The Health Effect

I'm sorry I've been gone for so long! I left for the UK over two weeks ago and didn't bring my laptop...because why the heck would you blog while you're in Scotland, one of the most beautiful countries in the world?! No offense to you readers...I absolutely love you. But I also love sleep when I'm on vacation, especially after being on my feet for up to 10 hours a day. :)

Anyways, I'm getting ready for a presentation at a summer girl's camp on Monday, so I thought I would get two birds with one stone and write a post on it. My presentation mirrors much of what I have posted about before, but it's a bit different. It focuses on one specific question:

What if I told you that healthy looks different for everyone?

I'm going to let that fact sink in for a second.

And a few seconds more.

And a few seconds more.

Actually, this fact is so important that I'm going to repeat it one more time:

Healthy looks different for EVERYONE.

A few moments of silence for that to register.


What are the implications of this fact?

1. There is no specific body weight that, once achieved, means you are healthy.
2. There is no specific amount of calories that will work for everybody.
3. There is no specific eating plan that will magically give every living person nice abs and a good butt.

Healthy occurs at whatever calorie count you have enough energy to get through the day.

Healthy occurs at the body weight you can perform the daily activities that are required from you.

Healthy occurs when your eating plan provides fulfillment to your life.

Obviously, this will be different for every single person on the planet; and it can even change from day to day and year to year. Health depends on age, weight, gender, activity level, genetics, body type, lifestyle, overall health (in terms of sickness and disease), environment, etc etc etc. To prove this, here is a picture of all of the chemical reactions that take place in the body everyday...



For example, I just got back from a trip to Scotland. While in Scotland, I ran for 5 miles every morning and was on my feet walking about 6 hours everyday. Therefore, I burned and ate a lot more calories than I typically would living my normal lifestyle.

I wish this one fact was understood by more people. Why? Because the statistics tell us a scary story:

-83% of college women diet to lose weight, when over half of them are already of a healthy weight
-70% of twelve-year-old's who think they are fat are actually underweight
-Society's expectations of the ideal body weight is 20% lower than what is actually healthy

And perhaps the most terrifying fact of all:
-40% of mothers tell their adolescents to diet

These statistics come from the National Eating Disorder Association. What is most clear from these facts is that society is confused about one thing: how to achieve health and what it looks like.

Of course, as I have already explained, healthy looks different for everyone. But I have yet to discuss tips on how to achieve it. So, without further ado, here are a few tips on how to feel good about your body and what you're eating:

1. 90/10 Rule: This guideline is followed by a lot of nutrition professionals--the ones that don't are intimidating and have unrealistic expectations for their clients. This rule is quite simple: 90% of the time we should eat foods that provide a lot of nutritional benefit per calorie; 10% of the time we should eat whatever the heck we want. Basically, there are no 'unrestricted' and 'restricted' foods, but foods that we should 'eat more of' and foods we should 'eat less of'. This ensures that not only are we getting the nutrients we need, we are also getting that chocolate cake that keeps us psychologically sane after a long day at work.

2. Eat a wide variety of foods: The wider variety of food you eat, the more nutrients you get into your diet. The more nutrients you eat, the happier your body will be. And when our body is happy, we are happy! Life seems to go better. I suggest eating all the colors of the rainbow everyday. Except blue. Because there aren't really any naturally blue foods that I can think of...

3. Never get bored: If you get bored with the foods you are eating, then to be frank, that might be your fault...the world has an unlimited number of foods from each country and corner of this planet (though I completely understand that there are health problems that may prevent eating a wide variety of foods)! Step out of your comfort zone. Get creative. If you ate something different for every meal for the rest of your life, you still wouldn't make a dent in the variety of options available to you. The second you get bored with what you are eating is the second you begin to feel gross and get less satisfaction out of life.

4. Love yourself: This may be an odd tip, but if you don't love yourself then achieving health will be such a challenge! If I had it my way, every person on the planet would look in the mirror and give themselves a compliment every day. If you don't feel good about yourself, then you won't feel good about the food you are eating--you won't get pleasure from food, from good nutrition, or a healthy lifestyle.

PLEASE do not underestimate the power of this last tip. The only way to improve those frightening statistics from the National Eating Disorder Foundation is to inspire health in yourself and in others.

And you must must MUST remember this simple fact: healthy looks different for everyone.