Bridge The Gap 2: All Things Nutrition

An HPXL Collective on navigating the simple complexities of modern nutrition

Image by the author on Canva.

Nutrition doesn’t have to be complicated.

In fact, I refer to nutrition as a set of skills that we can practice to become better. Like anything, becoming more skilled in nutrition will give you the knowledge and abilities to achieve your body composition goals, whatever they may be.

In my 28-Day Nutrition Skills Challenge, I focus on seven skills: Find your “why,” drink enough water every day, put your fork down after each bite and properly chew your food, add a protein source to each meal, determine the right amount of macronutrients to eat for your nutrition goals, start tracking macronutrients using an app, and practice self-talk before eating and when overcoming setbacks.

I aim to eliminate ALL of the nutritional dogma and refer to the macronutrients or makeup of food and the skills necessary to manage them. Anything you consume consists of or a combination of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. The most valuable skill is discerning how much you need to eat to reach your goals and then eating that much on a consistent basis.

It’s a SUPER simple idea but extremely hard practice.

Here’s why: eating and drinking are no longer an act of survival and are part of our lives in other ways, such as leisure and social outings, snacking, movies, commuting, commiserating, and celebrating.

Additionally, food is a big industry where there is immense value in creating ultra-processed foods that taste amazing, last longer, and combine flavors and textures not found in the wild (making them very addictive).

This fact has led to many anti-processed food gurus around the world. They push food quality above all, which is good advice for the most part. However, simply eating better quality doesn’t solve all the issues, especially in today’s highly volatile environment that doesn’t value clean eating, healthy living, and physical presence. Eating high-quality foods is not enough to solve the obesity epidemic. It doesn’t address self-awareness and nutrition skills and often leads to yoyo dieting and fluctuating body weight.