The Beer and Pizza Diet
Is stress about the perfect diet causing your health to decline?
I heard Chris Kresser tell a story about a 25 year old client he knew who went to his doctor for help a a dire state of health. He had chronic fatigue, acne and skin issues, digestive issues and depression. His doctor suggested to do an elimination diet removing gluten, dairy and sugar. While this helped alleviate some digestive issues and improved energy a bit he was still left with many lingering symptoms.
His practitioner then recommended he cutout grains and legumes. Then nuts and seeds. Then alcohol and caffeine as his symptoms continued to persist.
As this client continue to restrict and restrict further, he found himself with only a few “safe” foods he was able to eat that included chicken, sweet potatoes and leafy greens.
He had begun to fear food and was hesitant to try anything new. His symptoms were getting worse and worse. He felt his stress rising and began to feel more isolated as he cut out social activity or anything that didn’t adhere to his strict routine.
He began to feel so helpless that he stopped going to his practitioner and decided to take matters into his own hands. He came back to his doctor 6 months later and looked like a brand new person.
He had gained weight, he had more color in his face, he clearly had more energy and his skin was improved. His doctor asked him what protocol he went on to get such amazing results and he answered with a laugh, “The beer and pizza diet!”
He went on to explain that he felt so low about his health condition that he thought he actually might die. He began to think that if he was going to die, he might as well enjoy his life while he could. He decided that he would go out with friends twice a week for beer and pizza. For the rest of his meals he could eat whatever he wanted that felt good to him.
He began to create more social connections with friends and feel less isolated in his experience. He had been so afraid of eating something that would do more damage that lifting some of this stress and pressure allowed him to connect to his food again and enjoy it. He focused on having fun, feeling good and enjoying himself.
In his pursuit of the “perfect” diet, he had allowed stress to run rampant, put so much pressure on himself to be perfect, and isolated himself from the people and things that brought him joy.
I share this story not to tell you to go out and eat beer and pizza for every meal, but for the message behind it.
In the pursuit of health it can be easy to lose sight of other important primary foods like social connection, joy and a helpful mindset.
Have you ever felt this way in the pursuit of the perfect diet? I coach many clients through the process of implementing various types of elimination diets to support health with amazing results. Using food to support our bodies is one of the most powerful tools we have and has personally transformed my life and health!
The food we intake is information and it has the ability to completely transform how we feel. If I went out and ate pizza and drank beer several times a week it would likely make me feel a whole lot worse as I know that gluten and alcohol aren’t my best friends! But if I felt as though the only way I could be healthy was to stay at home and eat only 5 “safe” foods, I know that my overall health would decline as well.
Just as this story highlights, food is powerful, but the issue becomes when we get so fixated on the pursuit of the “perfect” diet that we forget about the other influential factors in health like our stress response, social interactions, community, sleep and rest, and mindset.
We are complex beings and our health is impacted by many different factors. If a healing diet makes us feel more stressed, isolated, deprived and fearful, it might be best to ease in by flooding the body with good, nutrient-dense foods first, work to tune into our body to hear what it really needs, and meet ourselves compassionately where we are at.
PREFER TO LISTEN? TUNE INTO THE LIVE WELL PODCAST BELOW (AND DON'T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE SO YOU'LL NEVER MISS OUT!)
Click here to listen in iTunes
Click here to listen in Stitcher
Or if you’d like to play the episode right now in your browser, use the player below:
If we haven't met before, I'm Christina Tidwell, founder and owner of Live Well with Christina. I'm so excited that you're here and have begun to delve into your health and wellness journey! Here at Live Well we help people with autoimmune disease take control of their health through nutrition, lifestyle shifts and personal empowerment.
If you suffer from:
Fatigue and energy crashes
Brain fog
Poor digestion
Symptoms of autoimmunity
Stress and overwhelm
...and aren't getting the support you need, I can help guide you through the scope of 1:1 health and nutrition coaching.
Health coaching is a necessary extension of the health care system in that together we have more time to uncover issues, implement strategies and assess outcomes together to help you make sustainable and lasting changes. I offer accountability, knowledgeable guidance and most importantly support.
I always offer free 30-minute discovery sessions to get clear on your major health concerns and what’s standing in your way. Click the button below to set up your free consultation and we can create a plan of action specifically for you.
