Should I Go “All In” On My Nutrition?
You’re tired of being over-tired.
You’re sick of being sick. At the very least, you’re sick of not feeling like you.
Your clothes don’t fit the way you want.
That’s it! You’ve Found the Fire to Change Your Life!
You are probably looking for the one thing you can do to take the first, and perhaps, only step in the direction you want to go and know a big part of that is your eating.
You have heard people say “abs are made in the kitchen” after all and while “getting abs” might not be your goal, you know you want to lose a few.
The advice you have probably been getting is to go paleo, or keto, or low fat, or macros, or count your calories. These all have their merits, of course, but there is one element that could make or break whether you will be successful longterm.
Why It’s Important NOT to Go “All In”
You are human.
So am I.
And because we are human, we mess up.
The caution I want you to take is when you go all in on something, you are banking on the fact you will NEVER, EVER, MAKE A MISTAKE.
EVER.
This is by and large why people struggle with their New Year’s Resolutions:
- “I’m going to go to the gym 6 times per week” turns into “I missed a few days. I lost everything I did so what’s the use?”
- “I’m going to cut out ALL fast food” turns into “well, this weekend just ruined the last couple weeks.”
- “I’m only going to drink 1 day per week” turns into “I’m only going to drink over the weekend” turns into “so much for that.”
There is Another Way
I make mistakes all the time. Matter of fact a big part of my day is making mistakes. I’d bet if you were to be honest with yourself, you could say you make mistakes all the time too.
Why don’t we bank on this instead of being perfect? Why don’t we build in a little grace so my mind goes from “all or nothing” to “it’s part of the plan.”
When something is “part of the plan” it’s much easier to stay the course with anything you’re doing anyway.
- “Going to the gym 6 days per week” might turn into “if I miss 5 gym days during the month, I’m ok.”
- 6 days x 4 weeks = 24 gym days per month (round it to 25 for nice numbers)
- 25 x 80% = 5 days I can miss if something comes up, I forget to plan ahead, or I just don’t feel like going
- “Cutting out all fast food” might turn into “I can eat out a max of 4 times per week.”
- 3 meals per day x 7 days = 21 meals (rounded to 20 for nice numbers)
- 20 meals x 80% = 4 meals I can eat out, or mess up, or want to go out and have fun
- You get the idea…
Human nature is human nature for a reason: don’t shy away from it, don’t fear your flaws, don’t be so hard on yourself when you mess up because we all do.
I challenge you to hold yourself to a high enough standard to change your life but give yourself enough grace to stay the course.
Just know, “it all fits my plan.”
