Diets are an absolute craze right now. There are hundreds of different diets and they all want to become the next big thing.
Keto, paleo, Atkins all made their names known and everyone is trying to emulate some aspect of those diets to gain some traction.
THE WAY WE EAT SHOULDN’T BE A POPULARITY CONTEST.
At the gym the question used to be “how much do you bench?” now the question is “what diet are you running?”
I’m not on a freaking diet; I am eating what I want that makes me feel good (and ice cream tastes so damn good).
I am going to lay out what I think is a great “simple” way to change the way you eat later in this post. First, I would like to address the current state of diets in this world.
I get a lot of people ask me questions on what diet I recommend for different goals. To be honest, I don’t like to attach to one particular “diet” over another because then there are limits to what you are allowed to eat.
You can still eat low carb and not be in ketosis, somehow bread is now part of the paleo diet, and you can eat an Atkins bar without following their plan.
There are no set rules to the way you eat. Granted, I wouldn’t say just go out and eat anything you want but you get my point.
People follow a diet because of the structure. It will tell you what you can and cannot eat, which makes people feel comforted knowing that the guesswork is taken out of it.
Now all you need is a personal chef and life is complete!
If only it were that easy.
Getting back on track. Following a structured diet is safe. As I stated above, it is set out what you can eat. Other reasons people gravitate towards them is their popularity.
So many other people have tried this diet and you can read all about their success story in this before and after post.
5 success stories filtered out from the hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people who tried the same thing.
What you aren’t reading are the people who were constipated for 2 weeks, or the people who couldn’t sleep, or didn’t have enough energy to go for a walk.
Every single human being on this earth is so different from one another, from our hairstyles to our digestive systems. There are not many logical reasons why you should be tied down to one particular base diet.
If you are going to follow a pre-made diet then here are some tips to follow along with it.
First off you have to have a goal in mind. Lose fat, get stronger, feel better, whatever the case may be, pick a goal and work towards that.
Whatever diet you choose, find out how that diet will help you work towards your goal.
If you choose the keto diet and your goal is to feel better. If you look back at your previous eating habits, maybe carbs in the morning made you feel lethargic and groggy. So you believe that cutting out most carbohydrates will be beneficial.
I am not saying it is or isn’t beneficial for this goal but this could be a possible reason behind a diet. Find your “WHY”.
When you know your end goal, make sure that diet is moving you toward that goal. If you see yourself drifting farther away from it then it’s time to move on.
Second, track everything to make sure this diet is benefiting you, and not just your goal. Track your stool, sleep, performance, hormones, energy, mental space, track anything you can. Make sure things are moving in the right direction.
It is possible to be moving towards your goal of fat loss while also getting crappy sleep and having diarrhea every morning. Be honest with yourself, is this a healthy way of living?
Third, if you are going to try a diet for a period of time, why not try out a few different ones and see which one gives you the greatest benefit.
If you tried a carnivore diet for a period of time and introduced foods back in over the course of a month or two, take a few weeks to settle in and try a vegetarian style diet. Two opposite ends of the spectrum, but it can be eye opening the different nutrients you are missing by just following one type of diet.
The end goal we are chasing is overall health and longevity. I say it all the time. Health will yield the best results, if you focus on health then the other goals will follow.
“SIMPLE” Change to Your Eating Habits
Now it’s time to lay out what I believe to be a good option instead of following a set diet plan.
The concept is simple but the execution takes time and effort.
THE CHANGE:
Eat only whole natural, non-processed foods.
This means eating nothing that comes pre-packaged or pre-made. All your food will be comprised of things without an ingredient list.
Like I stated, it is a simple concept, but the execution is not so easy. In a world where we are surrounded by processed foods that are engineered to be the perfect taste, color, texture, and mouth feel it is hard to break free from that and go to foods in their natural state.
The way I introduce this option is on a slow, progressive scale. Start out by doing the only whole natural foods 1 day per week. Once that is easy and doesn’t feel like a chore, add in another day. Keep doing this until you feel you are able to adopt this style for a few months.
There is no timeline on how long it will take to get to that point so take your time and enjoy the process.
The same rule applies for this option as well, track how you feel and find foods that work towards your general goals.
I hope you were able to find this helpful on the journey of health and longevity.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me, I enjoy helping out!
Jeffrey Nagle
Coach || OPEX South Shore
