The Problem with Processed Foods

"It was FAT FREE!," my client Pete exclaims. He's expecting more approval than my frustrated expression provides.

"That's good, isn't it?" he asks.

Pete's talking about some rice cakes he ate last night.

"No chance, Pete. Fat's not the issue, here," I tell him. "Eat some fat."

"What?! Eat fat?!", he objects.

I've experienced this response before. I'm now a heretic.

"I've been working hard to cut fat out of my diet, just as the health and fitness magazines' pages dictate," Pete says.

I tell him he's right. Excess fat is something to avoid, but more importantly it's processed foods, which are often sugary and rank high on the glycemic index that undermine our endeavors to become lean and trim.

Pete's resisting this obvious blasphemy, spoken in a gym, no less. He challenges with aphorisms, "You are what you eat. Fat begets fat."

"Well, no, Pete, not exactly. Fat isn't the only factor. Actually, those fat free products may be your biggest problem."

He looks at me as though I've lost my mind .

"Come on..." he says with one eyebrow cocked.

"Pete...fat free, processed foods are produced solely to make money, with no regard for health or nutritive value and are often rife with sugar."

"And, sugar is...bad", he groans.

"Yeah. Refined white sugar, concentrated fruit juice, high fructose corn syrup. Sugar's sugar. Wreaks havoc on your metabolism and blood chemistry. Makes ya fat, Pete."

He's with me...

"That's impossible! There's no fat in rice cakes...and, hardly any sugar, either," Pete retorts.

...or so I thought.

"Processed foods--your rice cakes, Pete--which are high on the glycemic index and worse actually than straight glucose, spike your blood sugar level, rapidly inducing insulin release which..."

Click. Lights off. Maybe it was the glycemic index…

I try to bring him back.

"Pete, we're talking excess calories here."

"Calories make you fat?" he interjects.

"Well, excess calories are stored as fat. And, those rice cakes will likely add excess calories 'cuz of your body's hormonal response to..."

A blank look washes over his face.

"Pete." I crack the whip. "To get lean eliminate all processed foods like rice cakes, flaky breakfast cereals, and reduce other higher glycemic foods--pasta, white rice, russet potatoes, dinner rolls..."

Pete comes to--"Unreasonable! Not feasible!" "What will I eat?"

"Well, this would be a pair of options for breakfast:"

• 3 egg whites, scrambled
• 2 oz. chicken breast, chopped
• 2 cups vegetables-spinach, tomato, mushrooms, etc.--sauteed in extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup of slow cooking oatmeal
  
  or, this...
  
  
• 1/2 cup of non-fat cottage cheese
• 2 cups of either sliced peaches, pears or apples
• 5 or 6 dry roasted almonds

"Sounds great, eh?"

"!@#$%^&*"



to april, 1999

Just So You Know

This was originally published in Brentwood News in March of 1999 and was an ongoing column providing a (hopefully) humorous view of the wrestling match that often occurs between trainer and client. Though Pete, who is an actual client, stars in all of these stories they really concern actual encounters with numerous clients over the last 15 years.