Post # 3 | The 3 Food Groups

Greetings,

I am sure that all of you remember being taught the five major food groups in grade school right?

To refresh your memory, experts say that a healthy diet should consist of a sensible combination of:

1) Grains or Starches
2) Fruit and vegetables
3) Milk and dairy foods
4) Meat, fish, poultry and pulses and
5) Fats and sugars

While accurate, these guidelines do not address the core issue regarding America's obesity problem.  Instructing a person who has a poor relationship with food to concentrate on the above food groups, is like asking a computer engineer to fix your computer without first plugging it in. 

Restated, these guidelines don't matter if your whole grains are covered in sugar and salt, your fruit is laced in syrup, your vegetables are fried (fried okra comes to mind), your source of milk and cheese are from a McDonald's shake and cheeseburger meal and your sources of meat and fish come from Golden Corral and Captain D's!!!

NEW RULES!

For the participates of the "5 Rules for Healthy Living" there are actually only THREE food groups which matter:

1) Meals
2) Snacks and
3) Treats 

GOING FORWARD, EVERY TIME YOU EAT AND/OR DRINK SOMETHING YOU SHOULD KNOW WHETHER YOU ARE CONSUMING A MEAL, A SNACK, OR A TREAT.

Let's define each group:

Food Group 1 "The Meal".

A meal is exactly that; A Meal. These are the moments throughout the day that you should consume the bulk of your Macro-Nutrients.

There are 3 primary macro-nutrients that your body NEEDS for energy and survival. 
These are:

1) Dietary Fat (excluding trans fat),
2) Proteins and
3) Complex Carbs (not simple carbs). 

We ALL need EACH of them in order to survive.  Too LITTLE of any of them and you will feel weak and tired.  Too MUCH of any of them and you will also feel weak and tired.

Most diets try to limit one or two (fats and carbs) of the macro-nutrients in order for you to lose weight. 

Yes a person who restricts their consumption of ANYTHING will lose weight; but because macro-nutrients are ESSENTIAL, restricting them too much is both unhealthy and UNSUSTAINABLE. 

Reducing one of the macro nutrients to an artificially low level is unsustainable for most people in much the same way as not drinking enough water despite water being readily available. It just won't work. 

The Rules demand that you eat the appropriate PORTION of all three.

So based on this definition do you think a Bo Jangles "2 piece and a biscuit" is a MEAL?

What about a Big Mac and fries with a coke? Is that a MEAL?

The answer is NOOOOOO, and if they are; they are BARELY a MEAL. 

So if they are not MEAL (as the advertisers claim they are) than what are they?  Keep reading.

Finally, WATER is the ONLY beverage that is ESSENTIAL for your body to function. 

So what about soda? And 100% fruit juice? I know 100% fruit juice is part of a MEAL; Right? Wrong? Milk has to be a MEAL beverage right?

Keep reading. 

Group 2 "The Snack".

A snack is an UNPROCESSED FRUIT, VEGETABLE, NUT, PULSE or/and MEAT that you SHOULD enjoy between meals. 

You should be able to eat a snack virtually around the clock and not detract from your weight management goals or overall health.  Sometimes immediatly after a meal, I will prepare some air popped popcorn. No problem.

The reason that snacks are so IMPORTANT (especially for energy) is because your body can only store a very LIMITED amount of carbs and virtually NO protein.  When your carb level (ie blood sugar) begins to drop you will begin to feel hungry. 

IT IS PERFECTLY NATURAL TO FEEL HUNGRY. THAT IS YOUR GOD GIVEN FOOD TRAFFIC LIGHT.

So because you KNOW with 100% CERTAINTY that you will get hungry, and that we live in a TOXIC food environment, it is VITAL that you SURROUND yourself with an ABUNDANCE OF UNPROCESSED FRUIT, VEGETABLES, NUTS, PULSES AND MEAT that you eat BEFORE you get VERY hungry. 

Fruits and vegetables (like apples, berries and beans) have the added bonus of providing fiber, vegetable protein and essential vitamins. Increased fiber and protein OVER TIME help keep you from getting so hungry.

And for now unless you are diabetic or have some other food restriction (which would still be at odds with your current diet) DON'T WORRY ABOUT THOSE PROFESSIONALLY SUGGESTED SERVING SIZE GUIDELINES REGARDING FRUIT AND NUTS AND OTHER ITEMS YOU SHOULD EAT.

If you get hungry between a SNACK; grab an apple, or a pear or a carrot or a house salad, or some nuts or a fiber bar, or some popcorn etc. 

PEOPLE ARE NOT OVERWEIGHT BECAUSE THEY ATE TOO MANY UNPROCESSED SNACKS!!!! THEY ARE OVERWEIGHT BECAUSE THEY HAVE REPLACED MEALS AND SNACKS WITH VISABLE AND HIDDEN TREATS.

Overtime your bad habits will begin to be replaced by good ones.  At the same time, the fibers and extra nutrients you receive will help stave off hunger to a more manageable level.

We live in a world where eatable food is at EVERY CORNER. 

Remember, HUNGER IS UNDEFEATED AGAINST WILL POWER!  IT IS UNNATURAL FOR A HUNGRY ANIMAL TO TURN DOWN FOOD. UNDERSTAND THAT AND PREPARE.

When I started The Rules; I brought at least 10 to 15 two once snacks and loose fruit to work with me everyday.  People (mainly my wife) used to say; dang you are ALWAYS eating. 

What people (again my wife) didn't realize was that I was in the process of substituting a regiment of daily candy bars, sodas and chips (about 700 to 1,000 calories) with multiple healthy 100 to 200 calorie snacks.

Eventually I began to reduce my snack intake (and not intentionally, I was just not as hungry), but no longer had the urge to grab a Treat.

Group 3 "The Treat".

So we have determined that a meal and a snack are both natural unprocessed foods which supply essential macro-nutrients at various levels - that leaves the infamous Treat.

So what is a Treat?

A TREAT IS ANYTHING THAT YOU EAT WHICH IS NOT A MEAL OR A SNACK.

Some examples include but are not limited to Little Debbie cakes, beef jerky, candy, SODA, chips, ready-made diet meals, (basically 90% of the products you find in the typical American grocery store). 

More specifically, a treat is a man-made processed chemical item which has been altered in a laboratory to taste, look and smell like good food (A McDonalds apple pie comes to mind). 

Some treats are less unhealthy than others, but at the end of the day ANY FOOD not in Group 1 or 2 is still a treat.

So, do I have to give up Treats in order to follow The Rules?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!  An occasional treat is a NECESSARY way to keep most people mentally on track with healthy eating.

The key word however is OCCASIONAL.

By spending billions of dollars in marketing, the US food and beverage industry has convinced consumers that Snickers Bars, Soda, chips etc are satisfying "Snacks".  But in reality they are TREATS that should be enjoyed OCCASIONALLY.

If for the rest of your life you NEVER ate a potato chip or drink a soda or swallowed a piece of candy you would be just FINE.  Maybe extremely boring but healthy none the less.

The problem today is that the typical diet routinely substitutes MEALS AND SNACKS WITH TREATS. Also too many so-called MEALS include loads of added/hidden treats.

For example, parents who give their children Lucky Charms for breakfast are essentially replacing a vital MEAL with an unnecessary TREAT.  And we wonder why our kids are boucing off the walls and can't stay focused at school (ok that was an aside).

So from now on, each time just before you eat, please ask yourself; am I having a Meal? a Snack? or a Treat? 

Do my meals and snacks have hidden treats in them?

You may also want to, evaluate your refrigerator and pantry.  Is it filled with Meals? Snacks? or Treats? I don't care what kind of treat; the only thing that really matters is how you mentally process the role that a Treat should play in your diet. 

Most healthy people don't LOAD their house with a bunch of treats.  When they want one, they go out and buy it.

Again there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with occasional treats.  As a matter of fact, I enjoy certain treats on an almost daily basis.

But from now on, you should NEVER EVER grab a treat such as a coke and chips thinking that you are having a snack because you are not. You are having a high calorie low nutritional value treat.

You also need to understand that there is NO SUCH THING AS A FAST FOOD MEAL. 

The logical extension of the 3 Food Groups should help you put all of your food options into perspective.

I will not publish some sort of arbitrary guideline for how many treats you are allowed

IMPROVED HEALTHY IS 10% INSTRUCTION AND 90% SELF DISCOVERY.

YOU must determine what works for YOU. I am simply providing the intellectual framework that BILLIONS of healthy (most of them non Americans) use when making food choices!

Happy Eating,