Language precision needed please
March 14, 2023 3:07 PM Subscribe
Hi, I'm in a new diet program where one of the principles is that there are no restrictions on WHAT you choose to eat, but there are restrictions on HOW MUCH. The coach likes to say "You can eat anything you want!" but for me that is just not true. Can you help me craft a sentence that gets to the details?
In my opinion, "You can eat anything you want!" has no restrictions - ANYTHING!! But my diet is limited in both total calories per day, and it's limited in macros - percentages of protein/fat/carbs - per day. So "anything I want" just sounds like a lie to me. I'm trying to find a "fun" way to say it accurately, without bogging down in the details.
Some examples:
Anything I want: I might want 2 donuts for breakfast, grilled cheese for lunch, salad with ranch dressing, spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, and some ice cream for dessert. But that is WAY too far over my calories and macros. SO...
On a given day, I can eat one donut, but that already half my fat and half my carbs, but it's only about 3% of my protein. So the rest of the day I need to work HARD to get enough protein without going over the macros.
If I have grilled cheese for lunch, I can't have ranch dressing on my salad at dinner. (yes, I'm aware of zero fat dressings. These are just examples).
If I have garlic bread, I can't have spaghetti.
If I have ranch dressing on my salad, I can't have dessert.
The sentence I've come up with: "You can eat any ONE thing you want per day, provided you manage the rest of the day very strictly".
Is there a way to make that sound more exciting?
NOTE: I am not asking for your opinions about the diet itself; it is medically necessary, I am losing weight as I follow it, and there is a lot more to the whole program that I am not sharing here. I'm just stuck on the language. Thanks.
In my opinion, "You can eat anything you want!" has no restrictions - ANYTHING!! But my diet is limited in both total calories per day, and it's limited in macros - percentages of protein/fat/carbs - per day. So "anything I want" just sounds like a lie to me. I'm trying to find a "fun" way to say it accurately, without bogging down in the details.
Some examples:
Anything I want: I might want 2 donuts for breakfast, grilled cheese for lunch, salad with ranch dressing, spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, and some ice cream for dessert. But that is WAY too far over my calories and macros. SO...
On a given day, I can eat one donut, but that already half my fat and half my carbs, but it's only about 3% of my protein. So the rest of the day I need to work HARD to get enough protein without going over the macros.
If I have grilled cheese for lunch, I can't have ranch dressing on my salad at dinner. (yes, I'm aware of zero fat dressings. These are just examples).
If I have garlic bread, I can't have spaghetti.
If I have ranch dressing on my salad, I can't have dessert.
The sentence I've come up with: "You can eat any ONE thing you want per day, provided you manage the rest of the day very strictly".
Is there a way to make that sound more exciting?
NOTE: I am not asking for your opinions about the diet itself; it is medically necessary, I am losing weight as I follow it, and there is a lot more to the whole program that I am not sharing here. I'm just stuck on the language. Thanks.
No foods are bad, but some foods are "sometimes" foods.
posted by momus_window at 3:12 PM on March 14, 2023 [11 favorites]
posted by momus_window at 3:12 PM on March 14, 2023 [11 favorites]
Best answer: I am learning to balance a variety of foods to have a healthy diet.
I can eat my favorite foods, just not all at once.
posted by theora55 at 3:14 PM on March 14, 2023 [9 favorites]
I can eat my favorite foods, just not all at once.
posted by theora55 at 3:14 PM on March 14, 2023 [9 favorites]
There are no forbidden foods, but your choices must add up to a precise ratio of nutrients and number of calories each day. It's flexible in theory but restricted in practice.
posted by Ausamor at 3:15 PM on March 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Ausamor at 3:15 PM on March 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
You can eat anything you want. Just not very much of it.
posted by Dashy at 3:15 PM on March 14, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by Dashy at 3:15 PM on March 14, 2023 [4 favorites]
"If It Fits Your Macros"? I've seen this a lot in the fitness communities I peripherally follow online.
posted by Sweetchrysanthemum at 3:22 PM on March 14, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by Sweetchrysanthemum at 3:22 PM on March 14, 2023 [8 favorites]
Sure, "you can eat anything you want!" IF you define "you" as your whole body and not just the tongue and brain.
posted by aniola at 3:28 PM on March 14, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by aniola at 3:28 PM on March 14, 2023 [2 favorites]
Best answer: As long as I stay within the guide rails, I can eat anything I want!
posted by JohnnyGunn at 3:42 PM on March 14, 2023
posted by JohnnyGunn at 3:42 PM on March 14, 2023
You can eat any combination of food within your nutritional targets.
posted by koahiatamadl at 3:44 PM on March 14, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by koahiatamadl at 3:44 PM on March 14, 2023 [2 favorites]
Best answer: You can fit your favorite foods into this plan.
Any food you want can fit into this plan.
posted by FencingGal at 3:44 PM on March 14, 2023 [6 favorites]
Any food you want can fit into this plan.
posted by FencingGal at 3:44 PM on March 14, 2023 [6 favorites]
Seconding sweetchrysanthemum. This is called If It Fits Your Macros, or IIFYM. Some people who follow these kinds of diets prefer to have a very small amount of many things that they like to eat, and others prefer to save up and splurge on one thing. This description covers both kinds of those people.
posted by Ardnamurchan at 3:44 PM on March 14, 2023
posted by Ardnamurchan at 3:44 PM on March 14, 2023
I might be wrong, but isn't it that you can eat anything, but depending on your choices, "eating" might mean as small as just a spoonful or taste or pinch, etc. of something to not go over the macros? Like, if you eat the donuts and spaghetti, sure, you can technically also eat that ice cream but now you're limited to 1/8 teaspoon.
Aka,
You can eat anything you want (but not as much of anything as you want).
posted by Ink-stained wretch at 3:45 PM on March 14, 2023 [3 favorites]
Aka,
You can eat anything you want (but not as much of anything as you want).
posted by Ink-stained wretch at 3:45 PM on March 14, 2023 [3 favorites]
Being told that you can eat anything you want as part of your diet sounds like intuitive eating might be the goal. Maybe “Eat intuitively”?
posted by emelenjr at 3:45 PM on March 14, 2023
posted by emelenjr at 3:45 PM on March 14, 2023
Best answer: There's something to look forward to every day! A peak experience!
posted by amtho at 4:01 PM on March 14, 2023
posted by amtho at 4:01 PM on March 14, 2023
Best answer: I agree that this is IIFYM, but a more fun framing of your sentence might be, "You get to choose what to splurge on every day!"
posted by teremala at 4:01 PM on March 14, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by teremala at 4:01 PM on March 14, 2023 [3 favorites]
Dieting is tricky and everyone has their own mental tricks for addressing how they eat.
I’ve dieted a bunch of ways but it seems like the “You can eat what ever you want” message isn’t working for you - no matter how you try to rephrase it. I think the ideal evolution, from a trainers perspective, is you eventually find that eating donuts in the morning isn’t really tenable and start making more filling choices.
So maybe you’re at that point where it’s not worth trying to shoehorn that statement into something else but defining the next step? Usually it would be something like “If I eat better this morning and for lunch I can treat myself to ‘this’ for desert.” After a while it usually turns into “If I eat well all week I can lose weight faster and maybe this weekend I can have ‘that’”. Finally you end up with “I’m just going to skip all that because I like what’s going on”.
I don’t have a great answer to your original question but just felt you’re struggling with what you’re being told and now trying to fit a square peg in a round hole and maybe you just need to switch the perspective a bit. It’s totally legit to tell your trainer that the YCEWYW message isn’t really resonating. Like I said at the top everyone has their own way of doing this and what I’m saying may not be the right fit for you either. Either way carry on! You’re doing it!
posted by bitdamaged at 4:03 PM on March 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
I’ve dieted a bunch of ways but it seems like the “You can eat what ever you want” message isn’t working for you - no matter how you try to rephrase it. I think the ideal evolution, from a trainers perspective, is you eventually find that eating donuts in the morning isn’t really tenable and start making more filling choices.
So maybe you’re at that point where it’s not worth trying to shoehorn that statement into something else but defining the next step? Usually it would be something like “If I eat better this morning and for lunch I can treat myself to ‘this’ for desert.” After a while it usually turns into “If I eat well all week I can lose weight faster and maybe this weekend I can have ‘that’”. Finally you end up with “I’m just going to skip all that because I like what’s going on”.
I don’t have a great answer to your original question but just felt you’re struggling with what you’re being told and now trying to fit a square peg in a round hole and maybe you just need to switch the perspective a bit. It’s totally legit to tell your trainer that the YCEWYW message isn’t really resonating. Like I said at the top everyone has their own way of doing this and what I’m saying may not be the right fit for you either. Either way carry on! You’re doing it!
posted by bitdamaged at 4:03 PM on March 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
You can eat anything you want, but not everything you want.
posted by aniola at 4:06 PM on March 14, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by aniola at 4:06 PM on March 14, 2023 [4 favorites]
It's not the meat it's the macros.
It's not the parts, it's the proportions.
Take a wide range, make a careful selection.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 4:11 PM on March 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
It's not the parts, it's the proportions.
Take a wide range, make a careful selection.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 4:11 PM on March 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
You don't have to give any foods up.
posted by dusty potato at 4:54 PM on March 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by dusty potato at 4:54 PM on March 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I wonder if the old “save room for dessert” would apply, because in order to eat something from any category you have to accommodate it in other ways. “Make room for a treat?”
posted by kapers at 4:59 PM on March 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by kapers at 4:59 PM on March 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
Even water is poison at a high enough dose.
posted by General Malaise at 5:09 PM on March 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by General Malaise at 5:09 PM on March 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
You can eat anything you want, as long as you comply with the program daily limits.
You can literally eat anything you want but, if you have icecream for breakfast, your next meal might be breakfast tomorrow.
posted by dg at 10:22 PM on March 14, 2023
You can literally eat anything you want but, if you have icecream for breakfast, your next meal might be breakfast tomorrow.
posted by dg at 10:22 PM on March 14, 2023
Perhaps, instead of “you can eat anything you want” which you seem to interpret as eating one-three servings of anything, “you can *taste* anything you want.” You could taste donut and grilled cheese and ranch dressing and ice cream in a day, as long as it’s a modest bite of each and not a meal’s worth. Or “make the treats last longer”?
posted by tchemgrrl at 3:49 AM on March 15, 2023
posted by tchemgrrl at 3:49 AM on March 15, 2023
Response by poster: Thanks, everyone for helping me see this in different ways. Yes, it is of course "if it fits your macros". Every reply in this thread is a different way to look at that, and different people need to hear it in different ways. I hope by asking the question I was able to help someone else with this struggle. I've marked Best Answers for the ones that resonated with me. Thanks to all of you.
posted by CathyG at 1:14 PM on March 16, 2023
posted by CathyG at 1:14 PM on March 16, 2023
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All foods are allowed.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 3:11 PM on March 14, 2023 [3 favorites]