How Flexible Dieting Fixed My Relationship With Food

Growing up in my childhood household, there were two common themes during meal times: don’t waste food and eat more. No matter the serving size, we must finish our food. It didn’t matter if we were full, someone had cooked our meal, so we must not waste it.

After many years of excess, my perception of portion sizes was skewed and my relationship with food was broken — but, thankfully, flexible dieting was there to help save me.

The First Step

The first step in fixing my relationship with food was to find out how much food I really needed to consume. The easiest way to accomplish this was by learning how to calculate my macros. Many fitness and nutrition programs will have you believe that any cookie cutter program will work. But to really fix my relationship with food, I needed a custom macronutrient-based plan. Once I had my custom plan in hand, I started to see the real nutritional value of food and not just a plate to finish.

The Real Nutritional Value of Food

After getting my macro plan and buying all the foods necessary, I could now start prepping my meals. My preferred method is to prep twice each week — on Sunday and Wednesday. When I first started prepping my meals, I had the thought, “is this really enough food?”

I weighed, reweighed, and reweighed again. Guess what? I had the correct serving sizes, and I realized just how much I’d been over-indulging over time.

Proper Portion Sizes

After I began following flexible dieting and using macronutrients, my view of portion sizes radically changed. Half of a plate of pasta was no longer a “normal” serving of carbohydrates. A 12-ounce steak was no longer a “normal” serving of protein. Excessive portions started to define themselves as such, and were, in turn, replaced by proper portion sizes. The best part is, once you realize how a meal is supposed to look, you realize that there is no such thing as a “bad food.”

No Such Thing as a “Bad Food”

Would you like more butter on your potato? How many grams of fat do you have to spare? You are feeling a bit hungry after your pasta dinner — do you have room for a few grams of extra carbs? No food is inherently bad. There may be some foods that are not as nutritionally dense as others, but none in moderation are going to cause any major damage unless you have an immune reaction or health condition. By staying within 10% of your macro plan and eating for your body type, there is always room for an indulgence here and there. Moderation is key. We want to stick to and enjoy our nutritional journey as we pursue our goals.

Flexible dieting allows you to enjoy the foods you love while still meeting your health and fitness goals. It is perhaps the healthiest and the most helpful habit you can adopt. And if you would like to get your hands on some recipes that fit your macros, MacroKitchen is your go-to solution!