Diet Evolution
You probably already know this, so you don’t need much of a pep talk here. As mentioned previously if it comes in a box, if it has an advertisement or if it’s something that looks like it’s about a molecule away from being some form of plastic, don’t eat it.
Search out and buy fruit and vegetables. I cringe when people say to me that they ‘don’t eat vegetables. I always ask them how many vegetables they’ve tried, and the list is generally less than impressive.
There is a huge array of vegetables out there each with their own taste and benefits. You might love some and hate others that’s fine work with your body but don’t go around making excuses saying you detest vegetables or you’re allergic to all vegetables. It sounds pathetic and is indicative of a bad approach to your diet.
Lean meats for your protein intake for example fish, chicken, turkey, beef, pork, duck etc. whatever you like do your research and modify it into your diet accordingly. Moderation and balance are the key so make sure you’re getting a good mix of food rather than just the same stuff over and over. It’s easy to stick to a diet when you know you like the food but it’s worth experimenting and adding foods such as ‘superfoods’ e.g., blueberries or kale to your diet. They benefit you and are inexpensive.
Cooking your own food is both a worthwhile and satisfying task. One of the key reasons I was eating so much bad food was that I considered cooking to be putting something in the microwave or oven and setting a timer.
That’s complete rubbish and in general any food you can cook like that doesn’t deserve the privilege of being eaten by you. Don’t be put off by cooking I am by no means what you’d call a good cook, but I do know how to cook the foods I know are healthy and that I like to eat.
Cooking for me has been an incredible journey, going from undercooking everything, to scorching everything to eventually finding that happy medium.
You also actually burn calories in the act of cooking, it might only be a small amount, but they all add up. Cook your food in healthy oils or steam them. Use natural foods as I’ve said and don’t go and smother them in sauce after making a health dish. Moderation is crucial if it sounds too good to be true e.g., only 99 calories but is the best BBQ sauce you’ve ever eaten; chances are the calories stated are for a tiny portion.
Get wise at checking your food labels and checking the weight of the product and the calories per serving. A lot of food manufacturers love to put the calories for a tiny amount e.g. 25g of our product is 50 calories and you think that’s fantastic and then you go and smother your meal in it not realising that it’s 200g worth and you’ve just added 400 calories to your intake without even realising it. It’s better to spot this when you’re out shopping than a few weeks down the line when you’re trying to figure out where you went wrong.
You won’t know it all at the start and that’s perfectly fine, you’ve got to learn the hard way and you should realise by now that that is the case with most things worth having. There are no shortcuts to success, don’t have the ‘I want it now and I’m not willing to do anything for it’ attitude that plagues many people in our current society and instead focus on hard work and committing the time required to mastering your personal health and wellbeing.
One year from now you’ll be so proud of yourself and what you’ve achieved. If you’re ever tempted by bad food vividly imagine the feeling of regret after you’ve let yourself down.
Don’t binge on anything & Eat bad food in moderation
If you want to eat your favourite bad food that’s fine, just try to plan for it. For instance, if you know that on a Saturday your friends come over and you do whatever activity you all enjoy doing and invariably there’s always tons of snacks try and eat a big breakfast and only have a light snack for your lunch and something to keep you ticking over until snack time.
You limit the damage done in terms of your energy balance for the day and you still get to enjoy the bad food you want. You still shouldn’t binge on it. Just because you’ve given yourself free reign to eat some bad food doesn’t mean you should go out and ruin all your hard work for the week.
Eat slowly and sensibly, you don’t need to ingest every ounce of the bad food at the speed of light, if you’re full, stop eating. If you’re not having a beer/wine, then try and drink water as you go.
Previously my partner and I would go to a restaurant and typically by the time we got there we’re both very hungry. So, what always happened was we’d order a ridiculous amount of food. The biggest starter, a big main and desert washed down with several soft drinks or beers. At the end of the meal not only had we wasted a ton of food, but we also felt awful. I don’t mean guilt I mean physiologically, sore stomachs, sometimes headaches, bloated, gassy, slow of mind and body and often irritable. Yet we kept up this habit for years and years.
Binging on any food including good food is just a no-no. Practice your self-control and instead of shovelling food into your mouth eat slowly and plan the meals so you’re not leaving yourself a window of opportunity to cheat on your diet.
It might seem simple, but it can be very difficult especially if you’re facing any peer pressure to make these calls. Back yourself each time and the more you make these calls the easier they get as you mentally back yourself more and more. Ignore what anyone has to say opinion wise if they are surprised by your decision. At the end of it all they’re not the masters of your body, you are and it’s up to you to manage your personal wellbeing not them.
Allow yourself a vice
One thing I never count when I’m tracking my diet is coffee. I love coffee and I drink 2-3 cups a day of strong black coffee. I adore coffee and I look forward to drinking it and tend to do so in the morning, afternoon and then sometimes in the evening. I take a tablespoon of either stevia/honey/natural sweetener with my coffee for good measure.
This is my vice and my off-limits item. I enjoy coffee, I understand that it’s not the best thing for me and I compensate with a high-water intake and being careful about what time of the day I drink coffee but ultimately, I never stop myself having a cup. It’s like a little cheat for my mind in the battle to stay healthy and it works in that it kills off other cravings when I get them.
Choose the vice you’re going to allow carefully and make sure you’re not just leaving a big hole in your diet that’s going to stop you attaining your goals. Everyone deserves a break and if you’re adopting a new health and fitness lifestyle over a year as I’ve outlined you need to allow yourself your vice and little breaks in your diet from time to time. Remember moderation and don’t binge on anything. If Pringles are your vice don’t eat a whole tub. Get the smaller pack be sensible and enjoy. Yes, I also love Pringles.
Be humble with others about what you’re doing
You might think that this is a bit of a strange sub-heading for this chapter. Why would you care about others in this case? When I initially started making changes in my diet, I was surprised about how aware people in work and at home were about what I was doing. Bringing in my lunch the first few times brought on waves of questions about my new ‘diet’ without me having said or indicating to anyone that I was trying to get my diet in check.
It can be tempting to dive into a long speech about how what you’re doing is the ‘right’ way to eat and how everyone should look to cook their own lunches etc. Don’t. Worry about yourself and if someone appears genuinely interested in how and what you’re doing then of course offer them your knowledge freely and listen to their thoughts (where relevant).
Don’t go gossiping to everyone about what you’re doing, it’s your business and nobody else’s. If you go around telling everyone what you’re doing, then you’re adding social and peer pressure to keep it up. If for instance you find the diet just isn’t where it needs to be, and you fall back on old ways for a day or two the same people you waxed lyrical to are going to be asking you how’s the diet and making you more conscious of the speed bump.
Be humble about it, you’re not an expert and you’re not a trail blazer. You’re simply trying to move your lifestyle to a much healthier one through trial and error and you need time, space, and minimal invasions of privacy to get it nailed down.
Don’t attract all the attention to yourself instead try and be subtle about it. Be proud of your efforts and if someone engages you in discussion mention what you’re doing but at the same time play it somewhat close to your chest.
You don’t need any additional pressure on yourself for your dieting. It’s a sensitive and private subject for many people and you should guard yourself from unhelpful outside influences as much as possible. Focus on doing the right thing for you with the best information available to you at the time.
On Supplements
We all struggle to find that perfectly balanced diet week-in and week-out throughout a year. There’s going to be things that crop up on you that just shoot your diet to hell and leave you in the gutter for a few days or weeks. Rather than let your entire diet slide you should look to incorporate healthy supplements into your diet to pick up the slack when needed.
Your supplement choice like my own is personal and should be based on your own dietary deficiencies as where possible you should be getting these items from your food.
It goes without saying you should speak to your doctor before you embark on a supplement sampling mission just to make sure you’re matching the supplement to your actual dietary need and not doing any harm.
I’ve already spoken about Protein supplements and to be honest there is a wealth of excellent information on the web about the upsides and downsides of taking these supplements.
A Caution on Supplements
Did you know that there is no evidence to suggest that multi-vitamins have any benefit when taken despite the marketing? Research and knowledge can save you time and money you might otherwise have wasted [BBC One the Truth about Healthy Eating].
A dear friend of mine decided that he would start to take 2 scoops of a certain protein shake after every training session which just so happened to be 3 times a week. The poor chap didn’t read the nutritional values section and as such failed to see that each scoop was approximately 600 calories…
He piled on weight all the while adjusting his diet to the point of starving himself before realising his error. Morale of the story is that you should be aware of what you’re taking and don’t take anything that could do you harm in either the long or short term. Just because you think it’s right doesn’t mean it is, do your homework.
Remember, chin up, chest out and handle it.
Yours,
Stephen