With the holidays fast approaching, I figured I'd toss this one back out there to you.
Give it a read.
..................................
Today I am addressing a topic that I find many of my clients have trouble with, and I'd guess, many of you do too.
Nutrition.
As you know, nutrition is one of the biggest factors in your:
- Performance
- Recovery
- Success
- Body composition
The body is like a race car. Your food is the fuel in it.
If you take a Formula 1 car and pump the 89 octane no-name gas at the corner station the car will not run right. It’s going to knock, ping and stall like an ’84 Yugo. It needs race gas.
I am not saying that you are the equivalent of a Formula 1 car.
I’m also not saying you should drink gas either. Harry Does, you shouldn't.
Most of us are not super athletes, but we all can run better on high quality fuel.
Every person who enrolls in the TPS Method meets with me and we review all of the factors that will increase their success in the program.
Nutrition is one of them.
With the beginners, we never suggest they embark on a training program and change their diet 100% out of the gate.
That would lead to a high dropout rate and low compliance. We want to breed success and small changes continually over time do this, just like progressive resistance in training.
Small PR’s over time add up.
Your nutrition is the same.
I am not going to give you a nutrition plan to follow.
I am going to give you a thought process that you may have not considered.
If you are one of the few who is 100% dialed in with your training and nutrition 100% of the time, stop reading and head over to an Athlete Log and read that.
What I am writing today is for the rest of us.
We all want success, we all want to be in the best shape we can but we also want to be able to enjoy life and live it.
Being a slave to your diet is not fun or productive.
I don’t know about you but I am not the guy who is carrying around a fancy cooler bag with all of my meals prepped. I’ve got shit to do.
If you are that guy (or girl) that does the meal prep 100% of the time and it works for you, awesome.
Most of us have a job, kids, a significant other, shit to fix around the house, and friends to have fun with.
What I am proposing is not a license to cheat on your diet.
It’s not a cop out.
It’s a simple suggestion that has worked for me and literally 100’s of my clients.
Over the past few years, I’ve lost almost 50 pounds, mostly fat.
The past 6 months or so this has accelerated fairly quickly which is surprising.
It’s easy to lose weight and body-fat when you are an effing pig.
I was and the weight came off slow but sure. But it is coming off faster and easier now. I am 9 pounds away from my target of 240, down from 308.
(NOTE: This article was written a few years ago, and is reposted)
I wasn’t in a rush to lose it when I started.
I also was pretty good at telling myself that donuts and pizza are carbs.
We all can bullshit ourselves and talk ourselves into what we want. I did this with my nutrition forever.
I ate well 50% of the time but told myself it was 90% of the time.
I wonder how many injures I could have avoided and how much stronger I would have been had I been self-aware about my nutrition?
We’ll never know.
About 6 months ago I came up with a new analogy to give my clients about their success and adopted it for myself.
I use the Nutrition Dartboard.
It’s a very simple, but not easy concept to follow and live by. It’s not a new concept and I certainly didn’t make it up, however, I do believe the analogy is mine.
It’s also an analogy that has lead to more success for me, and my clients.
It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it, and I think this gets it across easily.
Think of your nutrition like a dartboard.
Ever been in a shit hole biker bar? Me neither.
They all have a dartboard.
In that area, you’ve got the dartboard, the piece of plywood on the wall behind it and then the wall the plywood is screwed to.
The dartboard has rings going from large to small and then the bulls eye.
Keep this visual in your head.
I want your nutrition on the dartboard as close to the bulls eye as you can get 95% of the time.
I do not want it on the plywood, or on the wall behind the dartboard.
If we think that the bulls eye consists of real, whole foods consisting of:
- High quality protein (something that had parents, or sometimes powders)
- High quality carbs (potato, sweet potato, rice, yams, fruit)
- Healthy fat (olive oil, nuts, nut butter, avocado)
And we consume those food in an appropriate amount and type 95% of the time; be self-aware here; you will be able to miss a shot here and there, you will make progress and perform better quickly.
Missing a shot is the once a month where you smash a pizza and a few beers, or whatever it is you like to smash.
I want you on the nutrition dartboard close to the bulls eye as much as possible.
When we get off the board or stray too far from the bulls eye progress slows down or stops depending on how far you strayed.
If you are hitting the board sometimes, but are on the plywood a few nights a week or worse, on the wall you are either lacking self-discipline, or fooling yourself (like I used to).
One of the biggest things I see as an obstacle is booze.
I love booze. I just don’t drink it much anymore. It is counterproductive to my goals. I see a lot of people who like to have a few beers a few times a week after work, or a glass or two of wine nightly.
This gets you off the board fast, and many don’t even acknowledge it because they are eating well.
Calories are calories especially when in excess.
Limit the booze kids.
When you are tempted to stray, think this:
Is (insert whatever you are about to smash down your gizzard) going to get me closer to my goals, or get me to a bigger (insert total, spot on the team, faster times in your sport, etc.).
Think of the Nutrition Dartboard.
It works for me, it works for my clients, I’ll bet it works for you.
Find me on Google-search for Total Performance Sports Malden, Mass. The Best Gym in Boston, Facebook too.
Oh, yeah, follow us on Instagram too. TPSMalden
SHARE THIS!
#bostonsstrongest
Vincere vel mori
<