Nutrition is simple..
Calories in Calories out; The calories we consume through food are either used for energy or stored. Too many calories relative to activity levels or output means body fat is stored. Simple enough.
Nutrition is simple..
Reduce your consumption of overly processed foods – these foods are killing you (apparently). Done, simple enough.
Nutrition is simple…
Eat more protein, but make sure its organically sourced, free range and free from any preservatives, these too will kill you. Uh ok, simple enough.
Nutrition is in fact simple, but simple does not mean easy. We are continuously bombarded with conflicting information from social media influencers or “experts”. These “experts” will have you believe that eliminating food groups, eating rigid and without joy is the only way forward and anything else is simply not worth discussing.
The reality is we are complex individuals with cultural and historical attachments to the food we eat and this one size approach from the “experts” will not work for everyone, for some yes but everyone, certainly not.
Do not get me wrong, everyone can benefit from simplifying their diets, people tend to overcomplicate things but what that looks like is different for everyone. Do you need to count calories? No, but all calories count so tracking in some shape or form is necessary. Do you need to be concerned with when you eat? No, at least not right now. Simple is better especially in the beginning.
Before beginning any diet or eating regime you first need to have an honest conversation with yourself and decided what you want from your diet.
Your answers will directly influence how strict or not you need to be and will proportional to your efforts; do you want to be shredded to the gills with very low body fat? Then many sacrifices need to be made. Do you want to lose a few pounds and be happy? Then a more balanced approach is likely better.
No matter what you want, you reason that has to be strong to keep you going and keep you accountable.
There are a lot of concepts and applications, more than can be covered in this article but, here are top 4 things you can do right now to start your pathway to feeling better, performing better and striving to that 1% better.
1.) ADD more vegetables and protein – Always ADD before taking away – increasing your portion of protein and vegetable will make you feel fuller with the fibre and protein filling you up better.
2.) Increase your water intake – Thirst and hunger response is very closely linked. Plus being hydrated is important. You will feel more energized when hydrated and likely to push your workouts harder and generally be more active.
3.) Prioritize sleep – stop doom scrolling, lack of sleep causes hunger stimulating hormones which will turn you into a zombie like snack eating monster.
4.) Reduce processed foods – notice how I say “reduce”, start by removing 1 – 2 processed foods like candy, chocolates if you eat 10 per day – start by eating 8 and look to reduce every week.
Very important is that CONSISTENCY matters the most – you cannot eat very strict Monday through Thursday and then go on a weekend bender. This is usually the case with over restriction in the start. It’s not what you do on one day, it’s what you do on every other day that matters.
All habits take time, you need to be thinking the long game with your nutrition. Do the work, stay consistent and reap the rewards. Everyone deserves to be a better version of themselves, whatever that looks like to them.
If you have questions related to Nutrition big or small, the team is here to help you, reach out to the coaching team and see how they can help you with your nutritional needs.
Richie Mc Wade
CCFT