The Simple Reasons Your Nutrition and Diet fails you time and time again.
The world of nutrition is a tricky one to navigate when everyone from friends and family to the 6pm news team is telling you the next best…
The world of nutrition is a tricky one to navigate when everyone from friends and family to the 6pm news team is telling you the next best thing or what the new popular fad is.
There is a good chance all of these people telling you what to do are making it harder for you find a good system that fits in your life, is aligned with your goals and does not make you miserable.
Stop Starting a PHD Level Diet With Only A Kindergarten Level of Knowledge About Nutrition
How much do you really know about nutrition and food?
If your answer is “I call EAT24, GrubHub or Seamless, it magically arrives and I eat it” then it’s safe to say you might need some introductory information before starting a complex new diet strategy. And no, the latest news story about a new study telling you what food is good or bad does not count as acquiring basic knowledge.
Let me throw an easy example to understand the need for the basics. If you wanted to play the guitar; does buying an electric guitar and downloading some Eddie Van Halen sheet music sound like the best way for you to start ripping it up like a pro, or would you need to start with some of the guitar basics?
Don’t worry about the stupid little stuff that only makes a difference if and only if you have a handle on your intake.
Organic vs non organic
eating 3 meals or 6 meals a day
eating every 2 hours
pre, intra, and post workout nutrition
fasting
cleansing
high carbs or low carbs
high fat or low fat
blood type
body type
etc
Sure, your future nutrition might need to look vastly different from what it looks like in its current state but, for long term success it might be a good idea to learn some of the basics before grabbing a book off the shelf or exploring some random website that popped up in your news-feed?
A quality nutrition lifestyle is a skill and just like any other skill there is going to be some learning that has to be done before success.
Trying To Trick The Body With Quick Fixes
I get it, I really do. Seeing quick weight loss or muscle gaining results can be a huge motivator and that feeling really keeps the heart warm with love for your routine. I know its not something anyone wants to hear but, these quick results don’t teach you anything sustainable for long term success and often lead to some serious plateaus all thanks to your body making some adjustments.
Every time you try and “trick” the body you forget that our bodies are sophisticated machines and are surprisingly awesome at learning how to avoid being tricked into an inefficient states. It doesn’t matter if you start a juice cleanse, a fast, go no carb or low calorie. Your body will learn and make adjustments to become energy efficient again and that’s when all your hard work comes without results. We all know when you put in hard work without seeing results the frustration meter reaches max capacity and we fall off the wagon all together thus negating all and any progress seen.
Meal planning & Prepping Like You’re Gordon Ramsey
If you are Gordon Ramsey then Wow, it brings great honor to my family that you are reading this article. Gordon feel free to skip over this section because your level of greatness in the kitchen is well above the level of the audience I am looking to reach.
Now, since you are not the great Gordon Ramsey I demand you stop trying to prepare meals as if you were. We are trying to prepare meals that first and foremost are aligned with our goals. Trying to be Like a 5 star chef in the kitchen is above your pay grade on this quest for fitness.
Cooking is way more simple than some people make it out to be. The goals and top priorities should be to cook food that wont make you sick and that you don’t dread eating it. Start by choosing a method of cooking food you know you are relatively good at. If you burn everything you put on the stove then you should probably find another way to heat up your dinner. I might be a god on the grill and you might be a boss on the broil and bake; play to your strengths. It doesn’t matter what you are cooking, cook the way you know how and over time you can learn the rest.
Oh, and one more thing. Stop following Recipes that make complete meals. Instead follow recipes that make the components of your meals This way they can be interchangeable with any item you might want to switch out of your meal plan. Pick separate recipes for foods you like then just cook them and combine them into meals as you eat them. You don’t have to make Restaurant quality dishes where each element works perfectly and builds on top of each other to create a flavor bursting paradise in your mouth. I know it can be frustrating when you see all your friends posting pictures of the meal they spent 3 hours preparing on a Wednesday (or ordered from a restaurant) but, remember they probably didn’t get a workout in.
You focus on how and when you “feel” hungry
Remember how I said our bodies are really awesome at not being tricked for too long. Well say hello to Appetite. Appetite is a personal habit based on actions you make in what time you eat and the quantity of the food eaten. If you tend to eat every 3 hours then our bodies learn this, remember it and prepare itself every 3 hours to be ready to eat. So, that feeling you have that you are starving when you haven’t eaten at 3.5 hours doesn’t mean you are actually starving.
Appetite is also easily altered with repetition and it can even be suppressed when your mind is focused and concentrated on something else. Have you ever been concentrating on something and a few hours went by without realizing it.
Remember the Last time you felt tired, irritable, lack of appetite, miserable, apathetic, really thirsty, dizzy, nauseous or had a headache randomly. Those are all easy to see signs of poor nutrition habits. Contrary to popular belief they are not signs that its time for your daily tub of coffee. While caffeine does have withdrawal symptoms similar to that list, drinking a coffee or energy booster can also mask poor nutrition habits.
So, feeding yourself based on feeling is not the best way to supply your goals.
Not having a Contingency Plan
Planning is a huge piece of nutrition success on a fitness journey. Here is a secret about planning you need to know. Life does not care about your plans. A nutrition contingency plan is the “What Do I Do If All Else Fails Plan”. The contingency plan is never going to be perfectly inline with your goals but it will be more ideal than some other on the go options you may have access to. Maybe keeping some mixed Nuts or some protein powder in your bag will be better for your goals than stopping at the Hot-dog Cart for before hopping on the subway.
Maybe you get pulled into a meeting and cant eat your planned and prepared lunch sitting in the office fridge or you have to stay late at work then rush home and drive the kid to Baseball practice immediately and your dinner wont be for another 4 hours now. What do you do?
It might seem pointless to plan for these moments but, trust me when they come around and they will come around, you will be happy that you did.
Learn the basics about food/ nutrition and what you might need before yes, before you choose a style of eating. Maybe seek some help from a sports nutritionist, a dietitian that works with athletes or pick up a textbook.
Avoid quick fix solutions and start focusing on creating a plan that you can pretty much stick with for the rest of your life regardless of your goals. Then make some small tailored changes to fit your goal best after you found a great strategy.
Just cook food. You are not a chef. Cook a simple base product first and interchangeable (salt, pepper, butter etc.) .Then jazz it up when you are packaging it all for the week by adding spices, marinades and sauces.
Don’t trust how you feel to plan when and what to eat. Instead start regulating the amount of calories you need to eat each day to stay aligned with your goals and take notice times when your appetite might be messing with your plan.
Create a plan for when your plan might fail. Life usually happens far quicker than we can plan for it. Here would be a good spot to find some food options to eat on the go that don’t require cooking or in some cases can be eaten with your hands or even drank.
Originally published at fitletes.com
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