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.
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If we haven't met before, I'm Christina Tidwell and I'm so excited that you're here! I am a RN & Functional Nutrition Practitioner that helps those with autoimmune disease, hormone imbalance and gut issues heal without overwhelm so you can feel better in your body in a way that honors your unique needs and feels sustainable for the rest of your life.
If you suffer from:
Fatigue and energy crashes
Brain fog
Poor digestion
Painful periods and PMS
Symptoms of autoimmunity
Stress and overwhelm
...and aren't getting the support you need, I’m here to help guide you! My job is to clear the overwhelm, help you put the pieces of the puzzle together and co-create a sustainable path forward to help you reach your goals and feel better in your amazing body. When we work together you can’t fail.
In my health & nutrition coaching programs I support you in the quest to get back into balance by listening to your story, understanding your needs, getting to the roots of imbalance in the body and co-creating a sustainable path to healing together. These sessions weave together functional nutrition and science, lived experience, breathwork, mindset shifts, and intuitive guidance for a unique and full-spectrum approach to nutrition counseling and holistic health.
I always offer free 20-minute discovery sessions to get clear on your major health concerns and identify 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.
