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In Another Session With One Coachee…
I was talking with one of my coachees about the main difficulties he was experiencing in his process; he told me that it was difficult for him trying to go without what he considers one of his soft spots: hamburgers. Then he asked: “is organic meat better?
Before going deep with the topic, I reminded him -and I remind you too- that it is not about disregarding anything because it would be then another diet and that’s not the way of getting definitive results.
Once clarified this, I told him that, in my view, organic meet is better. First, because organic meat has up to 50% less fat. But the chief problem is not the quantity of fat that the meat he loves contain (I recommended him to read the post devoted to fat in order to understand that eating much fat is not a problem in itself). What is really important is that, before chomping on the tasty meat of these burger chains, at least, we should be well aware of what we are exactly putting in our mouths, aside from meat. And here is the piece of information: the meat you eat most of the time comes from animals which are fed with corn and/or soya which have, in turn, very high concentrations of pesticides and are very likely to be genetically modified. Also, the animals are given antibiotics. So, pesticides, GMO’s and antibiotics, what a cocktail! Organic meat coming from grass-fed animals does not contain either antibiotics or other medicines and the animals are not confined but spent their lives in the open air, grazing in fields and meadows.
Antibiotics And Meat
The meat industry works at full speed, trying to adapt itself to
the current market economy. Therefore, in many cases, production decisions are based more on economics than in other aspects such as the quality of the final product, the environment or the welfare of the animal. Currently, high rates of birth and a greater speed in the capacity of fattening and growth of the animals (which, in addition, are cruelly crowded on farms), are needed. In such a scenario, there are many possibilities that the animals fall
ill and this is something that industry cannot afford. It is for these reasons that they are administered antibiotics; the problem is that, increasingly, it is done in a preventive and indiscriminate way. In fact, the European Consumers Organisation
(BEUC) considers inadequate the current European regulations on the use of antibiotics in animals. And the fact is that the reckless administration of antibiotics to animals may pose a health risk since certain bacteria become resistant to antibiotics, jeopardizing the effective treatment of infectious diseases in humans (Berthe, 2013, BEUC, 2014th , 2014b; Chan, 2012).
Watch Out! Organic Is Not Always Synonymous With Healthy
My coachee now counted on new data in order to make informed choices. I also warned him: sometimes, even though it is organic, they add some ingredients which
are to avoid for the sake of health (such as chemical conservatives, coloring and stabilizing agents). Also, organic does not mean “unrefined” unless it is specifically stated in the label. But I will talk more about this in later posts. For the moment, read the ingredients’ label and follow this rule: “if there are more than two ingredients that you cannot recognize, don’t buy it”.
For instance, if you love chocolate, buy it from brands that only use as ingredients cocoa mass, fat-reduced cocoa, cocoa butter, demerara, muscovado or coconut sugar and natural Bourbon vanilla beans; if in the label it only says “sugar” or “cane sugar”, it is refined!. I reminded him, once more, that if he did not feel still ready to make food replacements as this, just eat what he wanted but trying to include it within a main meal with a good salad of greens.
Lastly, my coachee asked for some ideas for those moments during the day in which he could not help but snacking. Good, remember, it’s not about cutting or restricting or remove; it’s about adding and adding quality. Take a good banana or whatever fruit you like; a generous handful -or two- of nuts and one or two ounces of chocolate. When you feel hungry, eat this, I’m sure you will be more than satisfied 😉 I wrote him a huge document with a lot of healthy alternatives for those “snacking moments”.
My Coachee´s Satisfactions
He claims that his levels of energy have increased; he feels more vital and resorts less to caffeine in order to keep him awake (and that’s strange because I’m living in Sweden and I’m already going into hibernation mode! –exclaimed–). My coachee also told me that he finds easier to concentrate at work and speaks about “mental clarity”. In addition, he says that it is revealing for him that physical pains have decreased significantly (he suffers from back pain, mainly upper back, neck and headaches).
Lastly, he points out that his usual clothes have started to fit loose and admits that he didn’t think that it was possible to lose weight without suffering.
What do you think of my coache’s journey? And yours? Have you started? How is it going? Come on! Tell us and let’s talk about your ideas! Leave your questions or comments below 😉
Featured image of post: Toukou Sousui 淙穂鶫箜
References:
Berthe, F. (2013). EFSA Expert: We need to Think Out of The Box on Infectious Diseases. Retrieved from EurActiv.com website: http://www.euractiv.com/health/efsa-expert-need-think-box-infec-interview-531413
BEUC, (The European Consumer Organization). (2014a). Antibiotic Use in Livestock: Time to act. Retrieved from http://www.beuc.eu/publications/beuc-x-2014-043_pca_beuc_position_paper_on_antibiotic_resistance.pdf
BEUC, (The European Consumer Organization). (2014b). BEUC Campaign to Cut Antibiotics Among Farm Animals. Retrieved from http://www.beuc.eu/publications/beuc-pr-2014-023_beuc_campaign_to_cut_antibiotics_among_farm_animals.pdf
Chan, M. (2012). Antimicrobial Resistance in the European Union and the World.
