Like never before, we live in a time with more information about nutrition. There are more gyms; there are more healthy options at restaurants and markets. There are more food delivery services, but we still struggle with weight and nutrition-related health issues as a culture. Often, these programs don’t consider the fact that we are human beings and imperfect by nature. We’re not machines. We eat for many reasons. We feed the soul and it’s needs in addition to our bodies. The plants that are out there do not consider the social, psychological, and emotional aspects of food and eating behaviors. They did not teach us how to strategize for life events that throw us off course. They don’t consider real-world struggles, stress, changing levels of motivation, schedules, personality, and differences. And so on. Diets are temporary. They only work if you prioritize them above all else, you have to want it more than you want anything else.
Forget the term willpower. In real life, we want to fit into our dress. That’s not real life.We want to look great at the beach or on vacation. However, we also want to enjoy meals with our friends and family. We want to go out and have cocktails on dates. We want to stuff buttery popcorn in our faces sometimes while sitting through a movie. That doesn’t mean that we still don’t want to fit into that dress. It just means that we’re not going to give up living to do it. I can tell you that living life on a rigorous diet is not a life at all. I can tell you that from personal experience.
You Don’t Need To Diet Like A Body Builder
Your not a professional bodybuilder and don’t have spent extended periods on rigorous unsustainable diets—some people diet for 20 weeks or more to look a particular way for five minutes. And guess what? Two weeks later, after starting that diet, we’re right back to where we started 20 weeks ago. Not only is the result unsustainable, but so is the process. That process is miserable because it’s not living life.
There’s a better way to approach nutrition coaching, one that layers real on top of the ideal. We need to know the science of nutrition, what and how much to eat. But additionally, the plan needs to be personal, sustainable, enjoyable, and understandable. It needs to adapt to our ever-changing wants and needs. The nutrition plan needs to work with us as we navigate life’s challenges, not be an additional burden or source of stress. This is the only way to sustainable, maintainable results.