You're a kook if you're healthy

You hear about social pressure to be thin and negative prejudice towards those carrying extra weight.  It's true, but I'm going to talk about something that is also true, but never discussed.

You're an idiot, an out and out kook, a fool actually, if you do anything healthy.

If you do unhealthy things, you're cool, you're accepted, you're supported.

Of course this doesn't apply to everyone.  There are plenty of cases where healthy choices are a supported and a shared positive experience.

Quite often I'll have weight loss clients and athletes alike confess that one of their largest challenges in adopting a healthy lifestyle comes from their family and friends who admonish, tease, and even alienate them for making healthy choices.

It seems like for many living unhealthy or least making unhealthy choices very frequently is part of living life to its fullest.  Eating healthy or exercising interferes with time that could be better spent overeating or being inactive. If you make healthy choices, others may feel that you're losing it, or perhaps being a killjoy and interfering with how satisfied they feel when they make unhealthy choices.

When you're packing away your second serving of deliciousness you don't need some health freak cramping your style by eating broccoli.  "Idiot.  What kind of idiot eats broccoli?  I can't enjoy my meal anymore because I have to witness this fool eating little tree's."

People have told me that they're not welcome anymore at family dinners unless they eat what everyone else is eating, which happens to be high fat, high sugar, high sodium, high calorie food.  You know.. the stuff that kills you slow.  To top it off they're expected to fill their plates and go back for seconds or thirds.


If you don't go back for seconds something is wrong with you.  You're depriving your self, which is just silly.
Silly you for not overeating!  Don't you know any better?  Don't you know how to enjoy life?


I have men and woman who lose weight healthily be told by their friends and family that they look ill, gaunt, and too skinny, and that they need to eat more.  In reality they are more healthy and fit than ever; cholesterol has dropped, blood sugar levels are normal, blood pressure decreases, risk of disease is decreased, they're stronger, more flexible, more rested, and feel better than ever.


It may be that with 70% of men and 60% of woman in Canada being overweight that we're accustom to seeing our friends and family being overweight.  Overweight is normal, statistically. So when we see someone with 5-15% body fat we think they look weird compared to the more average 25 - 35% body fat.  This is a little strange because if we're watching sports and looking at athletic bodies, those athlete's bodies appearance is accepted, expected, perhaps even revered. But when our friends and family's body appearance starts shifting towards the athletic look, for some reason this is spoken of disparagingly.

It's interesting, if not perplexing to live with the contradiction of social pressure to lose weight and look lean as well as pressure to not lose weight, not be lean, and avoid being a kook.

People have told me they've been brought to tears when they're deluged with negative comments regarding their attempt to include healthy choices in their life.  Others while not brought to tears become very frustrated because it seems so counter productive to be the recipient of put-downs for being healthy but showered with accolades when engaging unhealthy practices.  They've told me they can't understand why wanting to improve their health get's them the cold shoulder, but being unhealthy is encouraged. Somethings not right with that.

Some have told me that their friends and family have expressed that they don't want to be pressured to part of, or be exposed to healthy lifestyle changes, and the message is; "keep it to yourself, weirdo!"

I'm then told that friends and family have no compunction when it comes to openly applying pressure to eat unhealthy or to be inactive. "Eat, eat! You don't eat enough! That working out stuff is stupid.  Why don't you do something enjoyable?" It does seem somewhat hypocritical to openly pressure people to eat unhealthy but then protest when someone else eats healthy because apparently the mere act of eating healthy is exactly like telling someone how to live and rubbing it in their face.  People feel torn between wanting feel good about being healthy and fit, and sacrificing their health to keep the peace with friends and family. 

I've heard it said that friends and family can feel that get-togethers can't be enjoyed unless everyone is overeating.  They feel that healthy eating jeopardizes the social experience and no enjoyment can be had. Could it be that this perception is somehow mistaken?  Food is such a great catalyst for human socializing.  Great food set's the tone for great times had by all.  Enter healthy food and it's like the music is cut off.

Many feel very strongly that eating healthy kills social gatherings.  Too bad, because it's really about the people.  At least I thought it was.  I've been to great get-togethers with great tasting healthy food served, which made it all the better because not only do you enjoy the food and company, but you don't feel bloated or lethargic afterwards.  So maybe it's all about perception..

To justify their health oppressing behavior, those oppressed have told me they've been told that being healthy is overblown anyway, that is actually stupid to lose weight, exercise, or make healthy eating choices.  It's just a dumb fad, it's annoying, only freaks do it, get a real life, and on and on.

Really?

Yes.  Really.  This really does happen and if you're a recipient of this you know it all too well.

I don't really know how to overcome this.  What I've seen happen in successful situations is family and friends either got over it and became accepting and supporting, or they eventually started to adopt the same healthy habits and started feeling better themselves.

I'm not sure who is expressing an intelligent decision making process better, the person downing a bag of potato chips and a few beers in utter bliss, or the person enjoying the flavor bliss of a blueberry - banana fruit smoothie after an exhilarating workout.  Arguments can be made for both for sure, and some may make room for both.  Whatever the case, when it comes to friends and family, maybe being supporting of healthy changes is better than being negative.

Nutella sued for false nutritional claims

What? You're kidding. Nutella isn't really health food?

While many commenters are calling this lawsuit frivolous because simply looking at the Nutella nutrition label will tell anyone who can read that the product is full of sugar and fat, turns out many people don't pay attention and are duped by Nutella's advertisements that suggest a health association with their product.

Funny, I've spoken to many cool headed people who read quite well, but still believe Nutella is healthy food made mostly from hazelnuts.  They usually display complete disbelief when they learn Nutella doesn't qualify as healthy food.  How are people getting the impression that Nutella is healthy eating?

Nutella lost the 3 million dollar lawsuit, which includes an order to re-do their advertising claims.  The lawsuit was in the US and does not affect Canadian customers: Some US costumers will be refunded $4.00 for their purchase of Nutella.

 Many fitness enthusiasts, particularly those inclined to endurance sports like running, cycling, and cross country skiing, also seem to be duped. Nutella is a favorite amongst many endurance enthusiasts and athletes alike.

For years I've been asking people, "why do you eat that stuff, it's all sugar and fat"

The response is always, "what are you talking about!?  Hazelnuts are healthy!  This is a great way for me to get a great tasting spread on my multigrain.."  Everyone thinks Nutella is made of hazelnuts.  Where do they get this idea?  What is this stuff made from?

Let's take a look:

From the Nutella website:

"At NUTELLA® we know breakfast is really important to the long-term well-being and success of Canada's children."

The entire Nutella website has references to healthy living and eating on every page. Of course they're right.. healthy eating and physical activities are a good thing and everyone should hop on board. 

The advertising tag line is nutella, fuel the day.

Getting in the proper fuel is equally important for sports performance as it is for a day hike or any lengthy physical activity.

Would I choose Nutella for my fuel for a 3 hour mountain bike ride.. or 8 hours.. 24 hours?

Sorry to say, Nutella would not make the cut in my bread basket. 

Not a lot of nutrient density here.  Sure is calorie dense though.  100 calories for a tablespoon.

From Wikipedia:

"According to the product label, the main ingredients of Nutella are sugar and vegetable oils (mostly palm oil^[5]), followed by hazelnut, cocoa solids, and skimmed milk. In the United States, Nutella contains soy products.^[6] Nutella is marketed as "hazelnut cream" in many countries. Under Italian law, it cannot be labeled as a chocolate cream, as it does not meet minimum cocoa solids concentration criteria. About half of the calories in Nutella come from fat (11 g in a 37 g serving, or 99 kcal out of 200 kcal) and about 40% of the calories come from sugar (20 g, 80 kcal).^[7]"

Is this really a hazelnut spread?  Sure it is.  There are hazelnuts in there.  If we went by what makes up most of Nutella we might be inclined to call it a sugar spread, or maybe a fat spread.

A point made by many is, "that's the point Cris, it has a lot of calories. Duh!" That's why it's suggested to be good for endurance events where you blow off thousands of calories.

Actually, research shows that while replacing some of our carbohydrates with fats still fuels the body for long events, carbohydrate rich foods are still proven to be the top performing calorie source.  All day events require a balance of protein, carbohydrates, and fats, and Nutella does deliver lots of sugar and fat.

Something to be mindful of; too much fat or too high of a concentration of sugars will slow gastric emptying (the rate food leaves stomach is impaired), and could cause stomach upset in some during endurance events.

Comparatively you're better off with an energy bar (read the label) than Nutella for endurance fuel (or baked potato, prunes, figs, rasins, banana's), and for sure stick with the standard 6 - 7% carbohydrate solution in your bottle (most sports drinks have this solution: read the label though).

There are plenty of great tasting choices that are more nutrient dense, healthier, and better for endurance fuel or part of healthy daily eating than Nutella.

The push back for this story is that consumers are making their own dumb choice, why should a corporation have to pay for that?  Interesting.. So when a corporation clearly makes a concerted effort to portray their product as being something it's not, the corporation has no culpability in doing so, that's just business. 

If someone believes purposefully misleading advertising, the advertiser has nothing to do with that; it can only be the consumers fault.  Only 100% the consumers fault.. no responsibility whatsoever on the manufacturers behalf. It should be legal to advertise any claim, false or real, regardless of the outcome.

That sounds pretty weird.

Your last line of defence as a consumer is reading the label, as it has been shown repeatedly that while there are plenty of good products made from good companies, there are a few products that toute false claims.  Read the label and if there is a health claim attached to anything, scrutinize it, because savvy soothsayers know we can be duped by the promise of hope and health.

Many love the taste of Nutella and for many that will be good enough (the performance sacrifice is worth the taste), but if you're thinking Nutella is a good choice for healthy nutrition take a second look.. US law courts did..

Nutella backs off 'balanced breakfast' claims after hit with $3-million lawsuit - The Globe and Mail

Nutella isn’t good for you, court finds

Healthy Food Cheaper: Potato chips 1134% more $$ than potatoes

I originally wrote this after a radio interview with Karen Black of CJOB on this subject, back in 2012.  Not much has changed since then. . .

Karen read off some price comparisons that I did a couple years ago showing how potato chips cost about 450% more than yams, when compared by cost per kilogram.

Karen made an interesting point.. we automatically assume that the potato chips are cheaper, and when we see the actual price comparison it seems unbelievable.  The potato chips have to cost more than a raw potato because of all the processing involved.  Think about it; up to the point of getting the potato out of the ground and ready to ship potatoes and potato chips cost about the same.

The potato chips have many extra processing steps, each adding cost. From washing, peeling, cooking, and adding salt and other ingredients, adding the packaging, and the cost of advertising, the final potato chip product would have to cost more than the simple unprocessed raw potato.

Potato chips are actually pretty expensive, around $4.00 to $6.00 per kilogram, or were, according to a cost check I did in 2010.  Here's an add for potato chips in a recent flyer.. a great 3 for $8.00 sale..

Potato chips 810g for $8.00 is $9.87/ kg.

To be generous I'm assuming a person is buying the best deal; 3 of the 270g bags.

Looks like the price went up over the past 2 years. On my last grocery shop I bought a 5 lb bag of potatoes..

Potatoes 5 lb $1.97 (87 cents / kg) 

Potato chips are $9.87/kg where potatoes are $0.87/ kg, a dimension bending 1134% more expensive for the potato chips.

It's been said that people have to buy potato chips because junk food is cheaper than healthy food.. I am actually infuriated by this bogus claim.

Here are more direct cost comparisons.  See for yourself, most healthy choices are considerably cheaper than processed "junk food"..

Mini chocolate cupcakes $11.64/ kg

Pre-cut bagged broccoli $5.48/ kg.  No excuses here, it's already cut..

Apple pie $6.33/ kg.  

Hey wait a minute, this pie isn't cut.  You know, I'm pretty busy.. I don't have the time to spend time cutting up pie..

Look inside your head.. If you're an apple pie lover, how do you feel when cutting into an apple pie, compared to chopping broccoli?  I'll bet most will feel pretty motivated to cut the pie.  Nobody will be contemplating how busy they are.  When I've asked the average person why they don't feel as excited about cutting into a grapefruit or dicing veggies compared to pie or some other fat-bomb, most have looked at me like I have two heads.

It simply doesn't occur to us that great tasting healthy food deserves the feeling of anticipated gratification.  We spend our lives practicing making the emotional connection to feeling rewarded by crap food and so this becomes our default.  We don't contemplate this reward at all, we're trained to automatically compute the reward.  At the same time we adopt traditional myths and negative associations with fruits and veggies as being second class citizens and instantly categorize them with our well-practice prejudice, automatically scoffing at the idea that one would actually look forward to or enjoy them to any great extent.

Grapefruit $0.97 each (444 grams) $2.18/ kg  

Half this grapefruit is considered one serving.

The whole candy bar below is one serving.  Costing out per serving, the candy bar is 19X more expensive.  Whaaaat?  That's 1900% more costly.  

It is significantly cheaper to hand out grapefruit servings to kids (or anyone) than it is to hand out candy bars.

Ain't that like getting hit in the head with a frying pan?  Wake-up call for sure.  

Long ago I had an epiphany.. (I may have had another since then, epiphanies can be fickle). I was struck so profoundly by my personal insight I likened it to being hit in the head with a frying pan, so obvious, enlightening, and unavoidable a conclusion it was.

Not one of those lightweight cheap aluminium pans, but a full-on cast iron job that grandma used on the log-fired stove.

For a few years I had "frying pan day" in my calendar to remind me of the occasion and how sometimes we need to escape our myopic prejudices and get real.  I seem to have forgotten what that epiphany was.. I'm sure it was a really important personal breakthrough.. but I did remember the frying pan crack in the head analogy for teaching us the wrongs of our ways. 

Anyhoo, waking up to the reality that most of us fool ourselves every day when it comes to how and why we make our food and exercise (or lack of) choices qualifies for a "frying pan day" in my books.

A recent study suggests women who eat lot's of citrus fruits like grapefruit may reduce their risk of stroke by 19%.  Any guess as to what happens to your body when you eat lot's of candy bars?  How "convenient" is a stroke?

I love fresh, cool, juicy grapefruit. Keep it in the fridge for sure.  I enjoy this more than I enjoy dark chocolate.  No way you say?  How does grapefruit compete with the intense chocolately goodness of premium dark chocolate?  I really do enjoy the flavour, the juiciness is an extra, plus when I eat grapefruit I'm thinking of how nutritious it is.  Nutrient density is a huge benefit and something worth feeling gratified for.  This is an important step to teach ourselves when learning how to eat healthy.. making the health benefit association connection click in our heads and give us a sense of reward.

When I eat dark chocolate I know it tastes great, but at the same time I'm thinking that I have to temper how much I eat because the chocolate bar is a total calorie bomb that makes it really easy to import useless fat calories into my fat cells.  Overall the chocolate bar isn't as rewarding as the healthy fruit because it falls short on delivering essential nutrients that our bodies need.  Sure, dark chocolate does deliver a good dose of antioxidants, but no more than fruits and veggies, and not without the downside of extra calories negating any benefit of antioxidants with only a modest serving.

Candy bar $20.79/ kg 

That's the same price as premium wild sockeye salmon.

At point of purchase this doesn't seem like it's expensive, but add up all the servings and compare by weight and by serving, this candy bar is the same price as wild salmon, a great source of healthy and essential omega 3 fats.  One look at the price of salmon and most people balk.  But what if you put a 52g piece of salmon next to this 52g piece of candy bar and put the same price on them?

Funny, we make excuses to buy candy bars because they are cheap, and avoid wild salmon because it's expensive.  They are the same price.

Broccoli bunch $1.27 each (603g) $2.10/ kg  

One of the  most nutrient dense veggies you can get with plenty of research touting health benefits. Most people think broccoli is one of the most expensive veggies, and view junk food as considerably cheaper.  The opposite is clearly true.

Broccoli is at least half the price as most junk food.

Premium dark chocolate bar $3.49 (100g) $34.90/ kg 

Suspiciously, it appears someone has eaten half this item.  Ok it was me.

I do this for you, my loyal reader.  I'm testing this product on your behalf and can tell you it tastes really good, is VERY expensive, and has to be kept to a minimum otherwise the extra calories pack on the pounds relentlessly.

Organic pre-washed salad $17.50/ kg.

You may say, "ah ha! Gotcha Cris! this is really expensive."

Two points.. 

It's cheaper than a candy bar.

Plus, isn't your health worth something?  The nutrient density of this salad is significantly higher than any of the junk food choices here.

If your excuse is convenience.. it takes too long to chop up veggies.. someone has done it for you here and you pay for that, plus a premium for the organic cache.  Even with those extras's, the candy bar is still more expensive.

Make that 3 points.  What do you think will happen to your waist line and risk of cardiovascular disease by eating this salad compared to adding junk food deserts and snacks?

Nanaimo bars $8.17/ kg.  

Even on sale this easy to eat fat bomb is considerably more expensive than almost any fruit or vegetable. 

Healthy energy bar $23.08/ kg.  

You pay a premium price for energy bars with organic ingredients, especially those marketed at the health conscious outdoorsy sports person.

This is still cheaper than dark chocolate and about 11% more costly than a typical candy bar.  Compared to a typical candy bar many energy bars are more nutrient dense and have less saturated fat, but read the label, some have just as much fat and sugar.

Cereal-fruit bar $10.10/ kg 

While less than half the price of the premium energy bar as well as the common candy bar, this appears to be a better deal, and hey it says it's "made with real fruit".  If you're looking for a fruit fix, you're better off buying fruit, which is significantly cheaper.  

An orange, banana, or apple will cost about 35 to 45 cents and retain more nutrient density than a processed fruit bar, as well as having no added sugar or other ingredients. Surprisingly fruit is made with 100% real fruit, and nothing else.

Grapes.  Expensive right?  For sure. This is the fruit of Roman emperors.

Grapes are a premium fruit.  Better to buy an inexpensive fruit bar instead right?

Red Seedless grapes $2.84/ kg -- about 72% less costly than the fruit bar.

These "costly" grapes are also cheaper than candy bars, with candy bars costing over 700% more.

Those cheap candy bars displayed at point of purchase for the quick impulse buy cost 700% more than red seedless grapes?  Yes, it's an irrefutable fact.

That rattles the cage of most. "Can't be true!".  I've seen the twisted facial expressions.. people simply can't believe it. Most are convinced there's some kind of catch, some kind of fancy tricky math meant to fudge the numbers.  Nope.

It's a fact, most healthy food is significantly cheaper than fast food/ junk food.  I used to believe the common urban myth that junk food is cheaper than healthy food. Indeed, how many times have we heard on the news that junk food is cheaper than healthy food making healthy food inaccessible to many?  When I did a simple price comparison myself it was easy to bust the myth.

Part of the satisfaction of eating healthy is realizing that eating to feel stuffed is a misnomer that feels great to be liberated from.  Instead of feeling ungratified from a salad not filling us up, we learn to realize, "hey wait a minute.. I had it all wrong, eating to the point of being stuffed was harming me, not helping me.. eating less is very satisfying because I know I'm not causing myself harm by overeating."

Once you get into the groove of not gaining weight, feeling great, and feeling satisfied by eating the right amount instead of always overeating, you feel liberated.  You feel good.  You're not trapped anymore.

One step to take is overcoming the myriad of well established myths about healthy living.

These myths are so well ingrained they are treated as emphatic facts and the truth of healthy living is treated as an impossible lie.

We are literally in the dark ages societally when it comes to understanding healthy living.

The flat-earthers are the standard and those making healthy choices are heretics and scatter-brains.. scolded publicly for spreading their sorcery and blaspheme about how healthy living is cheaper and more gratifying than unhealthy living.

The dark ages didn't help anyone.  Let's lift ourselves out of this self imposed state of arrested development. 

Overall healthy food is cheaper on the pocket book, and less costly in terms of health and well being.

Complaining about being out of energy and run down?  Go on the cheap and start eating healthy.  Within a couple weeks you'll feel the difference.  You'll feel more energetic and lose weight.

Hmmm.  Eating crap food makes you feel like crap and is so calorie dense we gain excess fat eating it, and it costs far more than healthy eating.

What's the point in eating all that junk food?