Eat to Live or Live to Eat?
For more than 25 years ive been exploring and testing how to eat for optimal health.
When I was a kid, ice cream, cookies, chips, ring dings, Hohos and soda were a staple. Pasta bowls, bread slathered in butter and instead of sugary cereals, I put teaspoons of white table sugar on my Cheerios and ate the pile of it left at the bottom of the bowl. I should have been 200lbs!
Late in highschool, I started eating Burger King on a daily basis, Whopper, Fries and a Chocolate milkshake. That's when I started to notice the bulge, or muffin top we call it these days! That was a problem!! My skin tight jeans were not fitting anymore!! So I stopped! Well not exactly but thats how I like to remember it!
Back then things were pretty simple, there weren't the gajillion choices you have today.
I started working out and asked the gym rats what they ate to get the six pack abs and major muscles I was after! “Eat lots of Protein” they clamored, carb up 3x’s week, take this supplement, eat right before you go to bed, drink this “weight gainer”. So, I tried it all!
The only thing that really worked I figured out was just eating consistently.
Over the years, there have been 100’s if not 1000’s of diet plans, supplements, and fads “guaranteeing” your success to a slimmer fit you! They just didnt make any sense to me. I would read about them but nothing was sustainable.
I learned to take the approach and mindset of “Eating to Live”. Asking the question, will this food or drink bring me closer to my short term goals of being more fit and muscular, but also the long term goal of staying healthy and free from disease?
Now that I am 47, working out 3-5x’s a week and helping my amazing wife run a business, everything I eat needs to provide the necessary energy and nutrients to perform at 110% day in and day out.
The best way Ive found that works and is sustainable is by removing the need for daily decisions about what I am going to eat. We plan our week and prepare the food we will be eating. (read about “Decision Fatigue” here)
The second is eating “Real” food. We don't eat processed foods. Food is there to provide nutrition, a way for our bodies to function and stay strong and healthy. Only occasionally do we eat for pleasure, i.e. ordering out or going out for a meal, even then we look for the “cleanest” food.
It's really very simple, we like to complicate things. Get your mindset right first “Eat To Live”.
If you are ready to make a change, set up time with our nutrition specialist and coach Denise Miccoli. It's free and could change your life. Schedule Here
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Written by Steve G
