Tuesday, May 31, 2016

I Got Caught at McDonald's...




I love French fries. Period. If I could eat them every day with no regret or side effects, I probably would. I make this confession because as a health, wellness, and nutrition “expert,” evidently, I’m not supposed to eat French Fries…especially not from McDonald's. But today, I craved French Fries. I didn’t eat much throughout today, so I didn’t think it would hurt me. But boy, was I in for a surprise. I ordered fries and a smoothie earlier from McDonald's, and when I went around the drive thru to pay for my order, who should I see? One of my former nutrition students. And what did she say? With a smile, she said, “Dr. Robinson, I would have never expected to see you here.” My heart sunk. I felt ashamed. (My feelings were hurt…for myself, mind you). I sat there with my mouth open. I wasn’t sure what I could say that would make it “okay” in her mind for me to be at McDonald’s ordering French Fries. So I just told her the truth. I said, “I was craving French Fries, and I really haven’t had anything for dinner.” She smiled and laughed and told me it was okay. But that didn’t take the feeling of shame away...

Why am I sharing this? Because I am in the process of marketing my services as a nutrition and weight loss expert. I know how to make diet and meal plans. I know how to help people lose weight. I know how to motivate people to eat and live healthy. I’ve done this for years. But I am also human. I fall short in the same ways my clients fall short. I have the same cravings my clients have. I have the same daily struggles clients have. This is the reason why I don’t provide prohibitive plans. Prohibitive plans are the type of diet plans that make you give up most if not all of the foods you like. And while a lot of weight loss plans work that way and help people lose weight, they don’t help people sustain their weight loss. So if you tell me you like fries, I try to accommodate this. If you say you like sweets, I try to figure out a way to incorporate this within reason. With that being said, I don’t believe you should become a slave to any food, so if there is a food that has enslaved you and it is causing negative effects in your body, I advise you to give that food up…only because you don’t want to be a slave to any food or type of foods that negatively affect you long term. But I wholeheartedly believe that people don’t become obese or suffer from high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, or any other diseases because of eating a cheeseburger once a week. More often than not, aside from genetics and environmental influences, people deal with these issues because of daily habits of eating foods that are high in fat and sugar.

So unless you are working on body building or body sculpting, which requires a more strict diet, I try to offer weight loss and wellness plans that work more so around portion sizes versus foods you can and cannot eat. I allow for cheat meals as well, though the goal is to focus on eating healthier foods and portioning properly those foods that you don’t need to overindulge in. If this is something you desire, check out my new website drjenellenicole.com. And if you see me eating French fries, don’t judge me…I eat healthy on most days, but may be caught with a fry or cupcake in hand on occasions...

Until next time…

Dr. Jenelle Nicole

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