Here is the sad truth: EXERCISE ALONE DOES NOT WORK!
You cannot out-train a bad diet. It will not matter
whether you are hiking Mount Kenya every week, or using your car for squats
every morning; if your diet is whack, nothing will work.
So what is the perfect diet?
Well, there is none. There is not one foolproof diet
that will guarantee everyone results. And even then a single strategy might not
always work for the same person, even if it has worked in the past.
The key lies in finding the perfect balance that will
suit your specific needs at different periods in your life/training.
From paleo through low-carb to intermittent fasting,
there are very many diet strategies out there each laying claim to the number
one spot. Some are good, some are bad and some are very bad. Your goal to avoid
the latter two, and tailor the good ones to suit you and your goals as an
individual.
The 5 qualities of a good diet program
“The way we eat – or, at least
expert recommendation as to how we should eat – can be as much a matter of fad
and fashion as the clothes we buy or the way we wear our hair. As with other
fashions, notions about correct and healthful diet are constantly changing.
Yesterday’s dietary “laws” often become today’s taboos.”
There are however common unchanging characteristics of
a good diet program. Here are 5:
1) Gets you to care about your food and eating:
research shows that your actual choices are less important than simply paying
better attention to what you eat. When you really care about what you eat, and
make mindful, deliberate choices, you almost inevitably eat better.
2) Gets you to focus on food quality: No
decent diet plan that will ask you to increase your intake of processed, junk,
food. They all focus on whole, minimally processed foods that are rich in
nutrients. These foods naturally agree with our body. Regardless of how much of
what you eat, simply eating better quality food will improve your health
significantly.
3) Helps eliminate nutrient deficiencies:
When you care about what you eat, choose foods mindfully, and get the best
quality foods you can afford, you usually gets lots of valuable nutrients along
the way. You start to feel better, look better, because you are finally giving
your body what it needs.
4) Helps control appetite and eating: It’s
very hard to eat a controlled portion of highly processed foods, because they
are designed to bypass our natural satisfaction cues. When you choose better
foods that are of better quality, more nutrient rich and more satisfying, you
end up eating much less. This translates into better calorie control, without
the otherwise annoying calorie math.
5) Encourages regular exercise: Good
nutrition fits with regular exercise like a key into a lock. When you start
paying attention to what you eat, you usually start thinking about exercise as
well; or vice versa, because they go hand in hand. This is why all good
nutrition programs should be complemented by good exercise programs.
Make your diet work for you
Whatever diet strategy you finally settle on, physical
activity and exercise is indispensable to making it work. As mentioned before,
the reverse is also true when you begin with activity. I think this is the
easier part of the equation because you have only three options:
1) Get
a personal trainer: here you get maximum attention and a super individualized
session at a premium charge. Call us for more information on 0726316559 or get
in touch with my very good friend here 0724916981
2) Join
a group class: These can be fun and energizing because you get to draw from the
whole crowd in attendance. Check out our group class for weight loss here https://ablebodyfitness.wordpress.com/pilates-personal-trainer/the-weight-loss-bootcamp-2018/
3) Do-It-Yourself:
This is for the self-motivated individual; it requires a decent amount of
knowledge and experience. See our recent article on making your own program
here https://ablebodyfitness.wordpress.com/2018/03/13/build-your-own-fitness-program/
Each of these options have their advantages and
disadvantages, and it’s crucial you are properly informed and ready for each
one.
Your next step
As previously mentioned, there are lots of diet
strategies and nutrition programs out there, most of them trending on the internet
briefly before disappearing, like bad fashion. The confusion can be unbearable,
but it doesn’t have to. Be mindful of what and how you eat. This is all you
have to do to get started on a successful diet strategy. The nitty gritty
details don’t matter, not quite, not immediately, maybe never.
In my experience, most people know exactly what is
wrong with their diet. Most people have some idea of what they should and
should not be doing. What you want is to pick one bad habit, focus all your
work on it until you own it. Pick the next, and do the same, repeat one you
missed or didn’t do very well.
For example, say one of the self-identified bad habits
in your diet could be overeating. Work on this one single task till you are
satisfied you eat decently, then move on. You will always know when you get
there.
Got questions, comments or concerns? Write in the
comments box below, or email us directly at bodyfit.ent@gmail.com.
References:
The Essentials of Sports and Exercise Nutrition –
Certification Manual, Third Edition – Dr. John Berardi, PHD, CSCS et al
The Zone: A Dietary Road Map – Barry Sears, PHD, with
Bill Lawren
