A Better Approach to Nutrition
I was thinking about nutrition coaching the other day (yes, these are the kinds of things I think about) and I remembered an interview with a nutrition coach to several Olympic athletes I heard a while back (yes, these are the kinds of things I listen to).
They were talking about how, due to the intense nature of training for the Olympics, their clients absolutely needed to eat certain things to fuel their training and recovery.
They also said, and this is what blew my mind, that for the most part, as long as their client ate what they absolutely had to, they didn’t care what else they ate. They had clients that loved McDonald’s fries or ice cream and they were fine with it.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that you’re probably not an Olympic athlete. I’m sure not. So, if an Olympic athlete has that kind of leeway with their diet what does that mean for the rest of us?
Could it mean that we’re taking nutrition too seriously?
That obsessing over whether every bite we eat is “good” or “bad” maybe isn’t the best way to go about things?
That listening to nutrition gurus screaming about having “the answer” to your problems isn’t the best use of your time and buying their stuff isn’t the best use of your money? There’s lots of miserable people making money from telling people how complicated nutrition is.
But it’s not.
It’s simple.
And you know what’s amazing?
You already know the answers. Even if you don’t realize it.
You know eating fruits and vegetables is good for you and you know drinking water is, too. Our nutrition isn’t suffering from a lack of knowledge it’s suffering from TOO MUCH knowledge. That’s what makes it seem so overwhelming.
Want to make some changes? Try this approach. Think about one change you can make with absolutely no problem and minimal effort. Make it easy.
Got one?
On a scale of 1-10 how confident are you that you’ll do it?
If the answer is less than a 9, make it easier. I’m not kidding.
Once you have it, start doing it. It can be as easy as drinking a glass of water at 10 am every day.
Once you’ve done it 12 days out of 14, pick something else using the same method.
DON’T SKIP STEPS AND MAKE IT TOO HARD!
If this seems like you’re not doing anything, I get it, but you are. Here’s what:
You’re getting a little success under your belt. This builds confidence and momentum.
You’re thinking more proactively about what you’re doing. This gets you more engaged.
You’re getting out of your comfort zone. This is where things happen.
I know this concept can be a little tough, but if you’re having trouble finding a workable approach it may be because you’re making it too hard. Let me know what you think.
