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The Antidote: Healthy Eating For Men Who Love Their Grub
I’m about to tell you a true story.
If you believe me,
I can help you change your life for the better.
Sticking to a healthy diet is right up there with the hardest things on earth.
But that depends on your approach to diet.
I’m a nutrition coach and I’ve never stuck to a diet in my life.
The reason?
I just really LOVE my grub.
But the cool thing I’ve learned is (and this might surprise you)…
You don’t need to diet to get in great shape and live a healthy life.
I’ve tried a lot of things to get myself jacked: Paleo, GOMAD, low carb, high carb, calorie counting, intermittent fasting.
They all work to a certain degree, but for some reason, I just couldn’t stick to any of these consistently for any longer than 4-12 weeks.
Don’t get it twisted, though, the foods you eat ultimately determine the results you achieve. We just don’t need to deprive ourselves or ‘go strict‘ to get a better body.
Let me explain…
Despite training at least 4 times a week for over two years (yes, 2 years) I was still conscious about getting into swim shorts to take my kid’s swimming or hit the beach on holiday.
And it pissed me off that a lot of my mates were in better shape than me too.
Determined to do better, I studied with one of the worlds leading educators in nutrition: Precision Nutrition
Fast forward three months and I finally lost those stubborn love handles, had more definition, gained more lean muscle and felt a lot more energized too. It gets better…
I did this without dieting, feeling deprived, counting calories or weighing and measuring food. I’ll show you how I did it in this article…
Dieting Sucks
- Pizza and beers with the lads
- Family BBQ’s with the kids in the summertime
- Sunny holidays with the family
- Weddings, Christenings, Birthdays
- Christmas & New Year Parties
These kinds of things make it hard to be strict with your diet. They’re often the reason we ‘crumble’ and fall off the wagon. (sound familiar?)
A gym I used to train in had a community workout evening with chocolate cake and beers afterward. I was the only dude not eating cake (or having a beer). Because I was doing the ‘Paleo diet’ until social pressure got the better of me, and I joined in the fun. To go home feeling disappointed for being ‘weak minded‘.
The truth is, I’m not weak minded, neither are you. I don’t like being told what to do, or what not to do, no one does. When we focus on what we’re ‘not allowed’, we tend to think about how much we want it (ever notice that?)
So What’s The Best Diet To Follow?
The absolute best diet to follow is simply…
The one that works for you.
That you can stick to consistently and achieve your goals.
The truth is, you already have a diet. If it’s anything like mine used to be, it’s probably a shit one.
The good news?
You don’t need to swap it for a shiny new one. That means changing a lifetime of bad habits in one go. That’s some tough shit to do.
We just need to make improvements, one step at a time…
Ditch The ‘Food Rules’
Instead, just build new, better habits. Don’t focus on ‘going strict‘, what you’re ‘not allowed’ or rules.
Slip-ups happen often (often, I tell you). Don’t get disheartened, it’s a learning process. Practice one new habit (yes, only one) daily for a couple of weeks before introducing a new one.
Focus on getting more nutrient-dense, minimally processed whole foods into your diet. Like meats, fish, eggs, fruits, and vegetables.
Build fitness into your life in a way that works for you. Get enough quality sleep and manage your stress.
Switch your thinking from ‘not allowed’ to ‘building new’.
Eventually, you’ll have so many new (healthy) habits that all the bad ones will gradually decrease. It’s a great method that you can track and measure.
Sure, it’s slow and unlikely to get you a “beast of an 8-week transformation photo” to post on Facebook.
But it WILL help you make an amazing transformation a little further down the line that’s here to STAY.
It’s much better than another painful lifestyle overhaul that doesn’t last anyway. It works for me and it’s how I’ve helped my most successful clients change their bodies, live better lives and be happier with who they are.
I guarantee, if you take this approach and do it for a full year, you’ll have a completely new body, confidence and a seriously powerful influence of healthy habits on your whole family.
Who doesn’t want that?
What To Do Now
I know you’re probably wondering where to start. So, I’m going to give you some options and examples of how this works…
Here’s 6 potential new habits to start with (choose one). It’s no big deal where you start, the important thing is to get started.
- Eat lean protein with every meal
- Eat 5 portions of colorful vegetables per day
- Create a bedtime routine
- 3 full body resistance workouts per week
- Eat mostly whole foods
- Eat smart cabs with every meal
Let’s say you choose to get started working out, so we go with option 4 for 2 weeks and track your consistency. After 2 weeks, assess how you’ve done. Based on your assessment, we can either:
- Make the current habit easier
- Make it more challenging
- Start the next new habit, like getting more lean protein at every meal
This is how habit building is done. Simple and effective. It lets you go big on one thing at a time and consistently make progress with becoming the best version of you whilst staying on top of your work and family life too.
Dean
PS –
Don’t forget to live a little along the way…
About the Author Dean McMenamin
Dean McMenamin is an Army veteran, father, dog-lover and body transformation coach to every day men all over the UK & Ireland. He's also a big eater of ice-cream.