I'm sure as I type this there are hundreds of gym goers sitting down to their plain egg whites, oats and protein shakes for breakfast, and if that's the case by all means I am not one to pass judgment. I am however, going to let you in on a little secret... that secret is one that is sweeping the nutrition and coaching industry off its feet... the secret is the flexible diet.
Gone are the days of egg whites and oats, of chicken and brown rice and yes, those chunky, unmixable protein shakes. These hard to digest meals are slowly being replaced by foods that are tasty, foods that people enjoy and foods that still help a person reach their fitness and physique goals.
Flexible dieting is exactly what it sounds like... it's all about eating the foods you like while still hitting caloric and macronutrient requirements over a day or even in some cases over a whole week. This highly individualized approach to nutrition makes the road to fitness a little easier simply because the person who is on the diet gets to choose what they want to eat. They get to choose when they want to eat it and how often!
One mistake I do see a little too often from rookies to the flexible lifestyle is that they often misinterpret flexible as junk fest. While the flexible protocol allows you to really mix up your nutrition sources there should still be a few guidelines in place that will ensure that you can eat the foods you like as well as achieve your physique goals. I’ll outline 3 of these guidelines below.
1. The 90/10 Rule – Flexible dieting should not be misinterpreted as a junk food festival. The majority of your nutrition should still be made up of nutrient dense food. That’s why I recommend a 90/10 split between nutritious whole foods and those treats that make life worth living (of course the nutrient dense foods are the 90). For instance, for a person eating 4 meals each day would consume a total of 28 meals every week. Using the above percentages, they would be allowed about 3 meals every week to eat some of the not so nutritious stuff. That’s pretty decent… a free meal every second day!
2. Produce over processed – I mentioned it a little in the above section but it warrants its own point. A lot of people when starting their flexible dieting journey try to pack in as much processed foods as they can. This however is fraught with error. Your body still needs the vitamins and minerals that the processed foods are usually missing. To keep the body running smoothly and able to digest the sometimes foods, it is important to eat a lot of high quality produce; this includes, meats, eggs, dairy, and of course fruits and vegetables. The final guideline is one that I can attest to personally. It might seem like common sense but when you’re on a physique journey it is an easy trap to fall into.
3. Elimination (avoid it) – Elimination dieting is when you completely eliminate foods or food groups from your diet. This is an error that many people make when flexible dieting because they simply believe that if they do not like the food they do not and should not have to eat it. In a lot of cases this couldn.t be further from the truth. By eliminating foods and food groups from your diet there is a risk of subsequent intolerances which can lead to further health issues in the future. There is no really benefit of having a fantastic physique if your insides are struggling to keep you alive.
In a future post I will look to lay out how exactly to get yourself started on a flexible diet. Until then take away these few ideas and keep your goals in sight. Remember, you can have cake and (sometimes) eat it too!
Remember – Raw Potential leads to Raw results.
Feel free to leave me any comments or suggestions for my next post. Give me an up vote if you found this post helpful!