TPL#9 Why You SHOULD Eat an Oreo Protein Pizza

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This is perfectly fitting for today’s episode - I highly recommend setting aside a few minutes to check this out.

This popped up on my Twitter feed a few days ago

As you well know, I just released my first recipe book a few days ago (and just shamelessly plugged it again several lines ago).

And while Protein Paradise doesn’t have any meals with Oreos or sugary breakfast cereals (the entire book is sugar-free), it’s still essentially a “flexible dieting” recipe book.

Do I suggest having Oreo Protein Pizzas as a regular staple in your diet?

No.

But after seeing this tweet, I felt called to defend Flexible Dieting because it can be a liberating and life-changing dietary shift for many.

This episode of the Thrive Protocol Letter will cover the following:

• What “flexible dieting” is

• Why critiques like this tweet are naive and potentially harmful

• How flexible dieting can help people

• A better definition of a “healthy” diet

Flexible dieting often gets misrepresented as a way to fit as much junk food as you can into your diet.

But that’s not how I look at it.

I see flexible dieting as stripping away your narratives about “healthy” and “unhealthy” food and looking at food objectively.

Food is a combination of energy and nutrients.

Some of these combinations support your overall health and goals.

Others, not so much.

The important thing is that you get enough protein, fiber, healthy fats, and nutrients in your diet without going over your calories.

If you can do this with some of those grams of protein coming from the odd cheesecake brownie, some Halo Top Ice Cream, or even a 12-inch Oreo Protein Pizza, it’s no big deal.

Barring any individual intolerances and conditions, flexible dieting is perfectly healthy as long as you get adequate nutrition and stay within your calories.

But some people get the idea that flexible dieting means you completely disregard any sense of nutrition and live off of refined carbs and breakfast cereal desserts as long as they can fit in your macros.

There are those who do this, but it’s not what flexible dieting truly is.

Flexible dieting is about recognizing that there’s nothing inherently evil about the occasional bowl of ice cream or Oreo cookie if you maintain your calorie balance and metabolic health.

And for some people who have a high food-reward value, the freedom that flexible dieting provides can be life-saving.

Let’s break down food reward value to understand this.

Food Reward Value

Put simply, food reward value is how much someone anticipates and enjoys food.

Some people looooove food and are highly motivated to go out and get something when they’re craving it.

Others can’t be bothered.

From a common sense perspective, this is easy to understand:

You probably know someone who identifies as a “foodie” (you may even be yourself).

And then there are others who have a “take it or leave it” attitude to food.

Several studies have been done investigating whether there is a physiological difference in brain chemistry related to food reward in obese people.

I couldn’t find anything conclusive to support this (from an admittedly brief Googling session).

But one thing is for sure: whether the reasons are due to brain chemistry, personality, or epigenetics, we don’t all see food the same way.

This discrepancy in food perception can be a problem when people who have never lost fat give fat-loss advice.

It’s simple for them.

Sometimes their fat loss advice is, “Put the fork down, tubby.”

It shows no understanding of the challenge because they don’t see food in the same way as somebody who struggles with their weight.

Not necessarily…

But if you have a significant amount of weight to lose, be cautious about fat loss advice from someone who has never lost fat.

They might understand everything there is to know about energy balance, metabolism, and macronutrients, but they likely don’t perceive food in the same way that you do, and their capacity for empathy will be limited.

When Perfection Kills Progress

When lean people who have never lost fat (and have a lower food reward value) give nutritional advice, it’s often to the tune of “just eat clean.”

Like in the tweet that inspired this post:

These “clean eaters” tell you that if you can’t pronounce an ingredient on the label, you shouldn’t eat it.

That you shouldn’t eat anything your grandmother didn’t eat.

Artificial sweeteners, bread, anything “processed”— it’s all bad.

These people look at Diet Coke and Oreo Protein Pizzas with disgust.

But here’s the problem with that attitude:

If you’re 250 pounds and a healthy weight for you is 210, you will be healthier if you get down to 210 no matter what diet you eat.

The foundation of healthy eating is calorie balance & metabolic health.

It’s not everything — nutrition and food sources matter — but it’s the bulk of it.

In 2010, a Professor of Nutrition at Kansas State University did a personal experiment to demonstrate this.

He went on a 10-week diet consisting of Twinkies, Doritos, and other junk (he also had some canned veggies and a protein shake).

The catch was that he limited his calories to 1800 per day (an 800-calorie deficit for a man his size).

He lost 27 pounds over the 10 weeks, AND several health markers (triglycerides, LDL cholesterol) improved.

Some people have lost over 100 pounds by switching from full-sugar soda to diet soda.

Would it be better if they could just drink water?

Yeah, probably.

But are they 1000x healthier after losing 100 pounds?

Absolutely.

My problem with demonizing the “Oreo Protein Pizza” is that while it’s not the healthiest thing someone can eat, it’s certainly healthIER than other options.

Take someone who struggles with binge eating and is putting down family-sized boxes of cookies and pastries during moments of angst.

This is a real thing affecting real human beings.

What if this person sees an Instagram post sharing an Oreo Protein Pizza that, instead of 4000 calories worth of chocolate croissants, has 700 calories and 60 g of protein?

They’re not ready to go from pastries and cookies to chicken salad…

But they can go from family-sized boxes of pastries to an Oreo Protein Pizza.

What if this person can embrace the flexible dieting lifestyle as a way to help them transition to a healthier overall diet?

This isn’t a hypothetical scenario.

Thousands of people with high-food-reward values have embraced flexible dieting to help them lose fat and become healthier according to every metric that can be measured.

People who shit on the Oreo Protein Pizzas of the world make perfection the enemy of progress.

If somebody can make a healthIER choice — to make a replacement in their diet that has more fiber, protein, and fewer calories — it’s a good thing.

“Healthy” Compared To What

Dr. Layne Norton is one of the most reasonable voices in health and fitness. He has a saying about healthy eating that I love:

If you’re overeating “healthy food,” is it still healthy?

Is the kale quinoa smoked salmon salad “healthy” if you’re eating it as a midnight snack when you’ve already eaten your calories for the day?

Is the 400-calorie oat/keto/vegan/gluten-free/non-gmo/tree-bark-enfused/matcha cookie healthy?

It might be healthIER than a donut…

But what about compared to not eating it?

In real-world nutrition, a healthIER choice is a healthy choice.

If you can make a dietary substitution that has:

• More Fiber

• More Protein

• More Nutrients

• Fewer Calories

You’ve made a healthy choice.

If people who looooove food and have high food reward values can use flexible dieting to help them make healthIER choices, it’s a smart move.

Even if it’s in the form of an Oreo Protein Pizza.

And the lean “clean eaters” who have NEVER had to lose fat and NEVER struggled with binge eating do these people a disservice when they oversimplify and condemn flexible dieting.

Everyone should eat things that make them feel good and that they feel good about eating.

For me, flexible dieting is about food freedom.

It’s being able to look at food objectively and focus on getting the nutrition I need and feeling good over the vague metric of healthy.

It’s helped me not to hate myself for enjoying the occasional dessert or serving of “bad” food.

So no, I do not recommend you live off of Oreo Protein Pizzas (or even my sugar-free Cheesecake Brownies or Blueberry Cheesecake Squares).

But if you have a sweet tooth and flexible dieting helps you come up with dessert options that have more protein, nutrients, fiber, and fewer calories —

You’ve made a healthier choice.

Thanks for reading!

Bit of a long one today - but this is something I’m passionate about.

As a final reminder, I’d love to help you develop a personalized plan to get in fantastic shape for summer.

Pick up Protein Paradise & hop on a call for the cheapest it’ll ever be to work with me 1-1.

Colin “Be flexible” Matson