The Evolution Journey Weekly Words: Big Rock #3 - The Best Diet

Today's topic is vast! There is so much nutrition information out there and much of it is conflicting and far too complicated. So it's not surprising that "what is the best diet?" is probably the one question I get asked the most. Nutrition (in this I'm including hydration) is one of the big rocks that needs to be in place when building foundational habits for a healthy life. When we eat better, we sleep better, have more energy to do the things we love, our mood is better and we generally feel better. So let's dive in!

So what is the best diet?

As I often reply to the 'what is the best......?' question, it depends! Every human being on the planet has their own unique DNA, their own unique gut microbiome that affects how food is processed and utilised in their body. In addition to that there are the environmental and lifestyle factors that affect the type of diet that they eat and how they feel from eating that food.

For example, you may see that Mary in the gym has been getting great results from a low carb, high fat keto-style diet and you try it but feel awful, tired and sluggish. It may be that due to your lifestyle and your type of training, your body doesn't do well without carbs, whilst Mary thrives on a lower carb diet.

In short there can never be one best diet. It will always depend on the person. It may sound like a cop out answer, but the best diet is the one that works best for you and your goals.

Why 'diets' don't work

As with all of the big rocks I have discussed so far, nutrition works best when we keep it simple. We are bombarded every day by adverts for low fat, low sugar, high protein, skinny, fat burning super foods that will give us the best beach body ever! In my humble opinion this is all just a load of marketing nutribollocks! "Eat lots of protein, veg and fruit, plus some complex carbs and good fats, and drink at least 2.5 litres of water" isn't exactly a sexy marketing slogan! There's also not as much profit to be made from foods that aren't highly processed and lack eye-catching packaging.

There are plenty of 'diets' to choose from promising an array of benefits - most often fat loss. Often though, they will restrict or cut out a food source (often carbs), replace meals with shakes or allow treats and syns or weekly points. Due to the restrictive nature or over complicated process, they are difficult to stick to for more than a few days or weeks and as soon as you stop the diet, any weight that you lost is immediately gained - and more!

K.I.S.S. (Keep It Super Simple): Here are my 6 top tips on achieving a healthier diet

1. Aim for a majority of minimally processed foods. Focus on daily protein, veg and fruit, complex carbs (oats, basmati rice, sweet potato etc), good fats (olive oil, avocado, nuts & seeds) from while food sources. (I'm not an advocate of cutting out an entire food source. Your body needs protein, carbs and fat in different measures for different processes within the body).

2. Drink at least 2.5 litres pure water a day. Get a big bottle - at least 1 litre and keep it with you at all times. Set an alarm to remind yourself to drink!

3. Write a weekly meal plan to take out the stress of daily cooking and prep as much in advance as possible by cooking in bulk. Use the freezer! (This will also save money and waste).

4. If it's not in line with your goals, don't buy it. If it's in your house either you or someone you love will eat it! Remove the temptation!

5. Apply the 80/20 rule. 80% of the time eat real food that is nutrient dense and isn't processed. These would be at the 'healthy' end of the spectrum. The other 20% of the time allow yourself to eat food that is maybe not as nutrient dense as it could be and is swaying towards the other end of the healthy-unhealthy spectrum. You could change this to 90/10 for even better results!

6. Start with small changes, don't try and change everything overnight. For example, add in an extra portion of veg and a glass of water with every meal for 2 weeks. Note how it makes you feel and build from there.

It's the small daily changes that have a compound effect and lead to bigger more noticeable changes over time. Aim for 1% better every day and be patient :-)

A podcast for you:

The guys at Sustain Nutrition put out some great material on nutrition and lifetstyle. I really like their no-nonsense approach. Here's the link to the show, there are loads of episodes to choose from. Sustain Nutrition - Chewing the Fat

Two questions for you:

1. How often do you eat because you're bored, tired, anxious or stressed?

2. How often do you eat until you feel absolutely stuffed?

Until next week!

Charlotte

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