Holiday Craziness

It's always interesting to me that this is the time of year when the same, silly recommendations come out about diet and the Holidays. "Eat lower fat options...use salsa instead of dips...avoid the alcoholic beverages....skip the pecan pie", etc. What is most annoying to me about these recommendations are the assumptions that you eat like this for the remainder of the year. And I'm willing to bet that most of us do not.

See, I'm going to eat that pecan pie because I have pecan pie at most twice per year. That makes two slices of pie per year. I couldn't care less if each slice has 500 calories. I eat it twice per year! If two slices of 500-calorie pie were enough to sabotage your fitness efforts, well, we'd be in a hell of a situation, wouldn't we?!

The same goes for cheesecake. Does anyone else eat cheesecake every night for dessert? No? So why is there this constant badgering that you avoid a slice of cheesecake over the Holidays. This is just dietary idiocy. Most registered dieticians are well-meaning, but sorely lacking in common sense. The fact is that it is your choices over several days, weeks and months that lead to the shape that you are in now. Short-term caloric spikes and nutrient-dense foods are not something that need to be avoided at all costs. In fact, these can be used strategically to help boost metabolism and lead to greater body composition changes over the long term if structured carefully.

Dieticians (and I'm generalizing here based on my experiences) confuse quantity moreso than quality. By that I mean that they constantly promote low-calorie, low-fat options at the expense of natural products. Whole milk is milk in its natural state (raw, unpasturized even better). Skim milk is not. Yet they constantly harp on avoiding whole milk products and suggest that everyone switch to low-fat versions. Well, I grew up working on a dairy farm and I can tell you without doubt that not one of the Holstein cows we milked produced skim milk. For most milk drinking folks, I would hazard to guess that they usually don't drink it alone as they did when they were kids, but usually drink it with or in something. Therefore, the quantity is not the issue, it's the quality. Skim milk, let alone soy, almond or some other fake milk product, are best avoided at all costs.

Want to eat optimally? Then purchase only organic produce, fruits, nuts and seeds, all-natural, free-range grass-fed meats and poultry, raw (preferably unpasturized) dairy and cheeses, with smaller portions of sprouted grains and breads. This will supply you with the nutrients you need to avoid most major deficiencies, along with providing plenty of taste experiences to keep you satisfied. Any other recommendation beyond the generalities given above are speculative. For more information, please visit the Weston A. Price Foundation website here.

Happy Holidays and have a great New Year.