- by Patrick Jennings
- 3 minute read
Labeling Food as Good or Bad and What It Means For Fat Loss
Are you ready?I sure hope so…
Because you’re about to be liberated!
Freed from the notion that there is such a thing as ‘good‘ foods and ‘bad‘ foods. Freed from the belief that the so-called ‘bad‘ foods are the reason why you can’t lose weight or get lean. Freed from the mentality that you MUST eat clean to look good naked!
In fact, when you finish reading this article we want you to feel relieved.
Not only that but we want you to be one step closer to truly understanding what is needed for you to maintain a high level of health, happiness, AND have the body you want. Have your cake and eat it too as the proverb goes
Why We Need to Stop Labeling!
Labeling certain foods ‘clean’ and ‘unclean’ puts them on a pedestal. They become either a “superfood” that will give us magical powers or “junk”, which we should avoid like the plague or become Jabba the Hut. This labeling of food is a surefire way to create a poor relationship with food.
In fact, it can become a form of disordered eating known as orthorexia nervosa which characterized by an extreme or excessive preoccupation with avoiding foods perceived to be unhealthy. This heightened level of neuroticism can continue and create other unhealthy patterns such as stress-eating, binging and depression. All things that will surely leave you not only stressed out and unhappy but no closer to your fitness and health goals.
On the flip side, labeling certain foods as being ‘super’ places them high up on a pedestal and clouds our judgements of quantity and quality. Coconut oil, for instance, has gained uber popularity in the past year or so to the point where people believe it has magical fat burning properties. The fact is that although it may have more micronutrients than other oils, it is still fat and has 9 calories per gram making it quite easy to rack up your daily caloric intake.
Getting in the right mindset
The most common nutrition question we get asked when it comes to fat loss is the obvious, “What should I be eating?”. The problem with this question is that answer is going to be largely different for everyone asking that question and my response is usually: “What do you like to eat?”
A better question and the one that you SHOULD be asking if you’re goal is to lose weight or body fat is:
“How much should I be eating?”
Asking this will get you in the right mindset and allow you to have a flexible approach to your diet and a more sustainable approach to fat loss. Meaning you can STILL get awesome results while eating many foods you enjoy. So rather than fearing and avoiding certain foods, we can accept them as part of our diet and move on!
This isn’t breaking news, but the quality of your food (e.g. nutrients, vitamins, minerals) plays a large role in health and longevity but when it comes to your body composition and your weight, the most important factor is quantity!
It is also important to understand, however, that some of those foods that you love have a ridiculously high amount of calories and WILL sabotage your efforts. Repeat after me: CALORIES COUNT!
In Conclusion
We hope you have a better understanding of what it takes to be the fit, lean and healthy badass that you are and you understand these 5 things:
- Labeling food as good and bad can sabotage our health and happiness
- If you want to look good naked, the correct question to ask is “HOW MUCH should I be eating?”
- Superfoods can be deceptive when it comes to quantity
- Nutrient dense food is still important (obvi)
- CALORIES COUNT