I know most people are going to assume that I mean this in regards to eating too few calories, larger portion size or other pieces you’ve heard before. Nope, I made the title as aggressive as I did to grab your attention.

A lot of people need concrete numbers around anything they do; I respect that, especially when it comes to nutrition. They want to follow an RD’s recommendation of macronutrient intake (carbs, protein, fat) and how many total calories that equates to in a day. These individuals will ask questions surrounding activity and how many calories I think they burned in class, during a lift, on a walk, during yard work, etc. People want to subscribe to a “calories in – calories out” lifestyle. I mean there is a science behind losing weight and that should be a simplified math equation, right? Well… no. Not at all. Not only are there so many factors that dictate what percentage of fuel (carbs, protein, fat) your body is burning at any given time there’s a rest component, endocrinology, exercise history… point of this. It’s all individualized. I’m also not going to pretend what will work for you, and your long term digestive system, will work someone else. Anyone that doesn’t spend time, as a certified professional, to work with you to develop this specifically for YOU is an arrogant asshole.

Personally, I believe in Organic farming. I believe that Organic farming was the way it always was and the way in should be. I believe that organic farmers shouldn’t have to pay the government to label their food “organic” because that was the original way. Why can’t the now conventional farming practices have to pay to have a label on their products that reads “pesticide practices, hormone enhanced or chemical shit-storm”. I mean really, these “new” methods haven’t proved anything long enough to replace the way mankind has always done something. Sure there have been advances in farming practices like planting Marigolds next to crops because they deter rodents, saving seeds from only the most beautiful of plants for next season. That is NOT the same as splicing the DNA of a plant and changing it. Please don’t even try to argue otherwise because I love a debate.

Conventional farming practices have driven us away from tried and true practices that have worked for generations. Instead of tilling the land and rotating in organic fertilizer (manure) we have gone to sprays and pellet fertilizer to boost the upcoming yield of the crop. These fertilizers will work for a little while (seasons) by providing commonly used nutrients from plants (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and some sulfur). However, following multiple seasons growing the same foods on the same land the nutrient rich soil begins to become depleted of other vital nutrients that we once provided from organic fertilizers. This begins to provide foods that are no longer nutrient dense . They may be treated post picking to have a more vibrant color, stronger appeal to us by looking good according to the standards we have been “fed” through advertising we constantly see but are lacking a great deal to us as living beings.

So I am going to bring this blog back to the title. You’re fat because you’re starving.

The conventional foods in which I am describing above are nutrient lacking NOT calorically lacking. When you eat foods that just “don’t have it” your body could give s sh*t that you just ate a 650 calorie dinner. It is going to send signals to your brain that you’re hungry and you want _____ because you need it! Not because you need more food it’s because you need the right nutrients. I’m saying that your body isn’t satisfied because you haven’t actually fed your beautiful complex machine on a cellular level. You’re fat because your body is starving! You are without the appropriate nutritional needs and your body will force you to eat large quantities of food in order to quench this need and win the battle of “will”. You tell yourself you can’t have more food because you are only thinking that you ate an ample 650 calories. You ask yourself “how could I still be hungry”? Instead of asking yourself “what am I missing?” This is not something you can supplement either. Nature did it best so please don’t think you can just take a multi-vitamin to offset your bad food choices. Our bodies like to absorb certain vitamins and nutrients together because that’s how it learned to do it following 1000’s of years of evolution. Taking a muti only provides you with super expensive urine and a continued false confidence about your entire diet and weight gain.

A few things to ponder from a source I highly respect:

“Is it just a coincidence that the portion of our income spent on foods has declined, spending on health care has soared? In 1960 Americans spent 17.5 percent of their income on food and 5.2 percent of the national income on health care. Since then, those numbers have flipped: spending on food has fallen to 9.9 percent, while spending on health care has climbed to 16 percent of the national income. I have to think that by spending a little more on healthier food we could reduce the amount we spend on health care.”

“Cheap food is an illusion. There is no such thing as cheap food.
The real cost of the food is paid somewhere. And if isn’t paid at the cash register,
it’s charged to the environment or to the public purse in the form of subsidies.
And it’s charged to your health.”

As an athlete and as a coach I am somewhere in the middle of these two schools of thought. I am a scientist and believe in facts and causation. I am also a realist and believe that you can’t ignore trends and that money is really what votes and produces laws and subsidies. I don’t believe for a single goddamn nanosecond government is looking out for our actual health in both the immediate or long term. If we continue to ignore the facts right in front of our face we are going to continue to see the rapid demise of the greatest species on planet Earth. We may wipe ourselves out because our intelligence has turn into blind ignorance.

So I guess this blog ended up being about a few points and I couldn’t allow myself to keep writing about any one particular tangent. I always welcome feedback and would be happy to dive deeper anywhere. I am passionate about health and all of the facets that influence it. It is in the very fabric of the business itself. True wellness is a continuum. You can’t ignore nutrition, mobility, strength endurance, and mental health, none of it. Each plays an enormous and equal part.

The four quotes I provided were all from an author I profoundly respect, Michael Pollen. I leave you with one more:

“The way we eat represents our most profound engagement with
the natural world. Daily, our eating turns nature into culture,
transforming the body of the world into our bodies and minds.”