Some readers ask how we manage to be consistent in our diet. Well, the answer is: we are not. We don't eat 100 percent the healthiest way.
We eat our casseroles with pasta, cream, and lots of cheese. In the mornings we like to have breakfast rolls and don't always go to the organic bakery. We add honey to the salad dressing. Some days we eat cake. We drink beer and shandy. We eat pizza. This series goes on, but you can see what I mean. We eat a lot of things that we know are not ideal. These foods make up to 20 percent of our diet.
But is it allowed? Are these still healthy habits?
No, they are not healthy. But yes, you can, because they are not habits. They are partly compromised that we make due to the demands of everyday life. Some of them are exceptions that we consciously allow ourselves, and they are also an expression of the wish not to be driven crazy.
It is not this 20 percent that makes us fat and sick, but the other 80 percent. These are the habits that we need to be in control of. Sure, a 100 percent healthy diet would be (even) better, but there are also some arguments against such consistency.
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WHICH SPEAKS AGAINST CONSISTENCY IN NUTRITION
I see two reasons why a consistent diet is unrealistic for most people.
1. PEOPLE DON'T LIKE BIG CHANGES
Whenever you change your diet, you have to consider the status quo. Anyone who has previously been eating frozen pizza, potato chips, and lemonade would have to turn their lives upside down in order to live consistently healthily. The head does not play along with such a 180-degree turn. Even if you realize that the previous diet is harmful to your health, you will perceive it as a loss. The sweets and ready meals have their reason. They not only satisfy hunger but also promise quick satisfaction whenever you need them.
If a chocolate bar makes me happy today, should a carrot do it tomorrow? This may work in a crash diet, because it is not about satisfaction, but about temporary renunciation. The end of the barren time is sure to come. But a permanent change seems unbearable at this moment. Even 80 percent consistency is already too much here.
Changes are sustainable if we tackle them one after the other. I lost a lot of weight on a crash diet six years ago. But after that, it took me years to adopt a healthy diet that would keep my weight down. It was a gradual process that is still ongoing. After all, I still don't eat consistently healthy, although I (theoretically) know how to do it.
I am convinced that vegetables are the healthiest choice - preferably unprocessed. I can eat as much of it as I want. I can't possibly get fat that way and probably stay healthy. This diet would be a 100 percent consistent implementation of our philosophy of "real food". But I am far from only eating vegetables. Maybe I'll get there someday, but right now this change is too big for my head.
Instead, I improve my diet in small steps. At the moment I'm trying to stop snacking after dinner. And if I do, then only vegetables. I also extended the anti-sugar challenge for myself. I also have the topics of milk and wheat flour on my screen and would like to focus on them in the future. But all in good time, otherwise I'll lose interest before I've even started.
2. DIET MUST BE SUITABLE FOR EVERYDAY USE
Even if it is possible to consistently eat healthily for a while, this change does not last long for most people. Because it is often not suitable for everyday use.
I am torn about this argument. On the one hand, everyone should adapt their everyday life in such a way that one has a chance to eat healthily. Anyone who thinks that never has time to cook, the need to change something in his day. No discussion. After all, this is about your own health.
On the other hand, you can't change everything at will. At a time when every roommate in a household works, it is not possible to prepare two or three fresh meals a day. If you eat mainly vegetables, even more meals are necessary. Outside of your own household, it becomes even more difficult: Most restaurants do not have consistently healthy dishes on the menu and friends or family do not always have what you would describe as healthy. All of this may be manageable with initial motivation, but at some point, it gets too tough. A diet that is not suitable for everyday use is only a phase.
So both things have to happen: everyday life has to adapt to a healthy diet, but also the diet has to adapt to everyday life. That makes compromises necessary.
For Jasmin and me, suitability for everyday use is a high priority. We would like to express that at Healthy Habits. Our recipes are therefore not particularly ingenious, they are simple, relatively quick to prepare, and use ingredients that are available in every supermarket.
For these two reasons, I think a 100 percent healthy diet is almost impossible. But this insight does not depress us. We can live with that because we find that we feel good even at 80 percent. And with small changes, we might get a few percentages points out in the future.
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WHICH SPEAKS FOR CONSISTENCY
However, consistency doesn't have to be bad. I don't want to talk it out of anyone who finds it easy. Consistency also has at least two advantages:
1. THERE ARE CLEAR RULES
It is easier for me to be consistent than to “pay attention to it a little”. That's why I'm consistent in at least some things: I don't have any sweets at home, I don't drink sweet drinks, I don't eat ready-made meals (at home) - regardless of whether it's complete meals or snacks. It just doesn't exist anymore. Such rules help me not to have to make decisions every time. My brain is lazy to make decisions. It wants clarity and I create this with clear rules.
That's why I like actions like our anti-sugar challenge. During this time I know what I can't eat. It's easy for me (but also because I know that the end is in sight). After the challenge, however, the rules are not that clear. I would like to allow myself a little now and then. But what is "now and then" and what exactly do I allow myself? That remains (still) unexplained, which is why unhealthy habits creep in after exceptions.
2. YOU LIVE (EVEN) HEALTHIER
I don't want to make a secret of it: the more consistently you eat healthily, the healthier and slimmer you will be. If vegetables are the best food, the higher their proportion in your diet, the better off. That is why I would always prefer the green salad over pasta from a health point of view.
But when I'm hungry and short on time and maybe a few other worries, long-term health isn't high on my priority list - although it should be. This is where the compromises come into play.
THE QUESTION IS: WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE?
In our experience, the best way to control your weight is through the quality of your diet. If the diet changes for the better, the weight drops. The more consistent you are, the more you lose weight. The weight levels off by itself. How much you eat only matters if the quality of your diet is poor.
How consistent you should be in your diet therefore depends on what you want to achieve. We want to feel good in our skin, be fit and healthy, not have to pull in our stomachs, and like to look at each other in photos. At the same time, we don't want to be constantly disciplined and want to enjoy something. That works with a consistency of 80 percent.
However, if your goal is a beach body with a six-pack, then you have to do more. Our boot camp trainer once admitted that he wasn't entirely consistent either. He'd have a slice of whole wheat bread in the afternoon. We had to smile at that. That’s an exception for him. But he is a fitness trainer through and through. He would like to keep improving in terms of sport and getting that one extra push-up out of it. That doesn't work with an 80 percent diet.
You now need to balance your goals with your diet. What do you want to achieve - and what are you willing to invest for it? There is no fitness trainer body with pasta in creamy cheese sauce. But that's not necessary either. If your goals are less demanding, you can be a little less strict with yourself and allow yourself a few exceptions in addition to healthy habits.
The most important thing for me is to be able to maintain my (healthy) diet permanently. Then I would prefer 80 percent to strive for 100 percent but fail and fall back into old habits in frustration.
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