate diet. She lost 44.5 kilos. Very good of course, but immediately the question arises whether that is so good, that diet. I don't have a clue myself anymore. Many swear by it, but I also read enough warnings.
What I do know is that I feel better when I eat less sweets and sniff (barring the temporary revival due to sugars, of course). And if I watch my carbs. Not too much pasta, rice, potatoes and bread. That pays off when I look at my energy feeling. But in terms of kilos, that doesn't do much for me anymore. I think my body is already used to it.
Hence my position that a healthy diet is actually that eating pattern in which you feel permanently fit. A diet that allows you to get up in the morning and face the day without too much effort. Just wake up and go with that banana.
By the way, I can't only measure it by the fact that I feel fit, I also see it in my stool 😉 . You may not want to hear that, but it is a fact. Easy turds that aren't sticky are the best. As soon as I've had a big barbecue, for example, I notice that immediately.
Good. For me, feeling fit means not eating too many carbohydrates and not eating too much meat. And don't drink too much wine, but that seems logical to me;). Because my early menopause does occasionally lead to a certain need, I am very happy so far with the sweet replacements that I have received from Modifast to try out.
For the past two weeks I have hardly eaten anything without any effort. I played hooky once by taking a piece of crumble flan. He had to, because Luc had obtained a 9.5 for his mathematics. And we have the agreement that if we have a number above 9 we eat cake 😉 . Furthermore, the snacks have greatly supported me in my sweetness needs. Every morning and afternoon I took some of the snacks with my coffee. A cookie with chocolate pieces, a mini cube or a shape bar.
The carbohydrates in these snacks are so limited that your body does not end up in a rush and wants more. Just like it goes with 'normal' cookies and sweets. Once you've got one, you'll want another. And another one. And another one. With these snacks, it stays at one. I can tell you a very nice experience.
I save the shakes for the moments when I'm very busy and don't have time to put together an extensive lunch. I'll stick to some fruit and a shake. So I didn't take it every day, but about every other day. Good for me because I sometimes find lunch limited if I don't want to eat too much bread.
The result is that I have lost 2 kilos (even if that was not the goal), but more importantly… I feel fitter. With a sugar dip it takes more energy to get through this. In terms of taste, I love the cookies, the mini cubes and the bars.
The only drawback is that I have to watch out for my teenage son with the cookies. Carbs or no carbs… he never stops when it comes to something that tastes good 😉 . If I'm not careful, I'll run out of cookies in no time. On the other hand, I also like it when I can give him something tasty in between that is not full of sugar.
As for the shakes… I'm not a big fan of that and yet the strawberry and vanilla flavors didn't disappoint me at all. Good to do! I haven't tried the vanilla pudding yet. To be honest… that word 'pudding' reminds me too much of what I used to eat at the neighbors when I was invited there… yagh 😉 .
Image used via Shutterstock
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