Paul McKenna talks about The Clean Plate Club when referring to people who have been taught that not eating every morsel of food on your plate is a waste and a moral crime. Membership to this club comes at the price of being over weight and possible health risks.
He argues that… Continue Reading…
Bob Harper
The Skinny Rules
New York: Ballantine, 2012
$28.95
ISBN: 9780345533128
I’m generally a healthy person, my sport drives me to be some what of a fanatic when it comes to fitness and nutrition. Nutrition for me is a huge part of what I do in Taekwon – Do since I have to make a specific weight division. This weight division is also not a natural weight for me so it takes work and one other ingredient. Rules!
I have never Continue Reading…
Not really…
When it comes to nutritional changes in your life I find that people usually have a negative response depending on how extreme those changes are.
As I gear up for another 12 weeks of training and nutritional… normality is what I call it but friends and family like to call it 
extremism. I start thinking about the remarks I will get from family, friends, fellow athletes, co-workers and complete strangers. They usually are not good.
I compete in a sport and at a level which requires a strict training and nutritional regime. This, coupled by the fact that I must make a weight class leads to eating so healthy and requires measures that most people notice because most people don’t eat this way.
Now you don’t have to be an athlete to experience this. I know people who are just trying to lose a little weight, prepare for a 5K race, tone up to fit in a wedding dress that get the same response from people.
What is that response?
It varies but one thing for certain is this. All emotions stem from two primary emotions. One is love, the other is fear. One is positive and one is negative. If the comments you hear are not one they are the other.
I hear mostly negative comments. For example,
“Shane you’re to skinny.”
“You looks like you’re not eating.”
“That can’t be healthy.”
“You should quit that shit.”
“Just move up a division.”
On and on and on…
Obviously all the fear variety and not very encouraging or helpful.
My response to this has always been to be ready with an answer. I always consult a nutritionist so I know I am eating right and within a healthy BMI and weight for my body type. I feel great, win competitions and never jeopardize my health. That should do the trick right… Wrong.
They never stop. Why? Could it be jealousy, concern, the need to poke and prod into someone’s life more exciting than their own… I don’t know.
What I did learn recently is that the real Art Of Adaptation would be this:
This comes from a blog post by Sarah Stanley. She really encourages you to invite conversation to avoid debate. I also believe that if you don’t fill the void of information about the changes in your life, nutritional habits and how you feel then others will! You know what happens when the rumor mill gets going.
So explain to those people what is happening and reach out to others like Sarah and myself for advice or at least sanity. I know reading that someone else was going through the same thing made me feel a little less crazy when I woke up this morning.
I am convinced nutrition is a very important part of our daily lives and health. I don’t claim to be an expert in the field of nutrition but I am an expert in the field of “my” nutrition. The difference is that I have adapted my mind set in such a way that I have control over my nutrition and what goes into my body and how I feel.
This is a struggle but I believe each person can do this. You can learn to identify your physiological needs and make the proper adjustments to achieve your fitness goals in a healthy way.
And this is how… 
Study material about nutrition so that your are up to date on recent findings and trends. This will allow you to make the most informed decision possible. In the past I have made decisions about my nutrition based on out dated information. I have also hesitated to change my diet based on lack of available knowledge. I urge everyone to educate themselves about this issue… because it is an issue. The issue is that if you don’t take control of your diet and nutrition someone or some company will. The problem with this is, most often capitalism and profit is more important to those people then your health and best interest.
The second way to adapt is to Study your body. How you say?
My first suggestions would be to monitor your calories. I suggest this to many people. Initial reactions range from agreement to disbelief. Some people don’t believe that I record every single things that goes into my body or believe that they could do it. It is possible and with some practice/assistance it becomes an almost effortless task. Start with a program or website that can help you find the nutritional information of the food you are eating. My favorite is MyFitnessPal which is free!
Once you do that you will have a better sense of your nutritional requirements. As you look up these items you will also better understand the nutritional content of the foods you consume and the effects on your diet. One thing that may surprise you is how small portion sizes seem in relation to how much food is actually served and how much we believe a serving is.
It takes 21 days to create a habit suggests one book I have read. After a month of recording your calories is will become second nature. I don’t even think about it anymore. It takes me a total of 5 minutes a day to log it once or twice a day. This 5 minute investment is well worth it. It educates me, helps me feel better and provides a number of benefits. One of the most important benefits in my opinion is self-control and discipline.
After doing this until you are comfortable with recording your daily intake, start to look at your body and physiological indicators. As you tweak your diet you will find that your body reacts in different ways. For instance, if you are restricting calories to reach a certain health weight you may find that you feel weak. Upon further inspection you realize that you have not consumed enough carbohydrates to sustain the physical activities you take part in. In that case you know you need to consume foods with more carbs.
Cravings are sometimes the sign of a nutritional need. If you crave something salty, you may have restricted your sodium intake (hard to do in Canada). Pay attention to what your body is telling you, it is your best indicator of nutritional success.
Of course there are exceptions to almost everything I stated here. I will be the first to admit that our bodies and our nutritional landscape is a very complex system. We must constantly educate ourselves and adapt to changes in this environment to be health and ultimately survive.
If you are living in North America may I suggest starting with this video:
This may all seem overwhelming at first. The best thing to do is just dive in and swim around for a bit in the vast body of knowledge available on nutrition. You will quickly find your way as we all have specific needs and unique ways of adapting.
Good Luck.
Tenacious marketer trying to make a difference while pursuing mental and physical enlightenment. Obsessed with self-improvement.
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