Predictable Food Journey of the New Millennium Woman

Before I started Crossfit I was following the New Rules of Lifting for Women and one of the best outcomes of doing that program was finding an online community of other women who were doing the program or were veterans of it. In skimming the forum recently, one of the admins, Dana, posted something that really struck me regarding the food journey that a lot of women go through, so I asked her if I could share it here. I can relate to nearly every stage she talks about! Hope you enjoy!

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After a few years on the journey to a better understanding of health, fitness, and food and many, many discussions with other women I’ve come to the conclusion that the diet and eating habit trek is pretty similar to all. I don’t know if anyone else has noticed the similar progression we all take, but after a while it became pretty obvious to me.  We all usually start and end at the same place, but the steps in between might be a bit different.  I help admin a FB page about weight lifting and more specifically, the New Rules of Lifting books.

On our page a common post starts like this, “I did the calculations they give you in the book to determine my calorie goals and OMG, how am I ever going to eat all that food?”  Thus begins the food journey of the new millennium woman.  Imagine heralding trumpets and hallelujah choruses here.  This is the breakdown of my road; let’s see if it sounds familiar to anyone else:

Stage 1: Low-Fat Cardio Queen

Most come here after years of slashing calories and doing endless cardio. We think that in order to weigh less we must eat less and crush our bodies as well as our spirits in the process. Making certain food items off-limits and attaching the words, “free foods”, to others is a must.  We now vow to never eat another chocolate anything and instead find endless satisfaction in carrot sticks, fat-free ranch dressing, and zero calorie sodas.  We are virtuous in our resolve.

Stage 2: Eat All The Things

Wait, what? You need to eat more to build muscle? OMG, I must eat all the food every where!! I must buy one of those lunch boxes that holds all my meals, snacks, supplements, and treats and weighs forty pounds empty.   I must eat at least 4,000 calories a day in order to build muscle.  Eat real butter.  Consume large quantities of fresh ground nut butters.  Lift heavy shit both in and out of the gym. Life is no longer about denial.  It’s about making educated choices and realizing everything you ever knew about food and exercise was a BIG FAT LIE.  My life as a Superhero has begun.

Stage 3: Gaining All the Weight

Wow, have I gained weight. What the hell happened? I was eating to build muscle. I learned that low-fat was a lie. I embraced full fat, healthy fat, and I ate lots of it. You mean, I can’t eat whatever I want whenever I want and blame it on my need to build muscle? But I’m lifting heavy shit and I have a superhero t-shirt and my voice has a natural growl to it when I say things like, “I’m fueling my workout” or “I’m working on my squat butt” or “Strong is the new skinny”!  Blah…….life sucks again.

Stage 4: Clean it up with Paleo.. to the Extreme

Enter Paleo!! I must buy all farm raised, free range, grass-fed everything. I travel great distances to meet my food and form relationships with the people who grow it. No more faceless packages of meat, my meat has a name and I know where it grew up and if I could I’d kill it myself and drag it back to my cave! ARRGGHHHH!!!  My grocery bill has gone from $500 a month to $1,000, but I’m awesome and………….eating clean!! (rolly eye face) The only carbs I eat are fruit and sweet potatoes. I am so freakin’ awesome, most people can’t stand me!  I do Sunday food prep and I know every minute of every day what food I will be eating at my next meal.  I feel great and more virtuous than ever!!  Wait, six months have gone by and my credit card is out of control and I’m really tired and my workouts suck.. Why is that?

Stage 5: Bring Back the Carbs!

Wait, I need more CARBS? What the hell? How are people supposed to know these things?  Okay, now I’m looking at Eat to Perform. What I eat should depend on how it makes me feel and how it impacts my workouts. I need to be mindful of my food choices, but life is short, no need to be insane and weigh, measure, and track everything that goes into my mouth. Don’t sabotage my hard work, but stop freaking out about everything I eat and make my life more miserable than it needs to be. Hmm, I may be onto something here.

Stage 6: “Diet” Nirvana

Nirvana! I’ve taken something from every stage and incorporated it into my healthy life and I think this might work.

1. Cardio is still important and you need to be mindful of the number of calories you consume.
2. Yes, eat more, but make it high quality and eat more protein.
3. Full fat is good, but still calorie dense. Don’t be an idiot.
4. Paleo has some great points. Giving up processed food as much as possible is the best thing I ever did for myself. The best quality food you can afford is a wise investment.
5. Potatoes and rice are not the devil, lighten up already.

Any of this sound familiar?  Seems like it’s taken me a lifetime to get to Nirvana, but in all honesty, this hasn’t really been a life-long struggle.  I never really cared about any of this stuff until I turned 45 and started seriously lifting weights.  Now at almost 51 I can appreciate the struggle to get here.  Any time you spend on bettering yourself and learning to appreciate how your body works and what you need to live a life worth having is time well spent.

I say this all the time- it’s a process.  You don’t just arrive without working out the details along the way.  I’ve been blessed with the company of many amazing women who are also looking to find the right combination of things that work for them and leaves them feeling in control of their bodies and their lives.  Can we really ask for more than that?  Don’t we all want to take back control from the world and leave it squarely on our shoulders where it belongs?

Independence comes at a price.  We have to be willing to listen and learn and struggle through the work.  It’s never been as easy as just following the latest fitness or food fad no matter what the world wants to tell you.  In the end, you have to figure out this crap for yourself, because the same thing doesn’t work for everybody and when you finally embrace that fact, Nirvana is not very far away.
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Thank you, Dana for the post!

Can any of you ladies (or gents!) relate to this?