Ask a Health Coach: How Bad Is It Really?

Love your weekly cheat meal? Got picky eaters in your family? Or maybe you’re high-tailing it to get the perennial favorite, the PSL as we speak. This week, PHCI coaching director, Erin Power is here to answer the pressing question: how bad is it really? And you might be surprised at the answers. Remember, you can ask your questions over in the MDA Facebook Group or below this post in the comments section.

Anne-Marie asked:

“I can’t resist those pumpkin spice lattes. Tell me they’re not as bad for me as I think they are.”

Who doesn’t look forward to a good ol’ PSL? The cinnamon, the nutmeg, the whopping 50 grams of sugar. While it’s true that sugar is linked to so many things you don’t want, like diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity¹ to say the least, it’s not actually a hill worth dying over. At least not for me.

Get your fall spice fix with Primal Kitchen® Chai? ?Tea? ?Collagen? ?Keto? ?Latte? Drink Mix

A lot of my clients have been trained to panic when they see the sugar grams start to creep up. They ask me how many grams they should aim for per day. Or they want a suggestion to replace the sugar in their favorite *treats* with a more natural sweetener like honey or maple syrup or a non-caloric one like monk fruit.

But here’s the deal, sugar is sugar. And assuming you’re not sucking down seasonal drinks like this every single day, the calories you ingest aren’t going to make-or-break the metabolic bank. That’s what’s so great about our bodies. We can train them to freak out when we eat something that we think we’re not supposed to even look at, just as easily as we can have a knowing trust that our bodies have the metabolic flexibility to handle it.

If you haven’t heard me say it before, our bodies are miraculous organisms. We are designed to constantly respond and adapt to changes in our environments, thriving in some instances and effortlessly course-correcting in others.

I’m not saying that sugar isn’t highly addictive. It absolutely can be.² But there’s a difference between having a few squirts of PSL syrup in your every-so-often latte and regularly consuming overly processed frankenfoods that are not only loaded with multiple types of sugar, but also industrialized oils and preservatives that your body doesn’t even recognize.

Plain and simple, I just can’t get too worked up over sugar. And my *official* recommendation is that you shouldn’t either. Especially around something that will be gone (at least temporarily) before Thanksgiving rolls around.

James asked:

“I know cheat meals are supposed to keep you on track, but I’m always massively hungry the next day. Any advice?”

Honestly, I cringe when I hear the phrase cheat day. It’s a term that’s rooted in diet culture and reinforces the labeling of “good foods” versus “bad foods.” But for the purpose of answering your question, I’ll move past my own issues.

For those who don’t know, a cheat meal is one that’s typically higher in calories and carbohydrates than you’re used to eating. Basically, it’s a meal where you can eat whatever you want without worrying about it falling into your macro split or fitting inside the Primal Blueprint food pyramid.

And yes, scheduled cheat meals can have benefits. They can help you replenish your will to stay the course, breaking up a potentially monotonous protein-and-veg-rich diet. There’s even some proof that they can kickstart your metabolism and keep your weight loss going by increasing leptin levels and restore thyroid function – two things that often get compromised during a prolonged caloric restriction.https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/prevent-type-2/type-2-kids.html‘>⁴

Here’s the good news though. It’s possible to change your kids’ preferences for certain foods. Studies doneat the University of Alberta showed that children who were involved in the preparation of foods were actually more likely the make a healthier choice at mealtime.