WHY MUST YOU UNDERSTAND THERE IS MORE TO A DIET AND TAKE THE TASK ONWARDS LIKE AN ATHLETES
Let’s me state the obvious here before we dive into the controversial topic on ‘optimal nutrition’.
We know what a health ‘eat well plate’ should look like when are asked about it – so why do we have so many fat bastards grazing everywhere still in this modern era?
Come to think of it, we as a generation who are currently going through the millennial era of technology evolving at an exponential rate and having the power of information within the grasp of our hand and a couple of clicks into your google search engine, you can find many diet plans and methods to follow for structure which could help aid you in controlling or regulating your caloric intake, food quality, portion sizes, and I can go on and on to even harp on about getting the precise measurement of collagen fibre scoops you can blend in your super-green-mega-awesome-muscle-booster shake.
So…..WTF has cause the general population to be in a state that our NHS is overstretched by morbid obesity levels, illnesses brought on by poor health choices and frequent inflammation injuries sustained in training and performance sports, when we know too well this information is backed by data?
Could easily say we are living in a glutinous society or could say we are a lazy generation which doesn’t understand the concept of harshness, as we haven’t had to endure a drought, food scarcity or war.
Nope.
Far from it – I find because we don’t simply follow the basics. Why? Pretty straight forward answer from me – it isn’t on our top priorities. We like the idea of looking like a GQ magazine cover model, or want to feel physically in our prime because we haven’t ever been at that optimal level before?
I don’t believe a 12 week diet plan on it’s own can get you there, because your body is an immensely complicated machine which can take a year to fully shift from one state of dietary structure to another (for example moving from a carbohydrate sugary diet into a ketogenic diet can take over a year as there are stages required to follow to ensure the body does not reject or react negatively to the transition period). Alongside an immense support network, daily reminders and focused intent can get you closer to achieving this – but even at that, results aren’t simple when you also consider history of training, health and mental state / preparation prior to beginning a diet.
Our mindset towards fuelling the body for total human optimal function needs to be brought to our focal attention on a regular basis. This is why apps and journals that track food ingestion and water intake play a massive supporting role in coaches aiding
athletes. The general population in achieving whatever goal they’ve set out to complete. Using this way of tracking can allow you to see a record of what you’ve had in your diet, and correlating this alongside your body weight, sleep quality, performance in the gym or on the field can work together well to help you keep to the long term plan, and well beyond that when the primary goal shifts into one which may be more focused on prolonging longevity in your health.
Diets which are known as ‘faddy diets’ are labeled this way because they work short term, mostly by people who tend not to put their health in their top 5 priorities, let alone their top 3 (and I’m looking at the 80% of the population who don’t train more than 2 times a week, maybe less). Why do they work well? Take a step back and consider the overall shift they do:-
- Manipulating caloric intake less/more that their basic maintenance requirements in relation to the goal.
- Up regulate their physical activity through focused training methods.
- Become more self aware of their energy levels and conscious eating.
- Tracking and regular weigh in / body measurements are introduced.
- Support groups through human interaction and online networks introduces affirmation and accountability.
- Short term, mid term and long term goals are set out and revisited (ticked off) when completed.
- Non Exercise Activity Thermogenic (NEAT) increases – like walking to work instead of taking the bus, or moving around more at work instead of sitting down – the small things.
But you see, this is why fad diets work well because with these bullet points suggested, combined with a massive shift in a persons previous habits to a new focused driven approach to improving health and well being, will obviously show a visual improvement to body composition levels and energy.
So why do 97% of them fail? They’re not long term in the game for sustainability.
People haven’t fully allowed enough time or education for them to gather the long term health benefits to maintain this level of improvements. It’s difficult to for us to sustain this level of focus. We relapse every now and again if we don’t allow ourselves the chance to de-load in training volumes, holidays or influences from external environments constantly stimulating us to shift back into neurologically drilled habits.
How can you ensure that you don’t fall into the 97% category? It’s like following the bullet points above – however ensuring that you don’t restrict yourself of anything.
Fad diets work off restriction or a certain factor best to have a look at this article written by Adam from Physionomics – http://physiqonomics.com/fat-loss/
You must know the simply flaw of the human brain – you tell yourself not to do something, what does the devil on your shoulder say to you – bloody do it! How can we avoid this?
So to shut that little bugger up, give yourself the option to have some enjoyable pleasures in your diet, but understand when, why and how much you can have to keep the long term adaption to changing into a new dietary method easier and enjoyable.
There are no right or wrong diets you can select to follow.
What you must understand is when considering the information within this article, does the diet you choose to follow, correlate the best for yourself to follow that makes it simple, easy with minimal possibility of push back or failure?
To help you with this, seek out someone who can aid you making an unbiased opinion on what elements you need to focus on, what areas of habits can be introduced to help your gather momentum in shifting out of the red and into the green areas of your food intake. If you want to get more geeky, you can play around with hiring a food intolerance test to see if some foods don’t agree with you and try out removing inflammatory foods (some people do this for more of a dermatologist perspective to help clear up skin issues, but does have its perks with macro and micro absorption due to the small intestines working better).
If you would like to know of people who maybe helpful with many elements of dietary education, it could be a good plan to follow these people on social media for insights into free information who are well known in the U.K. By health professionals and coaches.
- Martin MacDonald – Founder of Mac Nutrition – http://www.mac-nutrition.com/
- Scott Baptie – Author Of Fit Food Recipes – http://www.foodforfitness.co.uk/scott-baptie.php
- Jamie Alderton – Owner of GrenadeFit, Author and Podcast Host of Mindset With Muscle – https://www.grenade.com/uk/ team-grenade/jamie-alderton
- Phil Graham – Author Of The Diabetic Blueprint – https://diabeticmuscleandfitness.com/who-is-phil-graham/
- Tim Ferris – Blogger, International Author of Tools Of Titans and 4 Hour Work Week – https://tim.blog/podcast/
- Ben Greenfield – Blogger and Host of Ben Greenfield Podcast – https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/podcasts/
- Rich Sennewald – Tutor at The Nutrition Academy and Living With Vegetables – http://www.rscoaching.co.uk/
- Dr Gary Mendoza – Sports Nutritionist and Nutritionist – http://www.weightlifting.wales/the-nutrition-academy/
- Ross Edgley – Owner of The Protein Workshop and Record Breaker – https://rossedgley.com/
- Sol Orwell – Examine.com Owner – https://examine.com/
- Mark Sisson – Author of Primal Blueprint & Ketogenic Diet – http://www.marksdailyapple.com/
- Aubrey Marcus – Founder of ONNIT, podcast host and athlete – https://www.aubreymarcus.com/
- Phil Learney – Director of The Advanced Coaching Academy – https://www.phillearney.com/
If you liked this post and was helpful for you. Please let me know and like it or comment on any questions you may have – Stay Strong!