I would get a TV just so I could smile adoringly at Gillian McKeith as she lays out all the nasty-ass food that the unhealthy, stinky pooper people on her show consume in a week. It is usually obscene and for someone in my line of work, car-crash like addictive to watch. I am forever amazed by just how much the average person consumes.
It has been all over the media of late that if were to eat less, we could live longer. This notion is certainly not new. The Japanese have been doing this since the beginning of the Japanese, with the saying “Hara Hachi Bu” or Eat to 80% Full. The yogis also practice this, eating usually one meal a day with the knowledge that the less we eat, the less we need to metabolize. Free radicals are naturally produced as a by-product of digestion and metabolism so the less food we need to metabolize the less free radicals we have circulating in our bodies. The less free radicals we have circulating in the body, the less wear and tear we have on our organs, the less weather beaten our cells are and the younger we look and feel on the inside and out.
This concept is not new, but when I came across this article from the National Post, I understood why it was suddenly all over the media. Wouldn’t you know it, they have come up with a drug that mimics the effects of eating a calorie reduced diet.
Last Friday evening, I was hanging out in the Love In The Kitchen headquarters with a friend and we were listening to Lana Gay’s Foodie Friday show on CBCRadio 3 and she was having a chat about calorie restrictive diets and the new studies that show eating less helps you to live longer. I hopped on over to my computer and I dropped Lana an email saying- “Lana! Let me call in! Please please pretty please.” So here we is the chat we had- live and impromptu:
[audio http://www.meghantelpner.com/uploads/1/9/7/1/1971588/meg_on_caloric_restriction.mp3]
Now, as I explain in my comment on the radio, for most of us, eating 20% less than we are now, will leave us far from starving. We are so programmed to want more for our money. ‘Super Sized’ and ‘All You Can Eat’ kind of makes me want to ralph. Why on earth would you ever want to know what your “All You Can Eat” limit is? Buffets make me nosharific as, for the most part, people are eating because they paid a flat rate to eat and why would you ever think eggs benedict, an ice cream sunday, a pile of bacon, a chocolate croissant, dried figs and prosciutto, with a side of waffle should be consumed in a single meal? Because you paid for it? Ugh.
Here is my question for you. If we want to be healthier, live longer, look better, feel better and be an all ’round finely-formed, sweet smelling human being, why not just skip the pills, the genetic testing, the fat-free, calorie-free faux-food and just eat more great, healthy food and less crap? That could work too right?
So with that being said, my Canadian friends, have a very Happy Thanksgiving! All things in moderation- especially Pumpkin Pie and Whipped Cream.
And I Love you Gillian McKeith
I’ve seen Gillians show and read her book. She is great!
Loved what you said on the radio, it is so true, we are a society of super-sized meals, which is making super-sized people and children. I can’t understand why people eat that way, do they think it’s good for them?? Or do they know it’s bad and are in denial? I can’t help but judge when I see someone eating crap. Or worse, people feeding it to there children as a “balanced meal..”
Well said Megs! You’re a rockstar
There needs to be a shift in the way that we approach meals. We need to look at food in the manner of a young child who eats when hungry and stops when full, rather than clearing our plates. This is difficult to do when you have been raised on the “plate clearing” mentality by depression era parents or grandparents who would eat everything in an effort to not be wasteful. The difference is that they ate little because they had little. Today’s western society is wealthier, fed excessive portion sizes, and eats until it’s all gone. There needs to be a shift in the restaurant and prepared food industry to move away from valuing food by quantity to valuing it by quality. This might help us to retrain our brains an stomachs to recognize how much food is enough.
yes, I have seen that show. I love her boldness much like yours!!
You hit the nail right on the head. Less is not necessarily more. It isn’t about cutting portions by 20%; it’s about revamping our diet. Let’s face it: it’s disturbingly simple for someone to consume 3000 calories of McJunk, grease, fat, carbs and sugar in a day. But if you put 3000 calories worth of veggies, fruits, nuts and other good-for-you stuff in front of them, there’s no friggin’ way they’ll be able to eat it all in one day. They might be able to eat 1600 calories of it before they are stuffed to the max.
It’s about quality, not quantity. When people realize this, suddenly “diet” isn’t about deprivation, restriction and sacrifice. It’s about plain and simple change. Once that a-ha! moment happens, the diet stigma vanishes, and the chance of success goes up up up!
Fantastic, Meghan, definitely spreading the word on this one!
I love Gillian too!! I actually saw her a few months ago at the Big Carrot – it was quite the nutrition celebrity spotting for me.
Bravo! It’s so true–since most of us overeat anyway, reducing by 20-30% would probably bring us to normal quantities!
Have a great long weekend, Meghan!
Must admit, this makes sense. The only thing is that it is only Day 13 for my new diet and I’m still learning about all the wonderful things I can eat and some great recipes I can prepare. I find I am still getting hungry as I am not eating enough because I’m so used to eating pastas and meat that I realise the same serving size of veggies isn’t enough. I’m not feeling sick or heavy after I eat and I need to get used to the fact I can still feel satisfied and full without that heavy “blah” feeling. Brittany, this was my “a-ha!” moment.
I have also realised that I need to put more time aside in my day to prepare my meals, instead of just being able to throw on some pasta and quickly make a sauce or barbecue a steak and throw a small salad together. What I do know is that I will not eat a supersized nausea-inducing burger served with a side of artery-clogging chips and stomach burning fizzy softdrink.
Gillian’s been branded as a loon by many mass media outlets, but as you say – there’s something incredibly powerful in that scene in her show when she lays the big table full with all the junk people eat in a week. I have to confess something. When I’m tempted to eat junk food, I have this mental flash of that table. I ask myself, “If I were on that show, would I dare show my face eating that?” Most times, back into the cupboard it goes for the skinny men in the family to consume of their own free will. Not me though.
I can only hope to be branded a loon some day by mass media. I will keep striving for that goal.
Thanks for this info! You certainly know how to include tidbits that I can’t find in any other blog.
For someone who’s really into healthy digestion, like me, eating to 80% full makes so much sense. If you keep eating and eating, you add to the amount of food in your belly. After a while, you can’t digest it all. The less you eat at each meal, the more you can digest later. Brilliant advice. It was running through my head during the last three meals I ate!
My sister and I always quote Gillian when she told one contestant, “Look at all this food. You eat like a big fat slob man.”
That show horrifies me, and of course I can’t look away! I both love and loathe Gillian. I cannot fully decide which feeling is more abundant though. My main problem with her is her attitude. She is very pro-fat shaming and that enrages me. Shame does not help! I would be SO much happier with her show if she gave the information without making people feel even worse about themselves. Speaking as a previously morbidly obese person it is NOT appreciated, and it does NOT help the majority of people.
I know just as many junkfoodaholics who are thin or average as I do those who are obese. No one shames them because they don’t “look unhealthy”. Looks can be deceiving here. I will not say that is is possible for someone to be obese and for them to be operating at optimal health, but likewise someone who is thin or average but eats a bunch of crap is also not necessarily going to be healthy.
I work with men who spend 20 minutes in the bathroom every morning and they don’t “look” unhealthy. I can promise you that Gillian would have an issue with their samples though.
The calorie thing is interesting. I am not fully sold on calorie restriction, just so long as the food you are consuming is actually real food that is healthy for you. If you are eating non-food, a bunch of grains, sugars, etc. then of course cutting back will help your overall health!
If a person is easing a healthy produce based diet though, they usually need to eat more to get enough calories to survive. I think it all comes back to nutrient density per calorie. You need your nutrition, you don’t need the things that don’t nourish you though.
Great point Marissa. I agree too. It is never helpful when motivating someone to make them feel like poop first. When I have my show- it will be all positive!