NOT EATING IS NOT HEALTHY

No matter what you call it, Keto, focused eating, low carb, no carb, intermittent fasting, they're all just fancy ways of telling you not to eat.

It's tempting to fall back into old habits of limiting, restricting and simply not eating after the holidays. So many big meals, parties, drinks, treats and turkey for days – I get it. You, and many just like you, are trying to even things out by omitting as many “extra” calories as you can in an attempt to balance out all the massive inhale of calories consumed over the holidays. That's why, if you've ever clicked on anything whatsoever to do with dieting or weight loss, your social media feed is rife with pop-ups agreeing with you about eating too much and guilting you into jumping on the latest diet trend. Keto, focused eating, low fat, no carb, intermittent fasting, still seem to be top of the list. But no matter what you call it, anything that tells you to stop doing something that literally keeps you alive, feeding your body, is simply not healthy.

Diets advocate giving up, deprivation, and minding every morsel. All fancy ways of convincing you to just stop eating. Which can seem like the answer after a period of indulgence such as the Christmas season we've just come out of. But just like overeating and overindulging threw your body out of balance and into one (or more) unpleasant situation like added weight, stomach upset, constipation, digestion issues, poor sleep, lack of energy, brain fog, moodiness, or even depression, diets disrupt hormonal balance and create unstable blood sugar. Literally two very important keys to creating overall health, lowering risk of disease, metabolic function, and, yep, you guessed it, the holy grail of New Year's resolutions, achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. We all know overindulging is extreme and doesn't serve us. But restricting and/or not eating in some misguided attempt to assuage guilt and make up for the extra caloric intake - aka dieting – is just as extreme.

Let's just clarify here. You cannot make up for eating too many calories last month, last week, or even yesterday by not eating today. That goes for one meal, or fasting for the day and just eating dinner. The body just doesn't work like that. It's the same as sleep. Getting just four hours sleep for two nights in a row and then sleeping in on the weekend in the hopes to make up those lost zzz won't happen. But that's for another column. Ok, so why won't dieting or skipping a few meals balance out those extra calories and why can't you get long term results? Simple. Diets work against the way the body is designed to function. Oh sure you might get some results at the beginning, after all it “worked” last year right? Which begs the question, “What's your definition of “worked”? Respectfully, if it “worked” last year, you wouldn't be looking to lose the same 20lbs again this year, right?

Rather than doing the extreme, wouldn't it be nice to have an approach that's based in the science of how your body was designed to function, and that also fits with your busy life? How about something that not only allows you to eat carbs, but has you eating them all day long? And what if you don't have to count calories, weigh food or track? I'm sure the skeptics reading this are wondering when I'll be trying to sell you ocean front property in Arizona too. But seriously, if you've spent your adult life (and maybe some of your pre/teen life) trying everything under the sun to keep things under control, I hear you.

The reason you've likely never come across an approach that uses food to create hormonal balance and stabilize blood sugar, is because it would be the last nutritional and weight loss advice you'd ever need. I call it PFC3. It could literally put the diet industry out of business. Billions of dollars worth of business. The truth is, when you focus on health, balance your PFCs – protein, fat and carbs – in the right portions, in the right frequency throughout the day, your body naturally releases stored fat, weight begins to fall off and you start feeling amazing. Simple. Our bodies we're not meant to live in dis-ease, discomfort, or deprivation, they were meant to heal. So give your body what it needs and it will use it to your benefit.

If you'd like to learn more about all things PFC, email [email protected] and ask about our Jump into January 28 Day challenge.