How to Not Stress About Food with the Four Pitstops of Eating
Do you want to stop stressing about what to eat?
Wouldn't it feel great to not think about what to eat when life is busy?
What if food could just appear without meal planning, cooking, chopping, prepping?
I'm going to tell you how.
But first - why does thinking about what we are going to eat feel so hard?
We've all mostly been taught that we are just supposed to eat healthy, all the time, no matter what. But most people don't. And it's not for lack of wanting. We all WANT to eat foods that make us feel good. So why don't we just...do that?
Because living that way is really, really hard. Because life is not the same day to day, week to week. Because some weeks are easier than others. And because sometimes, you just want the damn Doritos.
We don't eat healthy all the time because it requires thought, energy, planning, and follow through. It also requires a lot of privilege- help, time, energy, bandwidth. And sometimes life- being busy, living through an acutely stressful time, neurodivergencies, chronic illness, chronic pain, etc. makes it so that is just not possible.
The Four Levels of Eating
In nutrition school, we learned a concept called "The Four Levels of Eating." It's meant to describe eating stages, but unfortunately it looks more like a path, where it looks like the first two levels are not ideal for health, and the 4th level is ideal. Levels 1 and 2 eating habits involve a lot of processed foods, Level 3 habits have more whole, unprocessed foods- but Level 4? Oooohhh Level 4 is like health nirvana…if you can get there. Level 4 habits involve primarily only eating whole unprocessed foods, having awareness of where your food comes from, and the time energy bandwidth capabilities to prepare said food. Because this is framed like a path- with a starting point (Level 1=bad) and end end point (Level 4=good), it can be unrealistic.
So, I like to reframe the Four Levels of Eating concept.
First, here's what each level is "supposed" to represent, which will sound familiar because this is the general framework around food and dieting we've all been taught:
Level One: Eating For Pleasure
Eating just for the pleasure of it, period. Thinking about how the foods might impact our health doesn’t come into play. Typically foods like coffee, cookies, cake, pizza, alcohol.
Level Two: Eating for Energy
AKA "Eating for Hangry" because it's all about grabbing foods that we can eat quickly to tamper down the hangry- which is just our body going through wild blood sugar swings. Foods like burgers, burritos, pizza, bread and peanut butter, chips.
Level Three: Eating for Recovery
We start to feel the effects of eating foods from Levels 1 & 2, so take drastic measures to feel better as quickly as possible, i.e. dieting and a lot of restriction. This is why we sign up for cleanses and detoxes in the New Year. May help us feel better in the short term, but is not sustainable.
Level Four: Eating for Health
Eating whole foods that are healing, nourishing, with lots of awareness of personal and environmental impact, seasonality, and locality.
While it would be wonderful if we could all just live in Level 4 forever, that is totally unrealistic.
Because life is not consistent.
My view is that ALL of the levels serve a purpose, that they are ALL needed at different times, so we can oscillate through each as needed depending on what life is throwing at us instead of trying to claw our way to Level 4 when life is making that impossible.
So let's cut ourselves some slack, shall we?
When life comes at you hard, do you have the bandwidth to buy whole foods and prepare them at home? NO! You don't! That's why pizza delivery exists!
So THANK GOD Levels 1 & 2 exist because life can really throw some curveballs.
I know what you're thinking- won't eating that way long term impact your health and leave you feeling like crap?
Yes. Which is why I believe these levels should be places we visit depending on where the road of life has taken us. Maybe your current pit stop is all Level 1& 2 eating. It’s OK!
The challenge is to not get STUCK in those levels once your situation has changed. One way to do this is to think about Levels 1 & 2 in terms of easy foods. Not unhealthy, just easy. If you can rely on easy foods that are healthy during crazy times, then it's easier to not get stuck in one level.
how to stress less about food when life is crazy:
Use foods that are quick but still provide a lot of nutrients, like frozen or canned vegetables, pre-cut veggies from the grocery store
Buy pre-made dishes from the grocery store. Whole Foods, Erewhon and Bristol Farms (if you are in LA) are probably the best for this. They have chicken, veggie sides, salads, roasted veggies, you name it. No cooking involved.
Subscribe to a meal delivery service. My absolute fave in LA is Methodology, but there are a ton (Territory Foods, Balanced Bites Meals, Thistle, Organic Oren, etc)
Next, let’s reframe the Four Levels of Eating.
Instead of thinking of a path, these are all just pitstops we can visit depending on what life is throwing at us.
The Four Pitstops of Eating
Pit Stop One: Eating for Survival
In this phase, things are happening in life that are out of our control and requiring a lot of energy- such as a death, a move, illness, or other major life event. Thus, we don't have energy to think about food. Thinking about what to eat requires energy, so we are eating whatever is the absolute easiest. This can be ordering pizza, and it can also mean reheating food from a meal delivery program.
Pit Stop Two: Eating for Clarity
At this pit stop, life is not as intense as Pit Stop One, but is still untenable to cook at home a lot- such as being on a deadline at work or studying for finals- but we have more energy to notice we don't feel great. So we start to incorporate healthier choices, but slowly. Maybe we aim to have a salad with dinner every night, and go for a walk every day. This is all about little changes we can make that don't require too much energy but that might have a big impact and thus motivate us to keep making changes.
Pit Stop Three: Eating for Energy
This stop is when we start to notice positive changes from making small efforts to change our habits. We are starting to notice that when we consistently do certain habits, we feel better, so we keep going, but with the clear intention that we are making choices to have more energy and clarity. We also need more energy and clarity to be able to do these habits, so Pit Stop Three is for times in life that are NOT as intense as Pit Stops One and Two. This is more normal everyday life but we are learning new healthy habits. This builds on the beginnings of small changes in Pit Stop 2 but takes them a step further- maybe that daily walk turns into hiring a trainer, or eating salads turns into craving more and more foods that make us feel good.
Pit Stop Four: Eating for Fun
In this pit stop, we are eating for the pleasure of consuming wholesome foods that make us feel great. We actively seek out foods that are high in nutrients like vitamins and minerals, with a focus on fruits and vegetables, high quality proteins, whole grains, and actually don’t feel as much of a need for more processed foods. This is when life is humming along and not overtly stressful.
The key is to be fluid, and move throughout these pitstops depending on what is happening to you and in your life. There is no ‘health nirvana’, so consider this your permission to stop stressing about food. We can eat what we’re capable of depending on what life throws at us. Utilize healthy easy foods when possible. And know that it’s all temporary.