That Space Food Can't Be Healthy

Do you ever have people looking at your packets of fuelings who say "I could never do that, I need real food"? Do astronauts eat real food? Do soldiers eat real food? Yes, they do. And our fuelings are also "real food". They are also "functional foods" which mean they are foods that serve a purpose, just as MRE's for soldiers and dehydrated packets of food for astronauts serve a purpose. Believe me, we would not send our soldiers into battle without real food, nor would we send our astronauts into space without real food. Our food was simply designed with a purpose, dehydrated in some cases, and put into packets for portion-control and to work to create the optimal physiologic conditions to encourage our bodies to use it's long-term energy storage for fuel. We are in training too, in training to live healthy lives. Simple as that.

A friend and client recently confided to me that she was being "razzed" at work about her "packet food". It got me thinking, and doing some research as well. It is likely that some of the same people who pooh-pooh our program as not using "real food" buy milk and bread from the grocery store, and consider that "real food". And, it is! But it is also "functional food", Milk has added vitamin D in it, to serve a purpose. Enriched flour (which cannot even be described as functional food) has been "enriched with vitamins" because in the process of stripping it of its hull (where all the nutrients reside) and bleaching it, it has very little, if any, nutritional value beyond the macronutrient carbohydrate which now has been turned into a high-glycemic time-bomb. So, they have to "add" all the nutrients back IN to it just to get some semblance of nutrition in it.

My husband calls our fuelings "purpose-driven food". They are meant to be used for a PURPOSE, and that purpose is for phase 2 and 3 of our program, which are "REACH A HEALTHY WEIGHT" and "TRANSITION TO HEALTHY EATING" while still getting EVERYTHING we need in order to satisfy both our daily MICRONUTRIENT NEEDS (vitamins/minerals-including iron), and our daily MACRONUTRIENT NEEDS (including fiber and protein) while still creating a caloric deficit substantial enough that ANYONE who is on it will lose weight safely and effectively. This is why our program is recommended by over 20,000 physicians, nationwide. These TWO phases of our SIX-PHASE PROGRAM are the only phases that are “product-dependent”. Our FOURTH phase, “LIVING THE HABITS OF HEALTH (which includes being weight-stable, in other words “maintenance”) can incorporate any HEALTHY food-philosophy we want! If we want to be "whole-foods Paleo" we can be. If we want to be "whole-food, plant strong" we can be. In fact, the co-founder of our program himself (who is a physician) is an advocate of eating whole-food, plant-strong in maintenance! Step 2 and 3 are simply temporary STEPS in our journey.

The misnomer is "Oh, I could NEVER eat like THAT for the rest of my life"! Well, we aren't asking anyone to become EXPERTS in weight LOSS, we want people to move on to become experts in HEALTH. While our phases beyond 2 and 3 don’t HAVE to continue to use our fuelings, many of us coaches do continue to utilize the "packets" in our maintenance programs as a CHOICE of convenience and health. WHY? Well, first of all because they are darn good. Secondly, if I'm going to have a BROWNIE I'm not going to eat a sugar-and-fat-filled bomb that is going to radically increase my blood sugar and make me feel awful in a couple of hours when my blood sugars CRASH, I don’t eat that way anymore. However, I WILL eat something that LOOKS and TASTES like a brownie, but is low-glycemic, has no artificial colors, is packed with probiotics, and has 11 grams of protein and only 15 carbs per serving...and oh yes, I'll get 35% of my RDA for iron while I'm at it! That just makes sense to me, that’s just how I roll! But some people will move on to styles and philosophies of eating that THEY value long-term, and that is how it is meant to be. It is a choice.

Finally, can you imagine someone deciding they DIDN'T want to be an astronaut or a soldier because of the FOOD they would necessarily need to eat to attain their dream of being an astronaut or soldier? I can see exactly how that conversation would go in the recruiting office or at NASA:

Prospective soldier to military recruiter: "I really want to serve my country in valor, bravery and honor as a soldier. But what is the food like? Because I won't eat packet-food either in training or on the field."

Prospective astronaut to NASA interviewer: "I've always dreamed of exploring space and walking on the moon. But what is the food like? I won't eat packet-food either in training or in space."

Yeah, it sounds kind of silly to me, I don't think they would be further considered for those positions if that was their opinion, but I have a feeling those conversations would NOT occur, because they want to be soldiers and astronauts, and "what is the food like" doesn't even enter into their decision whatsoever. 

So, let the scoffers scoff, let the nay-sayers nay-say. It isn't probably even about me or my program, it is about them and their opinions, which don't really involve me at all. It is not my responsibility to convince the world that what I am doing it something they should do. My only judge and jury is MYSELF, and the facts. The results speak for themselves. The labwork I get after attaining a healthy weight speak for themselves. My heart health and happiness speak for itself. I will continue to go about my business of creating health in my life and helping others do the same no matter what a handful of other people might think of it. As for me, I want to live an optimally healthy life, so I'm in training for THAT, and, right now, this is MY food.