Health Coach Answers "What's the best diet?"

In today’s episode of Midlife Mojo, Lisa gives candid, honest answers to questions she frequently gets asked in her role as a health and wellness coach, health educator, and exercise physiologist.

The two questions she'll be addressing are "What’s the best diet?' and 'How can I eat to be healthier?"

Shared in this episode:
1) Lisa's dietary philosophy
2) Common gaps/opportunities for eating healthier
3) Three questions to consider when choosing a diet or eating style
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Transcript

This episode of Midlife mojo is “Ask a Health Coach” - where I give candid, honest answers to questions I frequently get asked in my role as a health and wellness coach, health educator, and exercise physiologist.

Today I’m answering two questions related to eating - What’s the best diet? and How can I eat to be healthier? 

Let’s dive right into the first question - “What’s the best diet?”  “What do you think of keto, intermittent fasting, plant-based - or whatever the current popular diet is?” “What diet do you recommend?” “ or some sort of variation asking about a diet to follow.  

When I get asked this, it seems like the person asking wants to know which dietary “camp” I belong to or just wants a simple answer.  And…It’s just not that simple - as much as we would like it to be.  

 There is not one “best diet.”  One size doesn’t fit all and the newest diet you see being touted in your social feed isn’t the magic bullet it is being marketed as.  

Just about any dietary protocol that restricts overall caloric intake can result in weight loss if you follow it. As a coach and educator, I always go deeper into what someone is looking for as an outcome - is it losing body fat while maintaining muscle, is it building muscle to look more toned, is it so they can have less body aches and pains, have more energy, feel more comfortable in their body and have more confidence? 

The end goal, that desired outcome, matters and has a big influence on choosing the most effective eating style and pattern. 

All diets have their pros and cons. And what works for one person may not work well for another.  Also, a way of eating that worked for someone in the past won’t necessarily work as well moving forward. This is especially a factor in midlife.  I have seen this play out in my own life - my ability to change my body composition in my 20’s and 30’s with some minor tweaks in my eating and exercise routine just isn’t having the same impact on my body composition in my 50’s. This could be due to changes in metabolism, muscle mass lost from sitting way too much the past few years, or even not eating dairy and gluten due to gut issues that plagued me for years. 

As a health coach who is not a registered dietician, it is outside my scope of practice to prescribe a specific meal plan or recommend a specific dietary protocol.  However, it is appropriate and effective as a health coach to work with clients to help them find the approach to eating that works best for them to reach their current goals and desired outcomes, whether it be going gluten-free, diary-free, Paleo, vegan, high-carb/low-carb, intermittent fasting, eating on a budget or all organic.  It usually works out to be a combination of elements that ends up working.  

Our physiology is amazingly adaptable.  Our bodies can acclimate to a vast array of eating patterns and dietary compositions.  So it is absolutely possible for you to get lean and strong on a plant-based or a meat-based diet. You can improve your health by eating all organic and free-range foods and by eating conventionally grown foods. You can lose weight on a low food budget with simple meals or on a huge budget with gourmet meals.   

The next frequently asked question is “How can I eat to be healthier?” and the short answer - It depends on what the person is currently eating and what the goal is for eating healthier.  

Specifically for my clients in midlife, areas in eating patterns and nutrition where I see gaps that could be holding them back from being healthier and feeling better tend to be not eating adequate amounts of protein, eating ultra processed, sugar laden food and food-like substances, eating a lot of inflammatory foods and overconsuming alcohol.  

Adequate intake of the macronutrient protein is important, especially in midlife.  Getting enough protein is vital to maintaining muscle health as we age. And more muscle can mean better overall body composition (or our lean mass to fat mass ratio). A large percentage of adults don’t get the minimum recommended dietary allowance of 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram or 0.36 grams of protein per pound of body weight. 

Inadequate protein intake is especially problematic for middle-aged women because females typically have less muscle mass than males and are at greater risk of developing sarcopenia, which is age-related loss in skeletal muscle. This is important to note because loss of muscle impacts the ability to lead an active lifestyle and contributes to increased risk of obesity and osteoporosis as well as reducing overall quality of life. 

In addition to getting adequate protein, reducing the amount of ultra-processed foods supports overall health.  These processed food items can make up more than half of our daily calories. They contain many added ingredients (sugar, salt, fat, flavorings, preservatives) and are highly manipulated. I think of these as things that aren’t naturally occurring - like cheetos and oreos. They are engineered to be tasty and they don’t fit into any of the recommended categories of foods on the Harvard Healthy Eating plate: lean proteins, fruit, vegetables, whole grains and healthy fats.  Examples of highly processed items are soft drinks, chips, candy, ice-cream, artificially colored and sweetened breakfast cereals, packaged soups, chicken nuggets, hotdogs, and french fries.  

Processed foods contain ingredients that can activate inflammatory processes directly.  For example, processed sugars trigger the release of inflammatory messengers called cytokines, trans fats trigger systemic inflammation, and refined carbohydrates are high-glycemic index foods that fuel production of advanced glycation end products that stimulate inflammation. Other types of foods that cause inflammation include red meat, bacon, refined grains like white bread, white rice, pasta and fried foods. 

Alcohol can also cause inflammation. In addition, it’s fairly calorically dense.  Alcohol contains 7 calories per gram. This comes close to the same caloric density as fat at 9 calories per gram and almost double the caloric density of carbohydrates and protein, both at 4 calories per gram. 

What's more, alcohol is often combined with inflammation-promoting substances. When mixed with sugary juices, flavored syrups or soft drinks, alcoholic drinks become a double whammy.

In addition to considering these common eating related gaps, I would like to offer three things to consider when choosing the “best” diet or eating style:

Does it match your physiology and nutrients needs?  

It is useful to know your total daily energy expenditure. Total daily energy expenditure (or TDEE for short) is an estimation of how many calories you burn per day. It includes your resting metabolic rate plus any activity in daily living plus exercise. 

There are several TDEE calculators online. The calculation takes into consideration gender, age, height, weight and activity level. Some calculators also have the option to include body fat%, which can enhance the accuracy of the calculation. Your TDEE is important to have if you are looking to lose body fat while maintaining your muscle mass or gain overall muscle mass. In general, you want to eat in the ballpark of 15 to 20% less than your total daily energy expenditure. Keep in mind you do not want to go below your basal metabolic rate as your basal metabolic rate is basically how many calories it takes just to fuel all your body processes.

 Another thing to think about with physiology and nutrient needs is overall portion size. Knowing how much you're eating is key to being able to stay within range of your overall nutrient needs. It’s a good idea to track the foods and amounts that you're eating for a short period of time to see what your typical portions are and to find out if you are eating too little, too much or just enough and if your nutrient intake is aligned with your goals. There are several apps available that make this easy to do - my fitness pal and cronometer are two that I like. 

Another question to consider is - Does it include foods you enjoy enough to follow consistently?  

This is important because Consistency is key! If you've chosen an eating style or a diet protocol that has foods included frequently that you do not like, it is going to be very difficult to work around that. You want to enjoy eating and include foods that you want to eat.  What foods are most important to you to be able to have and work them into your eating plan so that you don’t feel deprived and you're able to stick with any changes long enough to see the results that you're working toward. 

And the third thing is - Is it realistic for you in terms of your current life and responsibilities? 

Set yourself up for success by figuring out if a specific diet or eating plan fits comfortably into your current life or if you can make reasonable accommodations for it to fit. This process is going to look different for couples with kids at home compared to a single woman who commutes to work 5 days a week compared to someone who works from home.  It’s worth the time to consider this, build in flexibility and have options that fit your lifestyle so you're not taking on too much change at once.  

It takes some know-how and exploration to figure out the best eating style and pattern for reaching your goals related to eating and dietary choices. Today I touched on a few gaps (protein, processed and inflammatory foods), and things to consider when deciding on an eating style or diet - physiology and nutrient needs, consistency and flexibility to fit with your current responsibilities. 

Whether you are looking to make self-directed changes or have a diet plan from clinician or dietician that you need to implement, working with a health coach provides the space and structure for making it feasible, exploring what is working and what’s not, along with problem-solving and accountability for staying consistent to achieve your desired outcome and overall health goals! 

Thank you for listening and bye for now!  

What topics would you like covered on the podcast to help you be fit and flourishing in midlife?  Connect with me and let me know!

Instagram - @lisadupreecoaching

Email  - lisa@lisadupreecoaching.com

Website - http://www.lisadupreecoaching.com 

Host: Lisa DuPree

Editor: Hannah Hudson